Nutrition and Digestion 1

Nutrition and Digestion

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Nutrition and Digestion

The gastrointestinal tract and other digestive organs make up the human digestive system.

Food must be broken down into smaller and smaller pieces before it can be absorbed and

digested into the body. The digestion of food involves many organs and other components. The

liver, gall bladder, and pancreas are all considered auxiliary digestive organs. The mouth,

salivary glands, tongue, teeth, and epiglottis are other components (Storch, Strus, and Brandt,

2002). The gastrointestinal tract is the major part of the digestive system. This runs from the

mouth to the anus, a total of nine meters in length. The colon, or large intestine, is the most

important component of the digestive system. Here, water is absorbed, and the leftover waste

material is retained until the time comes to defecate. The longest section of the gastrointestinal

tract, the small intestine, is where most digesting occurs.

Through the process of digestion and absorption, food becomes nutrient molecules,

which the body then absorbs into the bloodstream before excreting (defecating) the indigestible

wastes to be expelled from the body. The alimentary canal is a continuous, coiled, hollow tube

through which these organs perform these functions. The submucosa is the soft connective tissue

with blood vessels and nerve endings associated with the mucosa. The muscular external is the

smooth muscle inner circular layer and outer longitudinal layer. The mucosa is the innermost

moist membrane; the mucosa consists of surface epithelium, mostly simple columnar tissue with

small amounts of connective tissue and smooth tissue. Serosa is the outermost layer of cells that

produce fluids on the wall. A stomach plays an important role (Storch, Strus, and Brandt, 2002).

Many gastric glands are implanted in the mucosa of the stomach. The organ relies on its

secretions to function properly. The digestive system contains a wide variety of cells. Taste,

pancreatic duct, enterocytes, and microfold cell types are all included here in this category.
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Several elements of the digestive system, particularly the large intestine, also function as part of

the excretory system.

Digestion of Carbohydrates

Amylase, a salivary enzyme, breaks down starches into disaccharides in the mouth. The

swallowing reflex in the medulla oblongata has to be activated, and this is done by the peristaltic

wave that moves the bolus up into the upper esophageal sphincter. As a result of the stomach's

acidity, salivary amylase enzymes can no longer break down carbs (Sullivan, 2009). The pyloric

sphincter restricts the flow of chyme into the duodenum, where it gradually enters the small

intestine. Through the sphincter of Oddi, amylase is secreted from the pancreas and into the

small intestine. This enzyme in chyme breaks down disaccharides such as maltose

(disaccharides) and limited dextrins (long chains of glucose). Villi in the small intestine are lined

with microvilli, which form the "brush border." The enzyme Glucoamylase breaks short chains

of glucose (made by amylase) into maltose, sucrose, and lactose within the brush boundary.

Those disaccharides are subsequently broken down into glucose and other monosaccharides by

additional brush border enzymes. In addition, there is lactase, which breaks down lactose into

glucose and galactose, and maltase, which breaks down maltose into two glucose units. The

brush border of the small intestine contains Fructose transporters that allow it to readily diffuse

from the lumen into the ISF and the plasma. Na+ co-transporters on the apical membrane

transport glucose and galactose, allowing Na+ to flow down the concentration gradient (Sullivan,

2009). On the basolateral membrane, Na+/K+ anti-ports are used to create a Na+ gradient.

Basolateral membrane GLUTs allow glucose and galactose to diffuse into the ISF and the plasma

via saccharide-specific transporters.

Digestion of Proteins
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Food is lubricated by saliva in the mouth. The swallowing reflex in the medulla

oblongata is activated, which forces food into the esophagus and the stomach. Endocrine cells in

the duodenum secrete more Gastrin and histamine as the bolus enters the stomach, resulting from

the brain's and the duodenum's increased luminal distension. As a result, the gastric glands

produce more pepsinogen, which helps break down food. Within the stomach, pepsinogen

interacts with HCl to produce pepsin. A digestive enzyme called pepsin is found in the stomach

lining, where it breaks down proteins into peptides. Chyme enters the duodenum in stages as the

stomach's peristalsis mixes the contents. To help the pancreatic secretions pass through Oddi's

sphincter and into the duodenum, CCK is released by the small intestine in response to the

presence of peptides in the intestines. The pancreas secretes trypsinogen, which enterokinase on

the lumen wall activates into trypsin. Chymotrypsinogen and Procarboxy-peptidase from the

pancreas combine with trypsin to form Chymotrypsin and Carboxypeptidase. Proteins are broken

down into peptide fragments by chymotrypsin and trypsin, two enzymes found in the body

(Sullivan, 2009). These peptide fragments are broken down into amino acids by

carboxypeptidase. Peptides are also broken down into amino acids by Aminopeptidase, an

enzyme found on the brush edge of the digestive tracts. Small intestinal cells get amino acids by

secondary active transport connected to Na+, which moves along its concentration gradient

established on the basolateral membrane by Na+/K+ATPases on this membrane. H+-coupled

transporters allow short chains of amino acids (short peptides) to enter epithelial cells. Through

diffusion, amino acids exit the cell and enter the ISF and plasma.

