Digestion

Digestion of a cheeseburger starts in the mouth. Saliva contains enzymes, amylase and lipase, that begin to break down the food. Amylase starts to break down carbohydrates, and lipase begins to breakdown fats. The saliva moistens the food and begins to liquify it. The cheeseburger then travels down the esophagus through peristalsis, coordinated movement of food along the digestive tract. Once the cheeseburger enters the stomach, food is broken down by enzymes secreted by cheif and parietal cells and mixed around by segmentation. Cheif cells in the stomach secrete pepsiogen, which once it enters the stomach becomes pepsin. Pepsin breaks larger proteins into smaller pieces. Parietal cells secrete hydrochloric acid which denatures proteins. The cheeseburger them travels into the small intestine where chemical digestion continues until completion. When the cheeseburger enters the large intestine, it hase been completely broken down; the main function of the large intestine is compaction of waste and absorption of water. Once through the large intestine, the nutrients from the cheeseburger have been completely absorbed, and the waste travels to the anus for defecation.