How Do Your Bowels Work?

If you want to know how your bowels work, we've got some information here for you. You can read on to learn about all the different things that make up your gut and much more!

#1: How Do Your Bowels Work?
The urogenital system is a vast network of tubes and muscles composed of the large intestine (large bowel) and part of the small intestine (small bowel). The gut has one opening that empties into the anal canal. This canal ends at the anus, which serves as a way for waste to exit from your body.

#2: How Do Your Bowels Work?
The large intestine has two functions:
- Your Digestive System: The large intestine is where much of the food you eat is broken down into a liquid and a gaseous form. This helps you to digest food to use as energy for your body. [1] - Absorption of Nutrients: The gut also absorbs many nutrients that your body needs to be healthy.

#3: How Do Your Bowels Work? As digestion occurs, the extensive intestine contents are excreted through your one opening (the anus). Excretion occurs in your small bowel and colon, creating waste products that are moved out of your body. #4: How Do Your Bowels Work? The anal canal becomes full of faeces unless you can "hold it" for a short time. If you can't hold it, your pelvis muscles help push the faeces out through the anus.

#5: How Do Your Bowels Work?
Before this time, the need to defecate is signalled by expanding your rectum. This causes an increased feeling of pressure in your abdomen and drives you to use the bathroom. [3]
So there you have it! Now you know about how your bowels work!  

#6: How Do Your Bowels Work?
Did you know that your digestive system is made up of more than just your bowels? Find out about all the different organs that make up your digestive system in the infographic below!

#7: How Do Your Bowels Work?
How do your bowels work? Let's break it down! The waste products in the large intestine are moved from your body through a series of muscles and walls. Here we explore these parts of the large intestine and explain how they work. –The first part of the colon is called the cecum. It is a pouch-like structure that rests on top of your right leg at the bottom of the abdominal cavity. The cecum connects the large intestine to the small intestine. –The colon is a long tube that makes up most of your large intestine. The colon's primary function is to absorb water and extract excess electrolytes, vitamins and minerals from the waste products collected in your large intestine.

#8: How Do Your Bowels Work?
-The rectum is a short segment of your colon that connects to the anus and stores waste materials until you are ready to defecate them. –The anus is a canal carrying out the waste products of digestion from your body. It serves as an outlet for liquid waste and solid faeces (stool). –The ascending and transverse colon are two segments of the colon that feed into the stomach, small intestine and large intestine.

#9: How Do Your Bowels Work?
–The anal canal is a short segment of your rectum that connects to the anus. This canal carries out waste products after you have evacuated your bowels. –The ascending and descending colon are two tube portions of the large intestine that lead to the stomach and small intestine. The distal portion of these tubes leads to the anus, so these areas become full of faeces when you defecate. The ascending colon is also known as the "colon of Gaius," a Roman physician and philosopher.

#10: How Do Your Bowels Work? –The sigmoid colon is the thickest part of your large intestine and forms a loop to help control electrolyte balance produced by the body. This helps to prevent constipation. -The transverse colon runs through the centre of your abdomen, directly behind your spine, and then splits into two branches that travel toward your stomach and small intestine. The left branch has four sections of smooth muscle that contract, which signals defecation. The right branch has five flex areas, which allows for additional gas buildup in your rectum before excretion.

#11: How Do Your Bowels Work?
-The small intestine is a long tube that receives the waste products of your colon and breaks down the remaining scraps of food left in your body. The small intestine hosts millions of "microvilli," which absorb nutrients from food. These nutrients are then used to create energy for your body. The small bowel is a small segment of the small intestine that empties into the large bowel by a connecting opening. This opening is known as the "ileocecal valve," It regulates how quickly waste moves through your intestines while keeping the unwanted matter out.