Hey dude. My name’s Gilbert. Gilbert The Grape. Yeah the name was my dad’s idea… Anyway, today I’m going on an epic journey…through
the human body! So, wanna watch? The trip starts as the human heads to the
office lunch room, opens his lunchbox, and finds me in there. What else has he got here? A turkey sandwich, some yogurt, hmm! I see he’s taken a bite of his sandwich. Oh! Now it’s my turn! He’s popped me into his mouth – it’s
go time! Gotta be honest, it’s pretty wet and warm
in here. The mouth is the gateway to the digestive
system. That system is designed specifically to transform
food into useful nutrients that keep you energized and help your cells grow and repair. So, once you grab the first bite of whatever
you’re eating, you turn on the digestion machine. As you chew, food is broken up into pieces
to make the process easier. Saliva comes in handy as it mixes with food
and breaks it down even more. That way, your stomach doesn’t have to digest
whole chunks of food. By the way, here’s a fun fact – the amount
of saliva you produce in a year could fill 2 medium-sized bathtubs! Almost a pool full of drool! It’s really raining spit in here, ew! Whoa, I better watch out for these teeth! Wouldn’t wanna end up like Turkey Boy over
there. It’s hard since this guy’s using his tongue
to roll food around his mouth and toward his teeth. I don’t really feel like becoming jam today,
so I’m just gonna bypass all this chewing! Down the chute we go! Weee!!! We’re now heading into the throat – they
also call it the pharynx. Uh-oh, fork in the road. Which way do I go? Eenie meenie miney moe –looks like this
way we must go. Hang on, I think I took a wrong turn. Why is everything shaking? Aw, poor human is coughing like crazy – someone
give him a nice slap on the back. There we go, coming back up! Sorry, dude! Phew, that was close! Almost ended up in his lungs – that wouldn’t
be good. Alright, I’m back on the road, so let’s
give it another try. I’ve CORRECTLY turned into the swallowing
tube that goes by the sophisticated name of esophagus. I like to call it the “food chute” but
it’s a lot less spacey than I imagined! I’m getting kinda squooshed in here. Uh oh, how do I keep going down? Ah, I see. The muscles in the walls of this guy’s esophagus
are squeezing behind me and relaxing in front of me. This is a process called peristalsis, and
it’s what moves me through your digestive system. A couple seconds later, and we’ve now reached
the end of the tunnel. There’s a muscle here that opens up to let
food into the stomach and keeps it from coming back out into the esophagus. It’s kinda like the TSA in a way. I’m just a tourist here, sir, please let
me in. Yay! I’ve passed through the valve and into the
stomach. It reminds me of a sac and … let me try
those walls. Wow, that’s a strong one – it’s all
muscle. I’m not surprised, actually. The stomach holds, mixes, and grinds the food
up into mush, so it has to be pretty strong. Quite honestly, this doesn’t look too … oh
my, what’s that? That burns like crazy! Ooh, ooh, hot! I gotta get out of this stomach acid or else
I’ll turn into liquid or paste like Turkey Sandwich over there! That’s okay, I’ve come prepared! I brought this handy-dandy little device that’ll
incase me in a protective bubble. Your food usually doesn’t have this, but
I got…connections. It’s classified. I just have to push this button... There, now I can keep talking to you the whole
way instead of turning into grape jelly. Next stop – the small intestine! This long coiled snaky organ is made up of
3 sections. When I say long, I mean it – if you spread
it out (which I don’t recommend doing because you need it to be coiled…and inside of you…),
you’d get a tube that’s over 20 feet in length! Yep, that’s as long as a giraffe is tall…all
stuffed into your insides! I must say, it’s pretty warm in here. Almost feels like a tropical resort, except
I’m in an ocean of … bile! Oh yeah, I’m protected in my little bubble,
no worries! Bile is crucial to digest fat and take all
the waste out of your blood, so be thankful your liver produces it. Your pancreas also helps the process with
some good enzymes. And that thing over there that looks like
a pear – that’s the gallbladder. It’s located under the liver and keeps bile
