Digestion Physiology
Erica Yeisley
ZOOL 2021.01
Youlonda FitzGerald
November 2, 2014
I. Introduction
The process of breaking down food into smaller particles is called digestion, which primarily occurs within three segments of the digestive tract: the mouth, stomach, and the small intestine. In order for nutrients to be fully absorbed, they essentially need to be broken down into smaller particles in order to be transported through carrier proteins into the epithelial cells that form the mucosal lining of the digestive tract (Texas Woman’s University 2014). There are two different processes in which digestion occurs: mechanical digestion, where large chunks of food are mechanically breaking into smaller pieces, and chemical digestion, in which enzymes break down large molecules into smaller ones (Allen & Harper p. 559). Within chemical digestion, the presence of certain enzymes allow digestion to accelerate, without the presence of enzymes, the overall reaction speed decreases. There are two basic types of mechanical digestion, mastication and peristalsis. Mastication or chewing, is the first step within digestion, and is a process in which we chew large chunks of food in order to break them down into smaller pieces in order to be digested properly. Peristalsis is merely involuntary contractions within the organs that allow the movement through the esophagus and the intestinal tracts. Chemical and mechanical digestion is essential towards breaking down food
The digestive system absorbs the minerals and nutrients from the foods that have been eaten. The break down of food beings in the mouth, where the
Research: When we chew something, we break down the piece we are chewing into smaller pieces, making what we are chewing easier to digest. The longer we chew, the more enzymes in our saliva breaks down our food. Chewing is an important part of digestion, and it's important to chew your food thoroughly. According
The esophagus receives food from the mouth after swallowing and then delivers it to the stomach. The stomach holds food which it is being mixed with enzymes which continue the process of breaking down the food into a useable form. When the contents of the stomach are processed they are released into the small intestine. In the small intestine food is broken down by enzymes released from the pancreas and bile from the liver, the food is moved through and mixed with digestive secretions. The small intestine is made up of three segments the duodenum, jejunum and the ileum, the jejunum and the ileum are mainly responsible from the absorption of nutrients in to the bloodstream. These contents start out semi-solid and end in a liquid form after passing through the organ. Water, bile, enzymes and mucous change its consistency, one the nutrients have been absorbed it then moves onto the large intestine. The large intestine connects to the rectum and is specialised in processing water so that emptying the bowels is easy.
Digestion starts in mouth and it is going through several steps. Teeth which are a Mechanical digestion start tearing and crushing the food down into small pieces so that the food will smoothly run down our throat. The salivary glands are located underneath the back of our tongues and that’s what is creating our saliva. The saliva is the Chemical Digestion is helping soften the food in the mouth so it is easy to swallow. Also saliva is the first out of several chemicals that is breaking the food into smaller bits. The tongue is the muscle that works with the food and saliva to form something similar to balls that can be swallowed. Also tongue contains taste buds so that we know if the food is salt, sweet, sour or bitter. Esophangus is a simple transportation tube that is joining the throat with stomach. When swallowing we are closing a trap door in our throats called the epiglottis. By closing this trap we are preventing the food prom going to trachea and into our lungs. Also Food moves down the esophangus using muscles not gravity. Stomach is the first stop after the Esophangus. When the food gets into stomach the stomach uses chemicals to try to make the food smaller. These chemicals are called gastric juices and they include hydrochloric acid and enzymes. (Enzymes are
Digestion is the chemical breakdown of food molecules into smaller molecules that can be used by various cells within the body. The breakdown is initiated when food is ingested in the mouth and specific enzymes are exposed to components within the food molecules. Digestion begins in the mouth with mastication, or chewing, performed by the teeth. The purpose of chewing
Digestion is a process in which insoluble food is broken down into particles which are made into soluble particles enough to be absorbed and to be used by the body and into the bloodstream. These soluble particles are major macronutrients made up of protein, carbohydrates and fats which are needed for essential maintenance for the functioning of the human body. Nutrients are found in foods- proteins are found in red meat/poultry; sources of carbohydrates include
We eat all types of food everyday, we have one important tool that we use to break down food which is enzymes. Digestion starts once food is chewed with saliva found in our mouths. Saliva contains all kinds of enzymes and there are hundreds types of enzymes in terms of breaking down food such as amylase,
The process of digestion first begins in the mouth by in taking food (bolus). The teeth help with masticating (chewing and breaking food particles down) allowing for swallowing and increasing surface area for chemical digestion. Enzymes found in saliva also facilitates with the chemical break down of food primarily starches and fats. The food swallowed then enters into the esophagus (a tube connecting the mouth and stomach). Peristalsis helps the esophagus to push the food in the direction of the stomach. The stomach contents are highly acidic (doesn’t affect the stomach mucosa since cells secrete mucus allowing the stomach wall to be protected) with pH levels between 1.5-2.5 allowing microorganisms to be killed, breaking down of food, and activating digestive enzymes producing a thick substance known as chyme. However, breaking down of foods further occurs in the small intestine consisting of: bile created from the liver, enzymes formed from the small intestine, and the pancreas facilitate with further digestion as well as HCI denatures (unfolds proteins) allowing them to be available to attack by digestive enzymes (also responsible in breaking down the protein). The pyloric sphincter separates the stomach from the small intestine allowing the chime to drop into the small intestine. The small intestine is the primary site for
