Medicine & Health
How does digestion work?
Digestion works by breaking food down — mechanically and chemically — into tiny nutrients your body can absorb. It's a journey from mouth to stomach to intestines, with enzymes and acids dismantling food along the way.
See it in motion.
Watch a 2-minute animated lesson that shows exactly how digestion works.
Step by step
- 1Chewing and stomach churning break food down physically.
- 2Enzymes and stomach acid break it down chemically into nutrients.
- 3The small intestine absorbs nutrients into the blood.
- 4The large intestine reclaims water; waste is expelled.
Frequently asked questions
- Where does digestion start?
- In the mouth — chewing breaks food up and saliva begins breaking down starches.
- What does the stomach do?
- It churns food and uses acid and enzymes to break proteins down into a soupy mixture.
- Where are nutrients absorbed?
- Mainly in the small intestine, whose lining passes nutrients into the bloodstream.