After food has churned in the stomach for a few hours, it enters the small intestine.

The small intestine is the longest part of your digestive system. It is 22 feet long! It is packed tightly together below your stomach, winding back and forth kind of like a maze.

Hidden inside this long tube are millions of microscopic fingers called villi that stick out from the walls. In your small intestine there are over 4,000 villi in an area the size of your fingernail!

Villi absorb the nutrients from the bolus of food and send those nutrients directly into the blood. Carbohydrates, fat, proteins, vitamins, and minerals are absorbed through these fingers. Fat digestion begins here in the small intestine. Your pizza bite is loaded with fat in the cheese and meat, so the small intestine has to work hard to break it down.

What would happen if you did not have villi?

STOP AND THINK