Digestive System Vocabulary

What we verified before publishing

Fact-check status: passed

The following claims were verified through Perplexity Sonar before the questions were finalised. The host can reference any of them during play:

• The alimentary canal is a musculomembranous tube extending from the mouth to the anus where digestion occurs[1].
• The oral cavity (mouth) is where the process of digestion is initiated by mechanical and chemical processes[1].
• Salivary glands secrete saliva, a mixture of water, buffers, and enzymes, to aid in swallowing and digestion[1].
• The cardiac or gastroesophageal sphincter regulates the passage of food from the esophagus into the stomach[1].
• The stomach is the most dilated part of the alimentary canal and a principal organ of the digestive system[1].
• Peristalsis is a series of involuntary, wave-like muscle movements that push food through the gastrointestinal tract[1][8].
• The duodenum is the first portion of the small intestine where it receives chyme from the stomach and enzymes from the pancreas and liver[1].
• The pancreas is an exocrine gland that secretes pancreatic juice, an important digestive fluid, into the duodenum[1].
• The gallbladder is a small pouch that stores bile and releases it into the duodenum to help digest fats[1][5].
• The large intestine reabsorbs water vitamins and compacts liquid waste into solid waste (stool) before defecation[1].
• Digestion breaks down biomolecule polymers into their chemical building blocks such as amino acids, simple sugars, and fatty acids[2][5].
• Constipation and diarrhea are the two most common gastrointestinal issues involving hard dry poops or loose watery poops respectively[3].