Bowel
The intestine is the area of our body in which the food components split into stomach and duodenum are further decomposed and absorbed into the body. Our intestines are as long as a flagpole is high. An intestine can be up to six to eight metres long. And its surface can reach about 400 square meters, which is the size of two tennis courts. There are about 100 trillion bacteria here, whose weight is about 2 kilograms and consists of 500 to 1500 different species. They form an ecosystem, the microbiome, which is extremely important for our health, because the intestine and its inhabitants supply us with vital nutrients and vitamins.
In addition, the intestine controls important metabolic processes. And it is a vital component of our immune system - about 80 percent of the immune cells of the human body are located in the intestine. There is a connection between our digestive tract and our psyche, which is also reflected in expressions such as "that hits me on the stomach" or "that causes me stomach pain". Our "abdominal-brain" contains an estimated 100 million nerve cells - more than in the spinal cord. The happiness hormone serotonin is also produced here and 95% of it is permanently in our stomach.