Nutrition &

Digestion
Objectives: Define and
Comprehend
 Food processing
 Human digestion
 Know words on term list (available on web
site)
 Nutrition
 3 needs
 Chemical energy
 Vitamins and minerals
Food Processing
Food Processing
 Most food consists of what
macromolecules?
 Carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins
 Why is food chemically broken down?
 The macromolecules are too large to pass
through cell membranes
 The polymers must be broken down into
monomers, so that the organism can make
their own polymers
Human Digestion System
Human Digestion: Oral
Cavity
 At sight or smell of food, salivary glands
secrete saliva
 Glycoprotein protects & lubricates lining of
mouth
 Antibacterial agents
 Amylase to hydrolyze starch
 Why do you chew your food?
 Easier to swallow
 Expose more surface area to enzymes
 Tongue pushes bolus to back of oral cavity
& into pharynx
 Human Digestion: the
epiglottis
How does the epiglottis prevent food from
moving into the trachea?
Human Digestion: into the
esophagus
Human Digestion: the tum
tum
Human Digestion: the tum
tum
 Why don’t we need to eat constantly?
 Besides breaking down food, the stomach stores food –
enough to satisfy our body for many hours
 What prevents gastric juice from digesting away
the stomach lining?
 Pepsin, an enzyme which begins the chemical digestion
of protein, is secreted in the inactive form pepsinogen
 Protects the gastric gland cells
 Mucus helps protect the stomach lining from both pepsin
and acid
 However, the stomach lining must be replaced about
every 3 days
Human Digestion: small
intestine
Human Digestion: small
intestine
 Nutrients are absorbed into the blood from
the small intestine
 All 4 types of macromolecules
(carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, & nucleic
acids) are digested in the duodenum
 Carbohydrate digestion completed in rest
of the small intestine
 Hydrolytic enzymes breakdown polymer into
monomers
Human Digestion: small
intestine
 Protein digestion
 Pancreas and duodenum secrete hydrolytic
enzymes that break polymer into monomers
(amino acids)
 Nucleic acid digestion
 Pancreas and duodenum secrete hydrolytic
enzymes which breakdown DNA & RNA
polymers into
 Nitrogenous bases, sugars, phosphates
Human Digestion: small
intestine
 Lipid digestion
 Lipids reach stomach almost completely
undigested
 Why?
 Fats are hydrophobic
 Bile salts from gallbladder coat tiny fat droplets
that keep them separated from each other
 Why is the separation of fats into small droplets
beneficial for digestion?
 More surface area is exposed, which allows the enzyme
to breakdown the fats quickly
Human Digestion: small
intestine
 Majority of chemical digestion has been
completed by the time chyme mixture
passes through duodenum
 Rest of small intestine is adapted for the
absorption of nutrients
 Small intestine has high surface area
 This allows for greater…
 Absorption
 Also has many folds and projections
Human Digestion: small
intestine
Human Digestion: small
intestine
 Capillaries that drain away from the villi
converge into larger blood vessels and
eventually into a main vessel that leads
directly to liver
 Converts many of nutrients into new
substances the body needs
 Liver removes excess glucose and stores it as?
 Glycogen in liver cells
 Blood is then transported to heart, which
pumps blood and nutrients to all parts of
the body
Human Digestion: large
intestine
Human Digestion: large
intestine
 Colon absorbs water –approximately 90% of the
7 liters of fluid that enters the canal a day are
reclaimed (most in small intestine)
 Remains of undigested food become more solid
as water is absorbed
 Feces
 Consists mainly of plant fibers and prokaryotes
 Diarrhea occurs when the colon is irritated and is less
effective at reclaiming water
 Constipation occurs when peristalsis moves the feces too
slowly
 Colon reabsorbs too much water and feces becomes too
compacted
 Diet low in plant fiber or lack of exercise
Nutrition
 There are 3 needs which demand a
healthy diet
 Fuel to power our bodies
 Organic raw materials needed to make our
own molecules
 Essential nutrients that we cannot make
ourselves and must obtain in a prefabricated
form
Nutrition: why we need
chemical energy
 The chemical processes of our bodies are
fueled by?
 ATP
 Cellular metabolism produces ATP by oxidizing small
molecules that are digested from food
 Usually use carbohydrates and fats, but when required, will
use proteins too
 Cellular metabolism must continue or we die
 Our basal metabolic rate (BMR) is approximately
1,300 to 1,800 kcal per day
Nutrition: too many kcal
 We burn more kcal when we “move”
 What happens when we take in more kcal
than we use?
 Muscle and liver store it as glycogen
 Also stored as fat
 Liver can convert excess carbohydrates and proteins
into fat
Nutrition: too many kcal
 Extremely low-carb diets
 Initial weight loss is mostly WATER
 Can cause fatigue and headaches, and in the long-term
–muscle loss
 Extremely low-fat diets
 Inadequate provision of essential fatty acids, proteins,
and certain minerals
 Decrease absorption of fat-soluble vitamins and can
cause irregular menstrual periods
 Formula diets –if very low in kcal
 Result in loss of body protein, may cause dry skin,
thinning hair, constipation, and salt imbalance
Nutrition: what works?
 Scientists find that the best diet to
maintain a healthy body weight is…
 There is no best diet
 What works is the following equation
 Calories in – calories out
Nutrition: Vitamins
 If one eats a balanced diet, one does not
need to take vitamins
 Most serve as coenzymes or are parts of
coenzymes
 Used over and over again in metabolic
processes
 Deficiencies and excessive use can cause
serious problems
 Water-soluble vitamins are not harmful as
excess can pass in urine and feces
 Excessive fat-soluble vitamins are deposited in
fat and can have toxic effects
Nutrition: Minerals
 Must obtain minerals through dietary
sources
 Ex: calcium needed for normal functioning
of nerves and muscles
 Ex: phosphorous is an ingredient of ATP
and nucleic acids