Digestion, Absorption,

Transportation & Excretion of

Nutrients; &
Cell Metabolism
C L A R A C H E N G

B S C . M N U T R D I E T

A P D ( A U S T )
Content
• Overview of the Digestive System and the Assisting Organs

• Modes of Digestion

• Modes of Absorption

• Nutrient transportation and Absorption

• Glance at Energy Metabolisim

Objectives
• To know different parts of the digestive system and their functions

• To understand how nutrients are digested and absorbed

• To have basic understanding of how macronutrients are metabolized in human body

Digestive System
Mouth

Anus
Source: AMA's Current Procedural Terminology, Revised 1998 Edition.
 Along the Alimentary Tract
• Mouth (incl salivary glands)
• Oesophagus (or esophagus)
• Stomach
• Duodenum Helping them along the way are
• Jejunum • Pancreas
• Gall bladder
• Ileum • Liver
• Caecum
• Colon
• Rectum
• Anus
Digestive System & Nervous SYstem
The Chemosenses

• Olfactory – cells are stimulated by the odors around us

• Gustatory – cells react to food and beverages

• Cephalic phase response – Sight, smell, thought, taste and even sound that
trigger a set of physiological responses
Cephaic Phase
Stimulus and Responses
• Heat production
• Cognition • Salivary glands
 flow of saliva
• Sound • Cardiovascular system
 heart rate & blood flow
• Gastrointestinal tract
• Appearance acid & enzyme secretion, motility &
gut hormone

• Odour • Pancreas
digestive enzyme & hormone
secretion
• Taste • Renal system
Alteration in urine volume
General Overview of GI Tract
• Gastrointestinal Tract
• Also known as alimentary canal
• A long hollow tube
• Begins at mouth & ends at anus
• Works with assisting organs
• Basic Functions ~
• Ingestion – receipt & soft food
• Transportation – transport of ingested food
• Secretion – enzyme
• Absorption of end products of digestion
• Movement of undigested material
• Elimination – transport, storage and excrete of waste
Movement of GI Tract Content
• Peristalsis – A wave like muscular contraction

• Longitudinal muscle & circular muscle ➔ From mouth to anus

Peristalsis
• Action looks like a wave moving through
the muscle

• Circular muscle contracts produces a

propulsion, which push food bolus.

• Another set of circular muscle then relax

to allow the food bolus to move down
slowly.

Image from Purves et al., Life: The Science of

Biology, 4th Edition, by Sinauer Associates
Peristalsis
• Peristalsis – different parts of GI tract, different frequency

• In stomach ~ occurs 3 times per min

• In small intestine ~ once every 4 sec

• In large intestine ~ slow peristalsis

Digestion Process – Mechanical
• Physical breaking of food: breaking foods into smaller pieces
Examples?

• Muscular contractions of the GI tract continue to break food up and mix it with
secretions (chyme) – Segmentation
Segmentation
• A muscular movement occurs in small intestine

• Mixes chyme by alternating forward and backward movement of GI tract

contents

• Bringing chyme in contact with intestinal wall ➔ assist absorption

Digestion – Chemical
• Divide food into compounds small enough for absorption

• Enzymes are needed

• Digestive juices
E.g. gastric juice from stomach
Enzymes
• Protein that catalyze chemical reactions
without being destroyed in the process
Factors affecting digestion E.g.
Leptin,
ghrelin,
Cortisol
• Psychological Factors
• Appearance, taste, smell of food

• Emotional state

Increase secretion of hormone, fluids, enzymes and muscular activity of the GI tract
• Fear, anger, worry

Suppresses secretion, peristalsis and slows food propulsion

Factors affecting digestion
• Food Processing

• Freezing, preserving, microwaving, baking, frying…

• Alter solubility, microbial count, structure and digestibility of food

• Generally, cooked foods are more digestible than raw food

Absorption
• Nutrients readily for absorption
• Vitamins and Minerals

• Nutrients need digestion prior to absorption

• Energy yielding: CHO, Pro, Fat

• From form of polymer to monomer

Four Roads to Nutrient Absorption
• Passive diffusion

• Facilitated diffusion

• Active transport

• Endocytosis
Passive Diffusion
• A movement of molecules without expenditure of energy

• Concentration gradients drive passive diffusion

High outside concentration to low inside concentration
Facilitated Diffusion
• A process by which carrier (transport) proteins in the cell membrane transport
substances into or out of cells down a concentration gradient

