What Is The Alimentary Canal In Mary Roach's Gulp Essay

Gulp Essay Gulp by Mary Roach brings a comedic approach to science. This books talks about the alimentary canal and how it works. We first start at the very beginning of alimentary canal, the mouth. We first learn that tasting our food is mostly based on our sense of smell, not our tongue. As the book progresses, we go deeper into the alimentary canal and how our food passes through our esophagus, stomach, and intestines. Throughout the journey through the body, we learn that we should chew our food at leasts 32 times, mucous coats the stomach so the acid in it won’t corrode it, and that Elvis Presley died of constipation on the toilet. We finally finish at the very end of the alimentary canal, which is the anus. At the end of the book we learn about the role of food and the nutrients in it and how they impact our health. This book was full of laughs and giggles, which I did not expect due to the fact that this book is about science and the human body. I must say, though, that the funniest part in this book had to be in chapter sixteen. Ms. Roach was talking about the Mütter Museus and a man identified as J.W. and his colon. “... and the colon of J.W. was enormous: twenty-eight inches around at its most distended point. I remembered standing there and thinking, It wears the same size jeans as me.” (Roach, 289-290). This was funny because Mary Roach was standing in front of a colon about 9 times the size of an average one and all she can think about is how it would be able to wear the same size jeans that she wears. Out of all the hilarious and outlandish things this book said, I believe that this specific part was the funniest. The one time the author had me pondering science from an unusual perspective was when she …show more content…
Roach informs the reader on how chewing your food thoroughly can trick your brain into thinking you are full, making you eat less. This got me thinking about different ways we can trick our body into eating less and helping people lose weight. I found that if you use a smaller plate while eating, it tricks your eyes into thinking that your food is a large portion and makes you believe you are full. I find this very interesting because this information can be used to help people lose weight without taking any weight loss …show more content…
One of the seven core values she exhibits in her work is curiosity. Ms. Roach shows curiosity in her work by writing what no authors would write about, the digestive system. She seems curious about how the alimentary canal works and how the digestive system plays a role in it. She is even curious in the gruesome and disgusting parts of our body, like our colon, rectum, and anus. Another core value she displays in her work is passion. Mary Roach is so passionate in her work that she talks to several scientist, dog food workers, wine tasters, and many more just to find reliable information she can use to teach us fellow readers. The last core value that Ms. Roach showcases throughout the book is creativity. She somehow finds a way to creatively tie humor into how the human body works, creating a captivating