The story, apart from explaining the working of the digestive system, also tells the effects of eating excess fats and carbohydrates.

1. The Dig-Buddies
The working of the digestive system
Richa Jain Jindal – 27.1.2015

2. Once upon a time, there was a small boy, who lived
in a small town, away from the hustle bustle of big
city. He was a happy boy.
Do you know,
why was he
happy?
Because he had
happy friends!
Happy secret
friends! These
were parts of
his digestive
system. He
called them
dig-buddies.

3. The dig-buddies helped each other, worked
together and were always active. The boy
unknowingly took good care of them, by eating
healthy food, i.e. eating proteins, carbohydrates,
fats, vitamins and minerals in right proportion, and
being physically active.

4. These secret friends did the difficult job of
filtering the nutrients from the food he ate. The
blood then circulated these nutrients to the whole
body and thus kept the boy healthy and active.
(Related video -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnzwbipJuAA)

5. As soon the boy ate something, different parts of
mouth would get active. Teeth would cut and chop
the food. The tongue, with the help of saliva, would
roll it into a ball and push down to the oesophagus,
the food pipe.
The food pipe would carry
food to the stomach. The
stomach would churn the
food and add digestive
juices to it. These juices
would clean the food-
mash by killing germs and
also break down food even
in smaller parts.

6. The food-mash would then reach small intestine.
Small intestine with the help of its close friends
liver and pancreas would break it down even
further. It would then let blood absorb the
nutrients from the food and send waste to the
large intestine.
Body would absorb water-content from the large
intestine and send the remaining waste to the
rectum, to be taken out of the body. The dig-
buddies and the other body-parts were happy,
energetic and growing day by day and so was the
boy.

8. On one fine day, the boy saw a new eating joint in
his small quiet town. It was a fast food restaurant.
He went inside and saw yummy, attractive items on
the menu card. He ordered a burger and starting
eating it. The tongue said ‘ Ummmmm!’
‘Yummmmmyyyy!’
thought the boy.

9. As soon as the food got into his mouth, the body-
buddies got active and performed their respective
tasks diligently, as usual. The food contained some
amount of protein and an excess of carbohydrates
and fat. The body received some protein and a lot
of carbohydrates and fats. The boy liked the taste
of this newly found food, so he stared eating it
regularly.
There was now an excess supply of carbohydrates
and fats. The dig-buddies had to work really hard
to break down fat and carbs. These are the most
stubborn members of the nutrients-family and
difficult to digest.

10. Now, as there was an excess supply of
carbohydrates and fat, so the question came up,
where to store them? The body started storing it
underneath the skin, as there was no other place
to store them.

11. The continuous more than needed supply of fats
and carbs made the dig-buddies tired. They
were working harder and harder, but in return
they got excess fat to be deposited and
insufficient protein, mineral and vitamins.

12. The boy grew fatter that made
him less active. The boy was
no longer active and energetic.
He didn’t like his new body.
He thought of checking with
the dig-buddies, if every thing
was ok? He peeped inside. The
dig buddies looked dull and
weak. He shouted, ‘Hey friends!
What’s wrong?’

13. ‘Give us energy!’ replied the gang. The boy was
surprised. ‘But I am eating regularly that too
yummy food’ said the boy.
‘It may be yummy for the tongue!’ said the gang. ‘
But for us its hard to digest and imbalanced. We
don’t get enough energy from what you eat.’
The boy was stunned. He
looked at the heart. The heart
was also panting. He gathered
courage to ask the heart. ‘Hey
heart! You don’t have to digest
anything, why do you look
exhausted’ asked the boy.

14. ‘I don’t digest, my friend, but extra fat deposited
in the body is the cause of my miserable condition.
Because of the excess fat, I have to work harder
to pump the blood all over the body’ said the
panting heart.
‘O dear dig buddies and my lovely
heart! Please show me a way to
come out of this situation. I can’t
see my friends in trouble’ said the
repenting boy.

15. ‘Run, jump, exercise! Use the deposited fat and
give us balanced nutrients from now on and we all
will be fine’ replied the gang with enthusiasm.
After that the boy
exercised regularly
and did visit the fast
food restaurant, but
only once or twice in a
month.
Then lived the boy, his
heart and the dig-
buddies happily ever
after.