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Vomit-ology
By Linda | October 26, 2008
This post explains what happens when the normal digestive process does not proceed according to plan…
Yesterday on the way back from the annual Cub Scout bonfire, my 7-year-old announced from the back seat that her tummy didn’t feel so good. Shortly thereafter she proved it by emptying the contents of her stomach (hot dogs, chips, Capri Sun and Smores) all over herself and everything within an 18 inch radius. The stench was awful but it got me thinking about why it is that regardless of what is consumed, vomit always has that same disquinshing aroma - Eau de Puke!
Naturally, I felt that is was ScienceJunkies duty to do some research on the subject and regurgitate the facts for you!
How do we digest Food?
Digestion involves mixing food with digestive juices, moving it through the digestive tract, and breaking down large molecules of food into smaller molecules. Digestion begins in the mouth, when you chew and swallow, and is completed in the small intestine. In the final step of the digestive process, undigested parts of the food such as fiber along with used up body cells and water are pushed into the colon, where they remain until the feces are expelled by a bowel movement.
What causes us to vomit?
The normal digestive process can be interrupted for various reasons including food poisoning, illness, nervousness or overeating, to name just a few. Your stomach holds less than two ounces when empty but it will expand to hold a quart (about four juice boxes) or more. Regardless of the cause, vomiting occurs when the muscles that normally direct food down through the body’s digestive channels reverse the flow to expel food from the stomach, up the esophagus and back out through the mouth. Vomiting is a very important and potentially life-saving protective mechanism that allows your body to expel harmful substances and microorganisms before they can do further damage as they are absorbed through the digestive tract.
What makes vomit smell the way it does?
Various enzymes and acids are excreted during the digestive process to break food down into components that can be absorbed for use by the body. The chemical that imparts vomit’s characteristic odor is called butyric acid. Butyric acid is also found in some foods including cheese. It’s one of the flavor components that gives Parmesan cheese it’s unique and pungent bite!
And just for fun, here is a list of all the colorful names I can think of for this useful bodily function:
- Barf
- Puke
- Vomit
- Emesis (medical name)
- Tossing Cookies
- Losing Lunch
- Regurgitation
- Technicolor Yawn
- Hurl
- Spew
- Throw Up
- Blow Chunks
- Ralph
Apparently, someone has spent much more time thinking up names for vomit than I have - See all the colorful, if obscure terminology describing this function at vomitnames.com!
Topics: Food Science, Health & the Human Body |
