Imagine that you are eating a sandwich containing wheat bread, ham, lettuce and Swiss cheese. Have you ever wondered where the nutrients from all the previously listed ingredients go? Well, when a bite of this sandwich is taken, the mouth produces a salivary enzyme called amylase. This enzyme immediately gets to work breaking down the carbohydrates in the bread. Once the bite is completely chewed, the contents are then swallowed and travel down the esophagus and begin to travel towards the upper esophageal sphincter and are involuntarily pushed towards the stomach. The next passage for the sandwich is through the lower esophageal sphincter; which carries the sandwich into the stomach. Once in the stomach, the glands there begin to secrete enzymes and mucus that help protect the stomach from its own acids. During this time, the stomach muscles contract. This causes food to turn over and move throughout the stomach. This process turns food into chyme, which is just a liquefied version of the food originally consumed....