How does the body get the nutrients that it needs

When we eat or ingest food, it must be changed in order for it to be absorbed and then carried throughout our body.  This is a diagram of the digestive tract and other organs that are involved in the process.

Graphic used by permission from Division of Gastroenterology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami.

The food is broken down as it passes through the stomach and into the small intestine (the three parts of the small intestine are the duodenum, jejunum and ileum) where most of the absorption takes place.  The waste products and those molecules that cannot be absorbed then pass into the colon and continue through the digestive system.