• Concentration gradients also help to drive facilitated diffusion

• No energy expenditure is required

Active Transport
• The movement of substances into or out of cells against a concentration
gradient
• Requires energy and involves carrier protein
• Substances that usually require active transport
Minerals (sodium, potassium, calcium…)
Several sugars (glucose and galactose)
Most amino acids
 Endocytosis
• A process that
particles are
engulfed
Assisting Organs - Liver
• Produces and secretes 600 – 1000 ml bile daily

• Bile: yellow green, contains bile salts and acids, pigments, cholesterol,
phospholipids

• Emulsification
Emulsion
Emulsification
• Increases surface area of fat, allowing more contact between fat molecules and
enzymes in small intestine
Emulsifier
Assisting Organs – Gall Bladder
• To store and concentrate bile from liver

• Holds about ¼ cup of bile

• Gall bladder squirts 500ml bile into duodenum

Assisting Organs - Pancreas
• Secretes enzymes that affect digestion and absorption and absorption

• Secretes ~ 1500ml per day

• Bicarbonate and enzymes

• Pancreatic hormones
Insulin

glucagon
Functions of Different Parts of GI Tract
How long
does it take?
Mouth
• Start of the digestive tract.

• The teeth and salivary

glands aid in breaking
down food for digestion.

• The tonsils aid against

infections.
Mouth – Salivary Glands
• Located in or near the mouth secrete saliva into the oral cavity
• Secretion of saliva - A mixture of mucus and serous fluids

• Functions of saliva
• Moistens foods

• Lubricant ➔ easy swallowing

• Enzymes – salivary amylase, (for starch breakdown)

• Immune ➔ lysozyme (antibacterial) and IgA antibodies

Oesophagus
• Connects nose and mouth
with the stomach

• The epiglottis folds over

the trachea when a swallow
occurs, to prevent the
swallowed substance from
being inhaled into the
lungs.

To prevent choking
From Oesophagus to Stomach
• Lower Oesophageal
Sphincter

• A ring like valve at the

junction of oesophagus
and stomach
Stomach – Mechanical Digestion
• Storage – capacity
increased from 50 – 100ml
to 1L
Can be distend to hold 2 liters
or more, but at a price of
discomfort

• Mix up – churning action

mix up the foods, liquid
and digestive juice
• Movement – moving foods
Stomach – Chemical Digestion
• Production of 2L gastric juice / day
Hydrochloric acid ➔ to lower pH (pH2), kills microbes
Pepsinogen ➔ pepsin under acidic env’t
Mucus ➔ protection
Intrinsic factor ➔ Vit B12
• Lipase
Lipid digestion
• Pepsin
Protein digestion (protein ➔ peptide)
Gastric Emptying
• Peristaltic contraction of
stomach

• Lower esophagus
sphincter contracts

• Pyloric sphincter relaxes

• Gastric contents move to

small intestine

• ➔ Pyloric sphincter
governs the passage of
foods to duodenum
Gastric Emptying
• Increase gastric movement increases the rate of gastric emptying

• Usually takes 1 – 2 hours to empty stomach

• High fat foods and certain types of foods decrease the gastric emptying rate

What do u feel after a high fat

meal?
Small Intestine
• Most responsible for
absorption of nutrients from
food into the bloodstream

• ~3 meters long

• Includes
Duodenum
Jejunum
Ileum
Duodenum
• First part of small intestine. C shaped
• Length: ~25cm long
• Most active in digestion
• Bicarbonate is secreted to neutralize
acid from stomach
• Liver secretes bile to duodenum
Jejunum
• Most absorption
occurs in both jejunum
and duodenum

• Length: ~ 120cm

• Jejunum is derived
from the adjective
jejune, which means
"fasting" or "hungry" in
Early Modern English.
Ileum
• The last section of small
intestine

• Length: ~ 150cm

• Mainly for bile and Vit B12

absorption
Absorption and Transport of Nutrients
• Absorption occurs primarily through the small intestine

• Water soluble nutrients and short chain fatty acids enter the vascular system via
capillaries.

• Fat soluble nutrients and molecules enter the lymphatic system via lacteal ducts.
Structure of Small Intestine
•  surface area ➔  efficiency
of absorption
Coils and
• Coiled
folding plus villi
give this 3m
• Wrinkled into folds
tube the
• Villi surface area of
• Microvilli a 300m2 long
tube
How big is 300m2 ??
• ~ 2/3 Basket Ball Court
•

• How can this be done???

