Food travels through a tube from the mouth to the stomach and intestines. Digestion breaks food into smaller parts. Absorption is different: small nutrients cross the small-intestine wall into the body. The gut tube and the blood route are separate. Blood can then carry absorbed nutrients toward body cells.
The human body · Discover & try
How does food become nutrients the body can use?
Reading level 1 of 5 · EarlyChange
Word help
Digestion
Breaking food into smaller components.
Absorption
Movement of substances across the intestinal lining.
Watch · Try · Explain
See how it works
The interactive activity is loading.
Selected food and nutrient routes, not a complete digestive diagram. Many fat products initially enter lymph, which is omitted from this simplified blood route.
What to look for
- Food passes through mouth, food pipe, stomach and intestines.
- A small nutrient crosses the intestinal wall into a separate blood route.
Explain what you noticed
A small sugar molecule has crossed the small-intestinal lining into blood. What can happen next?
Keep this idea: Digestion breaks food down; absorption transfers useful products across the gut lining.
Follow the sources
- NIH NIDDK — Your Digestive System and How It Works
- NIH National Cancer Institute — Introduction to the Digestive System
Source material checked 2026-10-29. Explanations and activities by Nepedia. Source links do not imply endorsement.
Keep following the idea
Next discovery →