"Okay, if you are all ready, let's continue with digestion. I do believe we were going to discuss what happened to that meal. Andrew, we will start with you. You have stuffed that bite into your mouth, what happens?"

Each student was able to answer correctly when called upon. They now had an understanding about the reason and purpose of saliva and of the gastric juices and the enzymes of the gallbladder, the pancreas, the liver and the bowels.

"In regards, to digestion, different foods take different lengths of time to break down in various parts of the system. For example, some meat products take up to 72 hours to work through our system. Most fruits break down and are used within a few hours if that. It all depends on what the food choice is and how our individual bodies react to it."

Ralph raised his hand in question, "So what happens when we eat something like pizza- all those different food types."

"An excellent question, Ralph. Each food group is recognized by the gut and the appropriate enzymes are activated to process it. So, if you had pizza with the crust a carbohydrate, sauce which is a veggie but really a fruit, cheese is of course a dairy, pepperoni is a meat or protein, chopped onions and peppers are veggies and carbohydrates and pineapple another fruit. Then all necessary enzymes would kick in. The fruits and simple veggies would be the first to complete the digestive process, followed by the bread, then dairy then protein."

Notes were quickly scribbled.

"Another word I would like you to be familiar with is, peristalsis. I do realize the example I am going to use will probably gross out the girls and maybe some of the guys. The entire digestive system is designed to work on what is referred to peristaltic action. What you put in your mouth is squeezed down to your stomach then to your bowels and finally out your rectum. I know you have all seen the example I am about to use either in real life or on TV. There is a large snake, that captures a mouse. Once it is in the mouth, you can see muscles contract forcing the mouse further in. This is an example of peristaltic action, the muscles squeezing and pushing it down. When you have a bowel movement, you have the urge to push and the stool / feces or poop comes out, then another urge and another push. This is one of those important words to know, hint."

All of the girls were engrossed in what I refer to as the 'yukky response, even some of the guys.
"As the broken-down food passes through the bowels by means of what action?" I paused as the entire class responded with 'peristalsis or peristaltic action.'

"The proteins and carbohydrates are absorbed by cilia or little hair like fingers of the bowel and then into the blood stream. They are actually very similar to the hairs in your nose, which by the way is a filter for impurities. If you are ever in a smoke-filled room, first get down onto the floor and crawl or pull yourself out, if you have something to put over your mouth and nose, do so and if not then strictly nose breathing. For the couple of you that tend to be mouth breathers, I would also suggest you reteach yourself, over time there is the chance that you might develop carbon dioxide poisoning because you are breathing out then back in through the same path, so never fully clearing your lungs. Sorry for the distraction but these are things you need to know; not necessarily for testing but for your safety."

They learned that the noisy rumbles were caused by the food choices as well as the extra air we swallowed as we ate and sometimes by the amount of carbonated drinks consumed. All eyes turned towards Stan, just briefly, but they looked.

"It will be interesting to see your food logs, but it will, I promise be helpful for you."
The day passed quickly as did the time with Tom. I reminded him of his test for the next evening.

I decided to go down the street, almost to the next subway stop, to one of my favorite East Indian restaurants for supper.