A Journey Inside Your Body

Anyway, today I'm going on an epic journey...through the human body!

Are you watching? behen the human o?

The trippens his lunchbox in the office lunchroom and finds me.

He has what elsegins wIs he carrying anything else?

Turkey sandwich and yogurt, mmmm!

I see him eating his sandwich.

Oh!

I'll go!

He's swallowed me—go!

I'll admit that it's humid in here.

Digestion begins in the mouth.

That system converts food into nutrients that keep you energized.

and repair your cells.

Once you take a bite, the digestion machine starts.

Chewing breaks food into pieces to make it easier.

Saliva mixes with food and breaks it down further.

So your stomach doesn't have to digest whole chunks of food.

You produce enough saliva in a year to fill a bathtub.

2 medium-sized tubs!

Almost a drool pool!

It's spitting in here!

These teeth are dangerous!

I don't want to be Turkey Boy over there.

Since he uses his tongue to roll food toward his teeth, it's hard.

I'll skip the chewing today because I don't want to become jam!

We're off!

Weee!!!

We're entering the throat, or pharynx.

Fork in the road.

How do I proceed?

Eenie meenie miney moe—this way we go.

I'm lost.

What's happening?

Please slap the poor coughing human.

Up again!

Dude, sorry!

That was close!

Almost got into his lungs—bad.

Let's try again now that I'm on the road.

I've correctly turned into the sophisticated swallowing tube called

esophagus.

It's smaller than I expected for a "food chute."

I'm squished here.

Oh no, how do I stay down?

Yes, I understand.

Behind me, this guy's esophagus muscles are squeezing and relaxing.

of me.

I'm moved through your digestive system by peristalsis.

The tunnel ends a few seconds later.

A muscle here opens to allow food into the stomach and prevents it from returning to the esophagus.

It resembles the TSA.

Sir, I'm a tourist.

Yay!

I'm in the stomach.

I'll test those walls.

Wow, that's powerful.

It's expected.

It takes food, mixes it, and grinds it into mush, so the stomach must be strong.

I'm not impressed. Oh, my!

It's burning!

It's hot!

If I don't get out of this stomach acid, I'll turn into Turkey Sandwich!

I've prepared!

This handy gadget will protect me.

Your food usually doesn't have this, but I got...connections.

It's classified.

I just need to press this button.

I won't turn into grape jelly anymore.

Next: the small intestine!

Three sections make up this long, snaky organ.

When I say long, I mean it—if you spread it out (which I don't recommend because you need it coiled...and inside of you...), you'd get a tube over 20 feet long.

length!

Yes, your insides are as long as a giraffe!

This place is hot.

Almost like a tropical resort, except I'm in bile!

I'm safe in my bubble!

Bile is needed to digest fat and remove waste from the blood, so thank your liver.

Enzymes from your pancreas help too.

That pear-shaped thing is the gallbladder.

Under the liver, it stores bile until needed.

It's coiled, huh?

I'm dizzy from the turns.

I can't turn back now—these contracting intestinal walls keep me going.

Looks like I'm in the final section of the small intestine and on to the large intestine!

It's a 5–6-foot muscular tube called the colon.

Hold the phone.

Shh.

Is that audible?

We're together.

Surrounding me.

Getting closer.

It’s…It’s…bacteria!

They're everywhere!

Are they infected with a parasite?

Nah, your intestines need good bacteria to break down food, vitamins, and nutrients.

for your body's use.

What's up?

Hey, what's that little dangly thing at the entrance?

It's the appendix.

The only thing it does is store bacteria that may need to be released into the gut.

Immune-boosting tissues are also present.

It's mostly useless, so people can live without it.

Inflamed appendices are removed by doctors.

Really!

It appears he still has his.

Good job!

We're in the large intestine now, and I'm glad it's bigger.

I'd be talking to you as a liquidy yellowish waste if I hadn't grabbed my fancy top-secret protective bubble.

As these muscle contractions push me through the colon, I'd lose all my water.

Stool, my final form.

Poo, do-do, #2, feces—whatever you call it—is formed in the large intestine.

Still lots of bacteria.

Aren't they working hard?

You'd get digestive issues like food intolerances if there were too few or too many.

Because they boost immunity, you have trillions of them in your gut.

Keep going, guys!

I'm going left.

It dumps stool into the rectum when it's too full.

What's left of your food (now waste) takes about 36 hours.

achieve this.

Because I have other grape stuff to do, I've been speeding through this journey.

Let's go to the rectum.

Geronimo!!!

A straight 8-inch chamber is the rectum.

It has sensors like this one or that one that tell you what to throw away.

When stool or gas want to leave, they signal the brain.

“Oh, gotta go to the bathroom!” comes to mind.

When you find a toilet, the sphincters relax.

ta-da!

Your stool departs.

Breakfast pizza, goodbye!

What?

No one else has breakfast pizza?

Let me know what your typical breakfast is in the comments!

When it's not time to poop, your sphincters contract.

contract.

The rectum sensors also reduce the urge to release its contents.

You should be grateful for your rectum and sphincters' efforts to keep things in.

Like when you're driving to work, dating, shopping, or sleeping!

The external sphincter, also known as the anus, gives you a few more minutes to get to the bathroom when you can't resist anymore!

I don't know if the human is ready, but I'd like to go now.

Hotwiring these sensors might help me escape.

Isn't this guy working?

This is awkward...Of course, normal food doesn't leave your body so gracefully.

It would be unrecognizable!

I still have important things to do, Gilbert The Grape, so hey, bub.

Go to the bathroom!

I'm out!

Byeee

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