The digestive system digests food, absorbs nutrients, and removes undigested food. It is made up of the digestive tract and glands. The digestive system breaks down nutrients like carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, salts, and water over an 18 hour period through both mechanical and chemical digestion processes in the mouth, stomach, and intestines. Maintaining a healthy digestive system requires drinking milk and water, eating foods with fiber while sitting and chewing well.