Flow
Digestion:
Eating & Excreting, etc.
|
Eating |Excreting
| Passing Gas |
Indigestion |
Eating Most
individuals have fairly regular daily patterns of eating,
and commonly most eating occurs during two to three meals
per day, with snacks consisting of smaller amounts of food
being consumed in between. The issue of healthy eating has
long been an important concern to individuals and cultures.
Among other practices, fasting, dieting, and vegetarianism
are all techniques employed by individuals and encouraged
by societies to increase longevity and health. Leading nutritionists
believe that instead of indulging oneself in 3 large meals
each day, it is much healthier and easier on the metabolism
to eat 5 smaller meals each day (e.g. better digestion,
easier on the lower intestine to deposite wastes; whereas
larger meals are tougher on the digestive track and may
call for the use of laxatives). Eating can also be a way
of making money (see competitive eating).
Excreting
Excretion is the "process of eliminating from an organism
waste products of metabolism and other materials that are
of no use. It is an essential process in all forms of life.
In one-celled organisms wastes are discharged through the
surface of the cell. The higher plants eliminate gases through
the stomata, or pores, on the leaf surface. Multicellular
animals have special excretory organs. In humans the main
organs of excretion are the kidneys and accessory urinary
organs, through which urine is eliminated (see urinary system),
and the large intestines, from which solid wastes are expelled.
Passing Gas
Burping, also known as
belching, ructus or eructation, is the release of gas from
the digestive tract (mainly esophagus and stomach) through
the mouth. It is often accompanied with a typical sound
and sometimes an odor.
Flatulence is the presence
of gas under some degree of pressure, in a confined space.
The term is normally used of the presence of gas in the
digestive tract of mammals. Though confused by the word's
use as a euphemism for 'fart', flatulence is distinct from
flatus, which is the release of such confined gas. The distinction
becomes very important in cases of bloat. In the animal
digestive tract, the gas is produced by symbiotic bacteria
and yeasts.
Visit our exhibits on these subjects:
|
Eating | Excreting
| Passing Gas |
Indigestion |
Image credits (from left): Digestive
System path; Vesalius
anatomy lesson;
woman with her alimentary canal ; The
Food Museum collection;
The Quest to Digest
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