The throat!
Heres a short video on it before we move on
Here's your ''Subtitles''
The throat is the pathway linking the mouth, nose, esophagus and trachea. When food is swallowed the soft palate closes off the postnasal cavity to prevent food from entering. At the same time a flap of elastic cartilage, the epiglottis, temporarily closes off the trachea to prevent food and liquid from entering.
Lets continue.
The Esophagus (gullet)
by a process called peristalsis,which is the contraction of smooth muscles to propel something(your food)through the digestive system.
In other words...
Scene 1:Your delicious apple pie(presuming you like apple pie) has been chewed up to bits and is now about to pass through the Esophagus.
Even if you didn't like/eat apple pie,you can always replace it with something else...Like Roti Prata...Or Fish and Chips...
Ahem!!
Scene 2:As the bits of apple(or pie,whatever,lol) slide down the Esophagus,the circular smooth muscles behind the bits of apple contracts,while the muscles in front of the apple bits relaxes,Which pushes the apple bits forward.
In a picture....
From Wikipedia.
Hmm,that looks more like some squished orange than apple bits.
Ahem..!
Bolus: A soft mass of chewed food within the mouth or alimentary canal.
The Liver
The liver has lots of functions.Here are a very few of them:
1.Fighting Infections
2.Creating bile
3.Store vitamins and minerals
4.Making enzymes and proteins that are responsible for most of the chemical reactions in the body.
5.Breaking down food into energy
As the liver is a very complex organ,this is just a very basic summary of the digestive functions of it.
Your liver plays a vital role in fighting infections,particularly infections arising in the bowel by mobilizing part of your body's defense mechanism called the macrophage system.The liver contains over half of the body's supply of these macrophages.
Macrophages: White blood cells within tissues,produced by Monocytes.their role is to engulf and then digest cellular debris, and pathogen either as stationary or mobile cells, and to stimulate lymphocytes and other immune cells to respond to the pathogen.
Pathogen:A germ that causes diseases or illness.
Lymphocytes:A type of white blood cell in the immune system.
Monocytes: A type of white blood cell,part of the human body's immune system.
In digestion its primary purpose is to provide bile, which is stored in the gallbladder, and released into the intestines when eating to help break down fat physically by breaking the large droplets of fat into smaller droplets. This aids in the function of the enzyme lipase, which is what actually digests the fat. The bile is actually a by-product of the filtering action of the liver(the liver is also 'in-charge' of clearing out the blood of particles and infections including bacteria).
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esophagus
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Peristalsis.gif
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peristalsis
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/bolus
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_functions_does_the_liver_have_in_your_digestion
http://www.britishlivertrust.org.uk/home/the-liver/summary-of-the-livers-functions.aspx
http://www.mamashealth.com/organs/liver.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liver#Blood_flow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrophage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CigUyfSv3w0&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fbiochembloggie.blogspot.com%2F&feature=player_embedded
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