From embarrassing gas to uncomfortable heartburn, everyone has digestive problems from time to time. The good news is there are some simple solutions for many of your troubles. Learn about what causes your discomfort, how to prevent and manage digestive problems. It may seem like digestion only happens in your stomach, but it’s a long process that involves many organs. Together they form the digestive tract.Digestion begins in your mouth, where saliva starts to break down food when you chew. When you swallow, your chewed food moves to your esophagus, a tube that connects your throat to your stomach. Muscles in the esophagus push the food down to a valve at the bottom of your esophagus, which opens to let food into the stomach. Your stomach breaks food down using stomach acids. Then the food moves into the small intestine. There, digestive juices from several organs, like your pancreas and gallbladder, break down the food more, and nutrients are absorbed. What’s left goes through your large intestine. The large intestine absorbs water. The waste then moves out of your body through the rectum and anus. Digestive problems can happen anywhere along the way.
