The flow of food through the body begins with ingestion. The mouth chews and mixes food with saliva. Salivary glands secrete saliva, and saliva helps break down the food because it is acidic. The pharynx directs food from the mouth to the esophagus.The epiglottis protects airways during swallowing to prevent choking. The esophagus passes food from the mouth to the stomach, and the esophageal sphincters allows the transportation of the passage from mouth to stomach and prevents back flow from stomach through the esophagus to the mouth. The stomach churns, mixes, and grinds food to a liquid mass; adding acid, enzymes, and fluids. The pyloric sphincter allows passage from stomach to small intestine; preventing back flow from small intestine. The
