What is peristalsis?

Peristalsis is how food moves through your body, kind of like a wave pushing it along.

Imagine you're on a fun roller coaster, and every time the cart goes up, it pushes you forward. That’s peristalsis in action, your muscles squeeze and relax in waves to move what you eat from your mouth all the way to your stomach.

Your body is full of tubes, like a long tunnel made of muscles. When you swallow food, it goes into your esophagus, that’s the tube connecting your mouth to your stomach.

Then, your muscles start doing a dance: one part tightens and pushes the food forward, then the next part does the same. It’s like when you push a toy car along a track by squeezing it from behind, whoosh! The car moves forward.

This wave of muscle movements is peristalsis, and it keeps going all the way to your stomach, where the real work of digesting starts.

So next time you eat, remember: your body is doing a little dance to help your food travel from one place to another, no magic needed!