Explain expediency and benefits of their intake and excretionThe digestion of carbohydrate begins in the mouth, and then the salivary gland moistens the food as the food is chewed. The salivary glands have an enzyme called amylase. The amylase is a catalyst that helps in the breakdown of polysaccharides Carbohydrate food. After eating the carbohydrate food into pieces with the help of amylase, it is swallowed to the stomach (chyme) through the oesophagus, at chyme, no digestion takes place. The salivary amylase stops action, and the stomach produces acid that destroys any bacteria. From the stomach, the chyme enters the small intestine (duodenum), the pancreas releases an enzyme called pancreatic amylase that helps in the splitting of polysaccharide into disaccharide. The small intestine t produces maltase, lactase, sucrose. These are enzymes that aids in splitting the disaccharides into monosaccharides.How did the carbohydrate, fats, and proteins differ in digestion process? Explain suitability and benefits of their intake and excretion. (Atoba, MA 1988) The intestinal bacteria help in digesting carbohydrates that refused to digest like other carbohydrates or excreted with faces.Example of carbohydrate foods are bread,Paste,
Food is digested by being broken down, by a variety of enzymes, into useful nutrients, which are transported around the body to places where they can be of use, and into waste products, which are excreted from the body. The digestive system is made up of a number of organs, oesophagus, stomach, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, and small and large intestines, these are then separated into the digestive tract and the digestive organs. The digestive tract is, essentially, a single continuous tube that begins at the mouth and ends at the anus, in a fully grown adult it is approximately seven metres long. Food travels through the digestive tract and the digestive organs produce the enzymes and chemicals that are responsible for
Meanwhile, the salivary glands in your mouth are producing saliva, lubricating the food so it can make it’s way down your esophagus and into your stomach. Saliva contains enzymes, substances that make chemical reactions faster and that breaks down large starch molecules into smaller molecules of sugar. The first step of digestion is complete. Once your food gets to your stomach, the stomach starts to furtherly digest your food. Food in the stomach is digested chemically, with chief and parietal cells. Chief cells produce pepsin, which breaks down protein. Parietal cells produce hydrochloric acid (HCI). These cells and their products help to chemically break down food in the stomach. Once food has been mechanically and chemically digested, the food goes into the small intestine duodenum, which is the upper section of the small intestine. Attached to the duodenum is the pancreas and gallbladder. The pancreas is an organ that produces a variety of digestive enzymes, and the gallbladder is a storage sac that holds the bile produced in the liver. Bile is a chemical that breaks down fat droplets. The duodenum is also the organ that allows nutrients and water to pass through its walls. After completing its rounds in the duodenum, your digested food makes its way down into the small intestine, and then the large intestine. Villi in the small intestines absorbs nutrients into the bloodstream. The large intestine
The digestive system is very important in digesting food and breaking it down so it can be digested easily. The digestive system turns food into energy. Throughout the process there are nutrients which are absorbed. There are many things that contributed to the digestive system such as the mouth which produces saliva which helps to break down food and nutrients such as carbohydrates with the help of an enzyme called amylase. The major food groups which are called macro nutrients include carbohydrates, proteins and fats. All of these nutrients play an important role in the body. There are also many micro-nutrients which include vitamins and minerals which provide the body with health and well-being. The digestive system is made up of the mouth, which includes the teeth (the teeth are used to cut and grind food into smaller pieces, they contain blood vessels and nerves), tongue (the tongue is a muscle that has a rough surface including the taste buds), salvia glands (they produce salvia which moistens the food to make is easier to digest), the pharynx (this helps the food travel to the stomach, the pharynx also plays an important role in the respiratory system. It also contains 2 different flaps to separate the 2 functions), esophagus (this connects the pharynx to the stomach and transports chewed food to the stomach), stomach (this is a muscle that is
Digestion is the chemical breakdown of food into smaller components that are more easily absorbed. Digestion is a form of catabolism: a breakdown of large food molecules to smaller ones. When food enters into stomach, gastric juice starts protein digestion. Gastric juice mainly contains hydrochloric acid and pepsin. The pH value of hydrochloric in the stomach is 2, as the activity of pepsin is optimal, while it will lose its activity at pH 6.5 and above. However, pepsin will regain its activity at pH of 8. In the range of pH1 to pH6.5, pepsin will be most active at pH2, and starts to decrease its
The primary function of the digestive system is to transfer nutrients, water, and electrolytes from the food consume into the body’s internal environment. The ingested food is essential as an energy source, or fuel, from which the cells can generate ATP to carry out their particular energy-dependent activities such as contraction, transport, synthesis, secretion and even renewal of body tissues. Three primary categories of food ingested by humans which are carbohydrates, proteins and fats emerge as large molecules. These large molecules cannot cross plasma membranes intact to be absorbed from the lumen of the digestive tract into the blood or lymph; hence, it must undergo degradation in size (Sherwood, 2013). This
You use your mouth to chew your food, causing it to break down in pieces hence using the process of mechanical digestion, and you also use your mouth to form an enzyme known as amylase, or saliva which breaks down your food chemically, for instance when your saliva touches the bread from your sandwich it begins to form into sugars. Incase you did not know “enzymes are chemicals that are used to break down foods into other chemicals”. Saliva can also help you swallow the food by lubricating and “breaking down the complex carbohydrates into simple carbohydrates.”