Digestive System Flashcards
Ingestion
The act of eating
Digestion
The breaking down of food into molecules small enough for the body to absorb
Absorption
The take-up of the products of digestion
Elimination
The removal of undigested materials out of the digestive tract
Alimentary canal
Consists of:
- A mouth
- An anus
- Specialized regions associated with one-way food flow
Food flow
Food moves:
- Into the pharynx/throat
- down the esophagus
- Into the stomach, where food is ground and stored
- Into the intestines, where chemical digestion and nutrient absorption occur
- Undigested food comes out the anus
Human digestion
In humans, food is:
- Ingested and chewed in the oral cavity (mouth)
- Pushed by the tongue into the pharynx
- Moved by contraction and relaxation (peristalsis) by smooth muscle
- Moved out of the stomach by sphincters
- The final steps of digestion and absorption occur in the small intestine
- Undigested food is moved through the large intestine, stored in the rectum, and expelled out the anus
Oral cavity
Mechanical and chemical digestion begins in the mouth
Chewing
Chewing cuts, smashes and grinds food, making it easier to swallow
Tongue
The tongue tastes and shapes food into a ball called a bolus and moves it towards the pharynx
Salivary glands
Release a slippery glycoprotein:
- Moistens and lubricates food for easier swallowing
- Buffers that neutralize acids
- Salivary amylase that begins the hydrolysis of starch
- Antibacterial agents that kill some bacteria injested with food
Air moves
Air moves from the pharynx, into the larynx, past the vocal cords and into the lungs
Swallowed food
- Moves from the pharynx into the esophagus and stomach
- During swallowing, the tip of the larynx moves upward, preventing food from entering the trachea
The stomach
Can stretch and hold up to 2 liters of food and drink
Chemical digestion
- Occurs in the stomach
- The stomach secretes gastric juice made up of mucus, a protein-digesting enzyme and a strong acid with a ph of about 2 that kills bacteria, breaks apart food cells, and denatures proteins
- Pepsinogen and HCl produce active pepsin
- Pepsinogen, H+, and Cl are secreted into the stomach
- HCl conversts some pesinogen to pepsin
- Pepsin helps active more pepsinogen, starting a chain reaction
- Pepsin begins the chemical digestion of proteins
Protecting the stomach wall from gastric juices
- The secretion of pepsin in the inactive form of pepsinogen helps protect the cells of gastric glands
- Mucus helps protect the lining against HCl and pepsin
- New cells begin lining the stomach every 3 days, replacing damaged cells