The digestive system is made up of several parts. Your stomach breaks down the food you eat into small particles. Some of these particles include proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. After leaving your stomach, the food particles travel to the small intestine -- which is a long, continuous tube that slowly contracts, or squeezes, to push the food along through it. As the small intestine continues to digest the food, it absorbs nutrients that your body uses for energy, growth, and repairs.

 

What's left of the food then travels to the colon, where water is removed. Finally, these waste products leave the body through the anus as stool when you have a bowel movement. If the stool moves through quickly, it will be more watery. If it moved through too slowly, you can become constipated.