The digestive system works to break down food into smaller nutrient molecules that can be absorbed by the blood and circulated to every cell in the body for use. We're going to use you as the basis for our explanation of the digestive system. Let's start with eating. You get hungry and you eat. Once you put the food in your mouth, you start to chew and your teeth begin a process of mechanical digestion that grinds food down into smaller pieces. Your salivary glands also starts to release the enzyme amylase that start the process of chemical digestion by breaking down starches and sugars into smaller molecules. Food then travels through the esophagus to the stomach by muscular contractions called peristalsis. Mechanical and chemical digestion continue in the stomach. The muscles of the stomach continue to mash food and additional acids and enzymes are secreted to further break down food into smaller, usable molecules. The stomach contracts and pushes food into the small intestine. As food moves through the small intestine other organs secrete fluids filled with specific enzymes that complete the digestion of our food. The absorption of nutrient molecules into the blood is facilitated by your small intestine. The small intestine has finger like projections called villi that have capillaries embedded in them. Nutrients diffuse across the capillaries into the blood. Undigested material that isn't absorbed continues into the large intestine where water and salt are removed and then are transported to the blood. Whatever is left is compacted, stored and then eliminated as solid waste through the rectum.