Villi and Micro-villi
• Villi covered with
epithelial cells
increase the
surface area ( by
a factor of 10).

• Epithelial cells
lined with
microvilli (brush
border) that
further increase
the surface area
Images from Purves et al., Life: The Science of
Biology, 4th Edition, by Sinauer Associates
Villi

Source: Coeliac UK
Small intestine

• Suffers constant wear and tear as it propels and digests the chyme

• The intestinal lining is renewed continually every 2 to 5 days

• When chyme has completed its 3- – 10- hour journey through

small intestine, it passes through ileocecal valve, and enter the ~
Large Intestine

Includes
-Caecum
-Colon
-Retum
-Anal canal
About 1.5m
Digestion in large intestine
• Sluggish peristaltic movement

• Normally 18 – 24 hours are required for material to transverse its length

• Meanwhile, fermentation by gut bacteria

• Substances formed: vitamin K, vitamin B12, and gases

Absorption in large intestine
• Minimal nutrient absorption
Water
Sodium
Chloride
Potassium
Some vitamin K
• 1000 ml material enters large intestine and how much remains for excretion as
faeces?
Rectum
• Strong muscle hold back the waste until it is time to defecate

• When rectal muscle relax, and anal sphincter opens to allow passage of stool
Vascular System
• Blood carries nutrients from GI
system to all body tissues

• Waste products are picked up by

blood and transported to kidney for
excretion
Lymphatic System
• A network of vessels that drain
lymph
• Lymph moves through and
eventually empties into
bloodstream
• After a fatty meal, lymph can
become 1 – 2% fat
What is Metabolism?
• A general term encompasses all chemical changes
occurring in living organisms
The making and breaking of bonds in CHO, lipids and proteins.

Other chemical reactions

Energy metabolism ~ all the ways the body obtains and spends
energy from food

Building reaction – anabolism

Breaking reaction – catabolism

Anabolic reaction
Glucose Glucose Glycerol Fatty Acid Amino Acid Amino Acid

Energy Required

Glycogen Triglycerides Protein

Catabolic Reaction
Triglycerides Protein
Glycogen

Glycerol Fatty Acid Amino Acid

Glucose

Energy Released
Site of Reaction – The Cell
• Cell is the metabolic processing centre
Extracting Energy from CHO
Basic Energy
Metabolism Process
Glucose

TCA Cycle
Glycolysis
Glucose
• An anaerobic process (no oxygen is
required)

Red blood cell: no

mitochondrion
Rely on glycolysis only
If oxygen supply is not enough ~
If oxygen supply is enough ~
TCA Cycle
• Tricarboxylic cycle, Krebs Cycle,
citric acid cycle

• In mitochondria

TCA Cycle
When glucose is not enough ~ Making
CHO (Glucose)
• Major sites: Liver (90%), Kidney (10%)

• Glucose can be synthesized from

• Some amino acids

• Lactate (lactic acid)

• Glycerol

• To meet body needs

Extracting Energy from Fat
• Triglycerides ➔ Glycerol + Fatty Acids

• Fatty acid undergoes -oxidation and form Acetyl CoA

• Enter TCA cycles ➔ Energy released

Fat burns in a flame of CHO
• Without available oxaloacetate,
TCA cycle cannot be started

• ➔ Fatty acid cannot enter TCA

cycle
• ➔ Acetyl CoA ➔ Ketone bodies
➔ ketosis ➔ blood acidity
increases ➔ coma / death
Extracting Energy from Protein
• Protein not primary source of energy, used when in lack of CHO and fat

1. Remove the amino group by liver

2. Leave the carbon skeleton

3. Carbon skeleton enters pathway at different points

Feasting and Fasting
• When overeat (Feasting)

• Body stores small amount of glycogen and large amount of fat

CHO ➔ Glucose ➔ Fat / Glycogen

Fat ➔ Fatty acids ➔ Fat

Protein ➔ Amino Acids ➔ body protein / loss in urine / Fat

Feasting and Fasting
• Fasting
Stored glycogen ➔ Glucose ➔ energy for brain / nervous system / red blood cells /
other cells

Body Fat ➔ fatty acids ➔ energy for other cells

Continuous Fasting
• Body protein ➔ amino acids ➔ glucose ➔ energy

• Body Fat ➔ fatty acids ➔ ketone bodies ➔ energy