Activity 1. The Food Journey

SANTIAGO - ACTIVITY 1

SANTIAGO - ACTIVITY 1

by Jed Matthew Santiago -
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1. How the food changes consistency and form

The food we consume undergoes mechanical and chemical digestion as it passes through our digestive tract. As food enters the mouth or oral cavity, it undergoes mastication (physical breakdown) and hydrolysis (chemical breakdown), transforming into a bolus, a rounded mass of substance of chewed food, for it to be swallowed. The next noticeable change in consistency and form is when the bolus enters the stomach, after passing through the esophagus. In the stomach, the churning movements, along with other enzymes and gastric juices cause the bolus to turn into a more fluid type of substance called chyme. The chyme would then pass through the small and large intestines wherein water, nutrients, and electrolytes are absorbed. The remaining product would then be stored in the rectum until before it's released as feces out of the anus.

 

2. How the body was able to absorb the nutrients from the foods we eat.

Nutrients, from the food we eat, are absorbed by the small intestine into the bloodstream to be transported to different parts of the body. The finger-like villi structures in the walls of the small intestine are designed to absorb nutrients from the chyme that is produced from the stomach.