Digestion of Fats

Ingestion of food and drink occurs via the mouth, which is moistened and lubricated by

saliva. Next, activation of the swallowing reflex is controlled by the medulla oblongata and
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forces food through to the stomach via peristalsis. In the small intestine, peristaltic waves mix

the contents into chyme, which enters the duodenum progressively. Duodenum fatty acids boost

CCK production, which travels through the plasma to cause a sphincter to relax, allowing more

bile to flow from the liver into the duodenum (Sullivan, 2009). The polar and nonpolar ends of

bile salts released into the duodenum can be distinguished. These large hydrophobic fat globules

persist in the chyme because they are inefficient for the body to break down. Emulsion droplets

are formed by emulsifying the globules with salts and phospholipids. The polar hydrophilic end

of the bile salt interacts with water, while the nonpolar hydrophobic end interacts with fat.

Enzymes like Lipase and Colipase, which break down fats into monoglycerides and fatty acids,

allow emulsion droplets to pass through the small intestinal epithelial cell membrane. In the

lumen and epithelial cells, high amounts of monoglycerides and fatty acids are seen, as is the

slow diffusion of these lipids over the apical membrane, leaving them to accumulate in the

lumen. Since the monoglycerides and fatty acids produced by Lipase and Colipase's

decomposition of emulsion droplets can be easily broken down and reformed. They are bundled

into smaller units known as Micelles. Monoglycerides and fatty acids are released from the

Micelles as the diffusion gradient returns. The ER and Golgi apparatus of the cell produce

chylomicrons from monoglycerides and fatty acids, then transported to the epithelial cell for

resynthesizing into triglycerides (Sullivan, 2009). In lymphatic capillaries, chylomicrons are

eaten by lacteals after they depart the endothelial cell through exocytosis. As they move through

the lymphatic system, chylomicrons are eventually released into the bloodstream.

Digestion of Food by a Single-Celled Organism Such as Amoeba/Paramecia

Phagocytosis is the process by which a single-celled amoeba ingests and digests its food.

During digestion, amoeba utilizes both an acidic and an alkaline mechanism. Yes, the amoeba
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does not have any digestive tract. Food is digested within the food vacuoles (Deschamps,

Echard, and Niedergang, 2013). The food vacuoles are brought closer to the endoplasmic

reticulum as the body moves. Vacuolar membranes contain endoplasm and hydrochloric acid,

which are used to break down and digest food. As soon as the hydrochloric acid kills the living

food items, the solution becomes acidic, initiating the alkali process. Cellular cytoplasm secretes

alkali, which transports the partially digested dietary item into the alkali media. Enzymes from

the endoplasm are released into the food vacuole along with the food. They include amylase,

lipase, and peptide hydrolyzed peptides (PHP). Acidic foods cause the enzyme protease to be

released into the food vacuole, where it aids digestion. It breaks down the protein food into basic

peptides. The enzyme peptidase is activated in the food vacuole when it is alkaline. In this

process, the peptides are transformed into amino acids. Lipase breaks down the fats into fatty

acids and glycerol. It is the amylase enzyme that breaks down carbs into glucose.

Critical Components of the Digestive System

In the digestion process, the stomach plays an important role. Many gastric glands are

implanted in the mucosa of the stomach. The organ relies on its secretions to function properly.

The digestive system contains a wide variety of cells. Taste, pancreatic duct, enterocytes, and

microfold cell types are all included here in this category. It is made up of many villi in the small

intestine. A velvety appearance is given to the mucosa by villi, which are fingerlike projections

of the mucosa (Hoffmann, 2009). Each villus has a rich capillary bed and a modified lymphatic

capillary; nutrients are absorbed through the mucosal cells into both capillaries and the lacteal.

The plasma membrane bears enzymes that complete the digestion of proteins and carbohydrates

in the small intestine.

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One of the most important digestive organs, the pancreas, is responsible for producing

pancreatic juice. It functions as both an endocrine and exocrine gland at the same time. Glucose

enters muscle tissue and other tissues as a source of energy when the endocrine glands secrete

insulin. When blood sugar drops, the endocrine system releases glucagon, which allows the liver

to break down stored sugar into glucose and bring blood sugar levels back to normal. When food

enters the duodenum, the pancreas releases digesting enzymes into the pancreatic juice. There

are also other names for this organ, such as gut or bowel. A person's lower digestive tract begins

at the pyloric sphincter and ends at the anus. The duodenum, jejunum, and ileum are the three

parts of the small intestine that make up the duodenum. It is the cecum that separates the small

and large intestines in the body. The rectum and anal canal are part of the large intestine.
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References

Deschamps, C., Echard, A. and Niedergang, F., 2013. Phagocytosis and Cytokinesis: Do Cells

Use Common Tools to Cut and to Eat? Highlights on Common Themes and

Differences. Traffic, 14(4), pp.355-364.

Hoffmann, G., 2009. Digestive system. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark.

Storch, V., Strus, J. and Brandt, A., 2002. Microscopic anatomy and ultrastructure of the

digestive system of Natatolana obtusata (Vanhöffen, 1914) (Crustacea, Isopoda). Acta

Zoologica, 83(1), pp.1-14.

Sullivan, R., 2009. Digestion and nutrition. New York: Chelsea House.