Digestive Flashcards
Breakdown of food
What is the main source of energy for the body?
Carbohydrates
Name the 2 types of starch (Plant + Animal)
Amylase (Plant)
Glycogen (Animal)
Name a form of fiber.
Cellulose
Why do humans eat fiber?
It helps with the passing of waste (poo)
Name the 5 types of nutrients humans need.
- Carbs
- Protein
- Lipids
- Minerals
- Vitamins
What type of energy do fats provide?
Long-term energy
What type of energy do carbohydrates provide?
Short-term energy
How long do carbs remain in the human body?
24 hours
Where are stored carbs in the body?
Liver + muscle cells (in the vacuole of the cell)
How are starches broken down in the body?
Via hydrolysis
Why are proteins important?
They allow for the synthesis of functional and structural macromolecules
How many types of amino acids does your body need?
20
How many amino acids does the body make?
11
What are essential amino acids?
8 amino acids required for homeostasis that must be eaten.
What is wrong with a plant-based diet?
The amino acid profile is incomplete, meaning that it is difficult to get all 8 amino acids.
What are the two types of fat and what differentiates them?
- Saturated Fat
- Unsaturated fat
- has a C=C
What do minerals do?
They are essential compounds needed in small amounts for metabolic processes
What do vitamins do?
Vitamins are organic materials used to aid digestive enzymes.
What are the 3 components of a amino acid?
- Amine group
- Carboxyl group
- R group (determines the amino acid)
What is the purpose of Lipids
To aid cellular membrane flexibility, provide energy, and insulation
What is ingestion?
To eat something or take in food
What is digestion?
The process of breaking down food.
What are the two types of digestion?
Mechanical and Chemical digestion
What is mechanical digestion?
The process in which food is broken down by chewing, compressing, and physical manipulation.
What is chemical digestion
Process when food is broken down via chemicals; Pepsin,stomach acid,-ase
Absorption
Diffusion of end products by body cells
What do organs and glands secrete?
Enzymes
Exocrine
Gland that make digestive enzymes like sweat,tears,saliva,etc.
Gastrointestinal Tract other name + function
- Alimentary Canal
- Organs that food travel through
Accessory glands
Salivary glands, liver, pancreas, and gall bladder
Peristalsis
Process in which food is pushed along by rhythmic contractions of muscle in the wall of the digestive canal
Teeth function
chew and breakdown the food mechanically, increasing surface area
Salivary glands
secrete amylase to start chemical digestion of starch
Esophagus
pushes food from the pharynx to stomach by peristalsis
Stomach function+name of the digested food
secretes hydrochloric acid and pepsin which converts food into chyme (food+acid)
Pepsin
A stomach enzyme that digests proteins in ingested food
Gastric Ulcers
sores in the lining of the stomach caused by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori
Small intestine
major organ for absorption and digestion
Contains villi to help digestion and absorbtion
Duodenum
first portion of the small intestine, it mixes acidic chyme from the stomach with bile, pancreatic enzymes and enzymes released by small intestine
What 2 functions does the pancreas have?
exocrine and endocrine
endocrine
Release insulin and glucagon into circulatory syste to control blood glucose(sugar) level
Insulin function
decrease blood sugar
glucagon function
increase blood sugar when not eating, stored sugar
Both the pancreas functions :
- Releases bicarbonate to neutralize the acid chyme that enters the small intestine
2.Release enzymes to help further digestion of all nutrients
What does the liver do?
Produces bile
Gallbladder function
stores the bile produced by the liver
Bile function
Emulsify fats, increasing surface area, increasing enzymes ability to act on fat droplets and improve absorption
Villi
finger like projections covered with microvilli, absorbs all nutrient + end products
Large intestine (colon) function
Absorb water that has entered the gastriental tract
Where is feces stored
In the rectum until it exits, egested via the anus
What does the colon house?
Bacteria, e coli, and they live in a mutual, symbiotic relationship within us, Vitamin K + Vitamin B
Constipation
Too much water is absorbed by the large intestine
Diarrhea
Not enough water absorbed by the large intestine
Crohn’s disease
inflammation of large intestine/ small also
Heartburn/acid reflux
The esophagus relaxes at the wrong time allowing acid to go up it
