How does food/drink work it’s way out of the stomach and through the digestive tract when laying down? I.e. without the help of gravity?

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edit: “muscles moving things along” doesn’t quite add up for me, especially in the context of the stomach. On anatomical charts of the human body, the passage connecting the stomach to the small intestine is either on the right or left *bottom* portion of the stomach. Lets assume its on the right, bottom side of my stomach: if I am laying on my left side, that passage is then at the *top* of my stomach.

This concept could be applied to the entire G.I. tract as it winds through my body – if I am laying on my side, food and liquid would at some point have to move not just down, but also UP.

How do muscles do all of that, especially in what is essentially a pool of liquid (stomach) when the only way out is above everything?

In: Biology

3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Peristalsis, involuntary movements of the longitudinal and circular muscles, primarily in the digestive tract but occasionally in other hollow tubes of the body, that occur in progressive wavelike contractions. Peristaltic waves occur in the esophagus, stomach, and intestines.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Same way you squeeze toothpaste out of the tube. The whole system is lined with rings of muscle that squish things along by closing behind them.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Your digestive tract, from throat to butt, is a long pipe. It has muscles in it which squeezes things along.