The digestive system is a very important system in the human body. It is a group of organs that work together to turn food into energy and nutrients throughout the body. Food that used to be chewed in a human's mouth now passes through a long tube inside the body known as the alimentary canal. The alimentary canal consists of the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine and large intestine. These few things are not the only important accessories of the digestive system: there are also the teeth, the tongue, the salivary glands, the liver, the gallbladder and the pancreas. The digestive system is very responsible for taking all the food that people eat and turning it into energy. and nutrients to allow the body to function, grow and repair. The six primary processes of this system are ingestion of food, secretion of digestive fluids and enzymes, mixing and movement of food and waste throughout the body, digestion of food into small pieces, absorption of nutrients and waste disposal. Ingestion is the first function of the digestive system, also known as food intake. The mouth is the reason for this process because through the mouth is the way food enters the body. The stomach and mouth store food until the stomach is ready to digest the food just eaten. The reason people can only eat a few times a day is because your body can only allow a certain amount of food depending on your weight and body type and cannot ingest more food than it can process at one time. The next step in Secretion occurs during the day. The digestive system secretes about 7 liters of fluid per day, but these fluids include saliva, mucus, hydrochloric acid, enzymes, and bile... middle of paper... Monal changes may play an important role in IBS. Most people who suffer from IBS contracted it before the age of 35, and most people have a family history of it. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 2014. Web. May 20, 2014. Digestive Disorders Health Center. WebMD, 2014. Web. May 20, 2014. Digestive Disorders Health Center. WebMD, 2014. Web. May 21, 2014. Digestive system. Internal body, 2013. Web. 20 May 2014. Irritable bowel syndrome. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 2014. Web. May 20, 2014. Maintaining a healthy digestive system. Gastroenterological Society of Australia, 2013. Web. 20 May 2014. National Digestive Disease Information Center (NDDIC). Skip navigationUnited States DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, 2014. Web. May 20, 2014.Why is the digestive system so important? Bookrags, 2014. Web. 20 May 2014.