THE DIGESTIVE PROCESS OF A

CHEESE SANDWICH
Once you take a bite of your sandwich, you’ve initiated mechanical digestion. This
chewing reduces the size of the food particles and mixes them with saliva for easier
swallowing. Before your food passes from the mouth and down your esophagus,
salivary amylase, an enzyme in saliva, begins to digest the starch found into the
bread. That is the starting of chemical digestion.

From the esophagus the food was later pushed the stomach were the food is mixed
with stomach acids as the muscular walls then contracts the acid pepsin breaks down
the protein which is the (cheese) then the protein was reduced to chyme a thin and
soupy liquid Because chyme was mixed with (HCl) which means hydrochloric acid in
the stomach, it has a very low pH. The mucosa of the small intestine does not have as
much protective mucus as the stomach, but it does have something else to shield it
from the acid - pancreatic juices. The presence of chyme in the upper portion of the
small intestine triggers the pancreas to secrete bicarbonate to neutralize the acid,
lipase to digest fats, amylase to digest starches, and proteases to digest proteins. The
cells of the small intestine secrete additional enzymes to complete digestion.

The gallbladder gets into the act. When fat is present in the chyme (as it is from the
cheese in the sandwich), the gallbladder contracts and secretes bile into the small
intestine. Bile acts like a detergent and emulsifies the fat, breaking it into small
globules, aiding fat absorption.

Once starches and sugars have been digested into monosaccharide - glucose,
galactose or fructose - they are ready for absorption. They pass through the lining of
the small intestine, into the bloodstream via the portal vein and to the liver.
Peristalsis then pushes food waste, fiber (from your bread and vegetables) through
the small and large intestines. More water and salts are absorbed from the large
intestine. As the contents move downward, the feces - consisting of water, fiber,
intestinal secretions and dead bacteria - are formed and eventually pushed through
the anus.
 NUTRITIENTS FOUND IN A CHEESE
SANDWICH

 Calories
 Fat
 Sodium
 Carbohydrates
 Fiber
 Sugars
 Protein