1. How the food changes consistency and form
Digestion starts in the mouth and converts food into energy or raw ingredients for tissue repair. The digestive system alters food's consistency. The teeth and tongue split substances into smaller pieces during mastication. Saliva mucus dissolves and moistens food so that the tongue may condense it into a swallowable bolus. The bolus then passes via the pharynx and esophagus.
The stomach's smooth muscles mix, chum, and transport food up the tract and hammer it into the small intestine. The stomach wall mixes food particles and gastric juice to make chyme, a semifluid paste of food particles and gastric juice. Pepsin is the main protein-digesting enzyme, but newborns release rennin, which curdles milk protein. If there is more food, stretch receptors and gastrin-secreting cells activate, making the stomach mix and empty more vigorously. Solids stay in the stomach until gastric juice mixes them and converts them to a liquid state.
Smooth muscle segmentation combines contents with digesting secretions in the small intestine and its auxiliary organs (liver, gallbladder, and pancreas). Bile from the liver emulsifies fats and improves fat digestion and absorption of fatty acids, monoglycerides, cholesterol, phospholipids, and fat-soluble vitamins. The large intestine absorbs most residual water from indigestible food remnants and excretes them as semisolid feces. Mass motions push feces toward the rectum. Goblet cells produce lots of mucus to help feces travel through the colon.
2. How the body was able to absorb the nutrients from the foods we eat.
When a bite of food is taken, enzymes in the saliva, notably salivary amylase, instantly begin the process of breaking down the meal into its component parts. An interplay occurs between the time it is swallowed and the time it reaches the stomach. In the stomach, enzymes begin the process of breaking down proteins into their constituent amino acids. Complex carbohydrates are also broken down at this stage. Because of this, the quick absorption of all of the sugar will be prevented, preventing a significant jump in blood sugar.
The small intestines are responsible for the subsequent digestion and breakdown of meals. For the small intestine to absorb fat, it must first be broken down and then surrounded by bile. In addition, proteins are degraded further into their constituent amino acids, which are absorbed. The presence of fat facilitates the absorption of vitamins A, D, E, and K. Fibre is essential for the body because it increases the volume of stool, making it easier to defecate and encouraging regular bowel movements.
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References:
- Abiezer Abigail. (2013, December 19). How the Body Absorbs Nutrients Medical Course [YouTube Video]. Retrieved from YouTube: https://youtu.be/_xRjCfZnjnA
- Marieb, E. N., & Hoehn, K. (2018). Human Anatomy & Physiology (11th ed.). Pearson.