TOPIC 8 : 8.

1 Diet
Human 8.2 Human digestive system
nutrition 8.3 Absorption and assimilation

Objectives :
At the end of this topic, students should be able to:

8.1 Diet
List the principal sources of, and describe the dietary importance of, carbohydrates, lipids,
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proteins, vitamins (C and D only), mineral salts (calcium and iron only), fibre (roughage) and 
water
2 Name the diseases and describe the symptoms resulting from deficiencies of vitamin C
(scurvy), vitamin D (rickets), calcium (rickets) and iron (anaemia)

3
Understand the concept of a balanced diet 

8.2 Human digestive system

Identify the main regions of the digestive system: mouth, salivary glands, oesophagus,
1 stomach, small intestine (duodenum and ileum), pancreas, liver, gall bladder and large
intestine (colon, rectum and anus)


2 Explain why most foods must be digested before they can be absorbed

3 Describe physical digestion as the breakdown of food into smaller pieces without chemical
change to the food molecules

4 Describe chemical digestion as the breakdown of large molecules into small molecules

5 State that physical digestion increases the surface area of food for the action of enzymes in
chemical digestion

6 Identify the types of human teeth (incisors, canines, premolars and molars)

7 Describe the structure of human teeth, limited to: enamel, dentine, pulp, nerves and cement,
and understand that teeth are embedded in the gum

8 Describe the functions of the types of human teeth in physical digestion of food

Describe the functions of the main regions of the digestive system, limited to:
(a) mouth – ingestion, physical digestion, chemical digestion of starch by amylase
(b) salivary glands – secretion of saliva containing amylase
(c) stomach – physical digestion, chemical digestion of protein by protease, presence of
hydrochloric acid in gastric secretions
9 (d) small intestine (duodenum and ileum) – chemical digestion of starch by amylase, maltose
by maltase, protein by protease and lipids by lipase

(e) liver – production of bile and storage of glycogen
(f) gall bladder – storage of bile
(g) pancreas – alkaline secretion containing amylase, protease and lipase
(h) ileum and colon – absorption
(i) rectum and anus – egestion
Describe the functions of amylase, maltase, protease and lipase, listing the substrates and end-
10 products, limited to:
(a) amylase breaks down starch to maltose

(b) maltase breaks down maltose to glucose

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 (c) protease (pepsin and trypsin) breaks down protein to amino acids
(d) lipase breaks down lipids to fatty acids and glycerol
11 Describe the function of hydrochloric acid in the stomach as killing ingested bacteria

Understand that the different proteases present in the stomach and the duodenum work best
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at different pH levels 

13 Outline the role of bile in emulsifying fats to increase the surface area for the chemical
digestion of fat to fatty acids and glycerol by lipase

14 Describe peristalsis as waves of contractions of longitudinal and circular muscles which move
food through the digestive system

8.3 Absorption and assimilation
1 State that the small intestine is the region where nutrients are absorbed

2 Understand that absorption (by diffusion, osmosis and active transport) is the movement of
nutrients from the intestines into cells lining the digestive system and then into the blood

3 Understand that assimilation is the uptake and use by cells of nutrients from the blood

4 Describe the structure of a villus and the roles of capillaries and lacteals

5 Explain the significance of villi and microvilli in increasing the internal surface area of the ileum

6 Understand that water is absorbed from the lumen of the small intestine and the colon, but
that most absorption of water happens in the small intestine

7 State the function of the hepatic portal vein as the route taken to the liver by most of the
molecules and ions absorbed from the ileum


1)Carbohydrates:

Chemical elements: - Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen

Structure: There are 3 types of carbohydrates:

-Examples:

• Starch: Storage polysaccharide found in plants (vegetables, bread, rice).

• Glycogen: Storage polysaccharide found in animals (in liver and muscle).
• Cellulose: Structural polysaccharide used for the formation of plant cell wall and roughage in
animal digestion.

Importance: -Main source of energy.

-used to synthesis DNA and RNA.

-Can be converted to another organic compounds such as amino acids

and fats.

-To synthesis lubricants, for examples mucus lining the respiratory

system.

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Proteins

Chemical elements: Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen and sometimes may also contain
sulphur and phosphorus.

structure: -Made up of many subunits of amino acids (There are 20 Amina Acids)

Sources: -Animal proteins: lean meat, fish, eggs and milk.

-Plant proteins: peas, beans, sunflower oil, peanuts and bean curd.

Importance: -used to make new protoplasm to repair and replace worn out tissues.

-To enable the body to grow by making new cells.

-To synthesis enzymes, hormones and antibodies.

-For energy (used after carbohydrates and fats are all used up - during
starvation).

Deficiency: -Muscle will be poorly develop and we will be very weak.

-Children will not grow well.

-Severe lack of proteins will lead to kwashiorkor which are

characterised by swollen abdomen, cracked and scaly skin and decreased

in muscle mass.