in it until the right moment comes. Man, this thing really is coiled, huh? I’m getting kinda dizzy from the twists
and turns. But no going back now – these contracting
intestinal walls keep pushing me forward. Looks like I’m already in the final section
of the small intestine and on to the next leg of my journey – the large intestine! Also known as the colon, it’s a muscular
tube that’s 5 to 6 feet long. Hold the phone. Shh. Do you hear that? I’m not alone. I’m surrounded. They’re coming in closer. It’s…It’s…bacteria! There’s tons of them in here! Uh-oh, is this person sick with some intestinal
parasite or something? Nah, your intestines need good bacteria to
help them break down food, vitamins, and nutrients so that your body can use them. Sup, peeps? Hey, what’s that little dangly thing over
there at the entrance? Ah, that must be the appendix. It doesn’t do much besides house bacteria
that might need to be released into the gut. It’s also got some tissues that are useful
for your immune system. But it’s mostly a useless little thing,
so people can still live without it. Hey, if your appendix gets inflamed, a doctor
will cut it out of you! Really! Looks like this guy still has his. Good for you! Anyway, we’re now in the large intestine,
and I’m glad it’s a little roomier in here. Had I not grabbed my fancy top-secret protective
bubble, I’d be talking to you now as a liquidy yellowish mush of waste. As these muscle contractions push me through
the colon, I’d have all the water sucked out of me. My final form: stool. Yep, poo, do-do, #2, feces, whatever you like
to call it, it’s formed in the large intestine. Still loads of bacteria all over the place. They’re really hard at work, eh? Well, there can’t be too little or too many
– otherwise you’d have digestive problems like food intolerances. They also play a major role in your immunity,
and that’s why you have trillions of them in your gut. Keep up the good work, guys! I'm on my way through the left colon. When it gets too full of stool, it decides
to dump it all into the rectum because it can't hold it all by itself. It usually takes about 36 hours for what’s
left of your food (not much now, just waste) to reach this point. But I’ve been speeding through this journey
because I’ve got some other grape stuff to do. So let’s head to the rectum already. Geronimo!!! The rectum is a straight chamber that’s
about 8 inches long. It has special sensors, like this one or that
one there, that let you know when there’s something you should get rid of. They send a signal to the brain when stool
or gas wanna make their exit. That’s about the time when a thought pops
up in your brain, “Oh, gotta go to the bathroom!” If the moment is right for you (that is, you
find a toilet), the sphincters relax, and ta-da! Your stool makes its exit. Buh-bye, pizza from yesterday’s breakfast! What? No one else here has cold pizza for breakfast? Alright, then let me know down in the comments,
what your typical breakfast looks like! Anyway, when the moment isn’t exactly right
to release stool just yet, your sphincters contract. Those rectum sensors help too so that the
urge to release its contents disappears for a while. You should be happy your rectum and sphincters
are working hard to keep stuff in when the timing isn’t good. Like when you’re driving to work, on a date,
getting groceries, sleeping! But when you just can’t resist the urge
anymore, the external sphincter, also called the anus, gives you a couple more minutes
or however long you need until you make it to the bathroom! Well, not sure if the human is ready, but
I’d really like to go now. Maybe I can hotwire these sensors to make
my great escape. Oh yeah, this guy is at work, isn’t he? Um, this is gonna be awkward…Of course,
normal food doesn't leave your body in such a graceful manner. You wouldn't even recognize what was what! But as for me, Gilbert The Grape, I still
have important things to do, so hey, bub, let’s hit the john! I’m outta here! Byeee! Well that was different. Hey, if you learned something new today, then
give the video a like and share it with a friend! And here are some other cool videos I think
you'll enjoy. Just click to the left or right, and stay
on the Bright Side of life!
