Nutrition - Compendium 4

Chapter 8

Table of Content

The Digestive Tract
Overview
Stomach Small intestine
Large Intestine
Accessory Organs
Nutrition and Weight

The Digestive Tract
The process of digestion has four parts, ingestion, digestion, absorption, elimination.
The process starts in the mouth were chewing a mechanical digestion starts to break down the food.
The food travels down the esophagus and into the stomach. The stomach mixes in acidic juices to break down the food more. The food mass moves into the small intestines were more juices are introduced breaking down the mass for absorption. Nutrients are absorbed by the walls of the small intestine.
The large intestine absorbs the last bit of water and vitamins out of the feces; the large intestine is responsible for carrying out waste.
Accessory organs that play a part in the digestion process are pancreas liver, and gallbladder.
The pancrease produces juices that dissolve proteins, carbohydrates, fats.
The liver is the body’s main filter; it takes out old blood cells and other waste out of the blood stream. I stores and breaks down glycogen, for glucose use.

Nutrition and Weight
The essential amino acids, proteins, carbohydrates, fats all play a role in the balance diet. Carbohydrates break down into glucose for energy, but simple sugars tend to be stored as glycogen and lipids. The simple absorption of the sugars cause a fast release of insulin and over time can cause diabetes. Proteins supply the amino acid used. Fatty acid come in two types saturated and unsaturated. Unsaturated fatty acids can help cardiovascular systems, while saturated usually causes poor heart out put.