What happens inside your body during digestion?

When you eat, digestion begins in your mouth where saliva breaks down starches with enzymes. You swallow food, and it travels down the esophagus into the stomach, where muscular contractions churn it while gastric acid and enzymes break down proteins. This creates a semi-liquid mixture called chyme. Chyme moves into the small intestine, where the pancreas releases enzymes to break down fats, proteins, and carbohydrates, and bile from the liver emulsifies fats. Nutrients are absorbed through the intestinal walls into the bloodstream. Whatever remains passes into the large intestine, which absorbs water and electrolytes. Bacteria there ferment remaining material, and the leftover waste is compacted and eventually eliminated.