The Digestive System Flashcards
Balanced human diet
Taking the correct amount of all the essential nutrients in the diet
Nutrition
The way an organism obtains and uses its food
Autotrophic/autotroph
A type of nutrition where an organism makes its own food
Heterotrophic/ heterotroph
A type of nutrition where an organism cannot make its own food
Herbivores
Animals that feed only on plants
Carnivores
Animals that feed on other animals
Omnivores
Animals that feed on plants and animals
Digestion
The physical and chemical breakdown of food
Peristalsis
A wave of muscular contraction and relaxation in the wall of the alimentary canal causing the food to move along the canal
Ingestion
Food is taken into the alimentary canal
Digestion (stage of human nutrition)
Food is broken down into smaller soluble pieces
Absorption
The movement of digested food from the alimentary canal into the blood system
Assimilation
The absorption and digestion of food by the body
Egestion
Removal of unabsorbed material as faeces
Alimentary canal
The digestive system
