Digestive System Flashcards
What are the reasons that our body needs food
To get energy
To maintain our bodies
What is the job if the digestive system
To break down the molecules of the food so that it is small enough to be absorbed
What the digestive tract
Mouth —> pharynx —> esophagus —> stomach —> small intestine —> large intestine —> rectum/anus
What is the point of digestive glands
To produce secretions that are needed to digest food
What are the four main stages of the digestive system
Ingestion
Digestion
Absorption
Elimination
What is ingestion
Taking food into the body by swallowing or absorbing it
What are the 2 mechanisms that allow food to go down
Swallowing and peristalsis
What happens when we swallow food
When we swallow the epiglottis closes the trachea and the uvula moves backwards to close off the nasel cavity
What is the point of the epiglottis closing off the trachea
So That food can travel to the esophagus without getting into the respiratory tract
What is digestion
Breaking down food into substances that can be used in the body
What are the two types of food transformation
Mechanical
Chemical
What is mechanical transformation
Physically breaking down food into smaller parts
What are the two types of mechanical transformation
Chewing and churning
What is chewing and where does it happen
Crushing and grinding food using teeth and muscles in the mouth. It happens in the mouth
What is churning and where does it happen
Secretions mix with the food and it happens in the stomach
What is chemical transformation
Digestive tract breaks down compels molecules of food into simpler molecules that the body can now use
Where do chemical transformations happen
Anywhere u have glands. In the mouth stomach and small intestine
Salivary glands
Secrete : saliva
Located : mouth
Target : starch
Gastric glands
Secretions : gastric juices
Located : lining of the stomach
Target : protein
Intestinal glands
Secretions : intestinal juices
Location : small intestine
Target: fat,protein,carbs
Pancreases
Secretions : pancreatic juice
Location : near the small intestine
Target : fat, protein, carbs
Liver
Secretions : bile
Location : near small intestine
Target : fat
Where does the step of digestion end
The small intestine
What are proteins broken into
Amino acids
What are carbs broken into
Simple carbs
What is fat turned into
Fatty acids and glycerol
What is absorption
The passage of nutrients from the digestive tract into the blood or lymph
Where does absorption take place
In the small intestine
What are villi
Small folds in the small intestine
Increases the surface area through which nutrients can be absorbed
What does nutrients use to get into the human body
They used blood and lymphatic vessels
What is elimination
Process of getting rid of the unused materials
How does elimination happen
Digestive residue enters the large intestine. Arrives to the large intestine in a liquid form. Water is absorbed from the residue and then enters the rectum in a solid form
Explain why someone is able to swallow upside down
Because if peristalsis
What is peristalsis
Muscle contractions that allow for food to go down. Happens in the esophagus, stomach, small intestine and large intestine
What is the only secretion that is a physical change
Bile because it does not have a chemical reaction with fat it just helps spread it out
