NUTRITION IN HUMAN BEINGS

The human digestive system consist of the alimentary canal (mouth, oesophagus,
stomach, small intestine and large intestine) and the associated glands (salivary glands,
liver and pancreas).

The process of digestion involves mechanical digestion (no enzymes) and chemical
digestion (enzymes involved).

1) Mouth: the ingested food is grinded into a bolus with the help of the teeth,
through a process known as mastication. The salivary glands secrete saliva to
moisten the food. Chemical digestion involves breaking down of 30% of starch
into maltose by salivary amylase. The bolus moves down the oesophagus.

2) Oesophagus: The food moves down the oesophagus into the stomach through
rhythmic contractions known as peristalsis.

3) Stomach: The bolus is churned by the muscular walls of the stomach into a soup
like mixture known as chyme. The gastric glands in the stomach release HCl,
pepsin and mucus. HCl creates an acidic medium to activate pepsin. The mucus
protects the stomach from the action of HCl. Pepsin acts on protein and breaks it
down into peptones. The food exits from the stomach into the small intestine by
the action of a sphincter muscle.

4) Small intestine: It is the site of complete digestion of carbohydrates, proteins and
fats. It receives the secretions of the liver and pancreas for this purpose.

a) Liver: it secretes the bile juice which is temporarily stored in the gall bladder.
Bile juice breaks down the large globules of fat into smaller ones to increase
the efficiency of enzyme action through a process known as emulsification .It
also provides alkalinity to the acidic food from the stomach, since pancreatic
enzymes function only in alkaline conditions.
b) Pancreas: the pancreatic juice contains enzymes to continue with the digestion
process: trypsin breaks down peptones to peptides, pancreatic lipase breaks
down fats and the remaining 70% of starch is broken down into maltose with
the help of pancreatic amylase.
c) Intestinal juice: the walls of the small intestine contain glands which secrete
intestinal juice. The enzymes present in it finally convert peptides into amino
acids, maltose to glucose, and fat to fatty acid and glycerol.

5) Absorption in the small intestine: the digested food is taken up by the walls of the
intestine. The inner lining of the small intestine has numerous finger like
projection known as villi which increase the surface area for absorption. The villi
are richly supplied with blood vessels which take the absorbed food to each and
every cell of the body, where it is utilized for obtaining energy, building up new
tissues and the repair of old tissues.

6) Large intestine: the unabsorbed food is sent into the large intestine where
absorption of water happens, thereby converting the waste into solid faeces. The
waste is egested out through the anus, which is regulated by the anal sphincter.



KINDLY NOTE THAT THE ABOVE NOTES SHOULD BE WRITTEN IN THE
NOTEBOOK AND NOT PASTED AS A COPY