3)Fats

Chemical elements: Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen

Structure: -Made up of 1 glycerol and 3 fatty acids.

-Joined by condensation reactions with the loss of water.

-Large, complex structure formed which is insoluble in water.

Sources: -Animal fat: butter, meat, lard, egg yolk (fats from animals are saturated
fats, bad for health if taken too much).

-Plant fats: Oil in nuts and seeds (fats from plants are unsaturated fats,
good for your health).

Importance: -Helps in absorption of certain vitamins (A,D,E,K)

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 -As a source and storage of energy (stored in the adipose tissue near the
skin).

-To form part of the cell membrane which are important in protoplasm.

-Provides insulation to prevent excessive heat loss.

-Provides buoyancy for marine animals (e.g. blubber in whale).

-As a shock absorber to protect internal organs from physical damage.

*Too much fats will cause obesities as excess fats will be store in the body (adipose tissues).

Lack of fats cause weakness and inability to grow well.

4)Vitamins

- Vitamins are organic substances that are needed in small amounts but they are essential for normal
functioning of the body.

-They do NOT provide energy.

- Two important vitamins are vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and vitamin D (calciferol).

-Vitamin C is water soluble. It is removed from the body in the urine. Hence constant supply are needed
from the daily diet.

-Vitamin D is fat soluble and can be stored in the body i.e. in the body fats e.g. liver and adipose tissues.
Hence this do not have to be consumed daily.

Vitamins Sources Functions Deficiency disease

C (Ascorbic acid) -Citrus fruit (oranges -For healthy gum Scurvy

and lime.
- For healthy capillaries -Bleeding of gums and
-fresh vegetables and epithelial tissues. muscles, loosening of
teeth, bruises in
-tomatoes and -for skin repair children.
papayas. especially healing of
wound. -Wounds do not heal
easily.

-Low resistance to
infections.

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 D (Calciferol) -Meat, eggs, cod fish -Helps in the Rickets
oils, butter, cheese. absorption of calcium
and phosphorus. - weak and soft bones
-The action of sun on resulting in bow legs
the skin. - To help in healthy and knock knees.
formation of bones
and teeth. -Bones are easily
fractured.

5) Minerals

- Minerals are inorganic substances present in the form of ions.

-Minerals are NOT sources of energy BUT they are require for normal functioning of the body.

-Some are needed in large quantities (calcium) but others are needed in small quantities (iron, iodine,
fluorine).

-Lack of minerals can lead to deficiency diseases.

Minerals Sources Function Deficiency

Calcium Milk, eggs yolk, cheese Formation of healthy Rickets

and anchovies. teeth and bones.
-soft and weak bones
resulting in bow legs
and knock knees.

-Easily fractured.

Iron Liver, spinach, eggs, Binds with oxygen in Anaemia

meat and milk the haemoglobin to
increase -Lack of functioning
transportation of haemoglobin (red
oxygen around the blood cell) in the body,
body, so body is lacking in
oxygen for tissues
respiration.

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6) Fibre (roughage)

-It refers to the indigestible materials in your food such as cellulose in the diet.

Sources: vegetables, fruits, wholemeal bread, cereals.

Importance: -Provides bulk to the intestinal contents and help in peristalsis to move food
along the intestines.

-Acts as a sponge to absorb water preventing faeces to become dry and hard.

-These result in easier removal of faeces from the body and prevent
constipation.

* Peristalsis is a series of wavelike, muscular movement of the walls of the digestive

tracts.

7) Water

Importance: - Acts as a solvent for chemical reactions to occur (e.g. hydrolysis).

- Acts as transport medium in the body - transport dissolved materials such as

digested materials, hormones and excretory products/waste products.

-Acts as lubricants - water is the main constituent of synovial fluid in the

synovial joints and in mucus in the alimentary canal.

-water is needed in digestion and also in controlling the temperatures.

Balanced diet

Balanced diet: contains the right amount of carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins, minerals, fibre
and water to meet the daily requirements of the body.

A Food Diet Pyramid can help you to determine the right amount of food to eat.

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1. All food contain energy. The amount of energy a person needs each day depends on the activities
that you do and basal metabolic rate (BMR).
2. The BMR is a measure of how fast a chemical reaction is happening in the person when the
person is at rest.
3. So BMR indicates how much energy require for the vital processes of our body (eg. Heart beat,
movement of muscle for breathing).
4. A person BMR depends on :
age, sex, body size, climate, occupation and health of an individual.

Factors that affect Basal metabolic Rate

a) Climate

• Those living in the cold areas has a higher BMR than those living in tropics so they need more
energy.
• This is because those living in cold areas require more energy to maintain their body
temperature. (They loss more heat to the surroundings).

b) Body size

• Larger sized person (of the same age and sex) has higher BMR than those with smaller build
• This is because larger sized person has more muscle than smaller person. More muscle means
more energy needed for the movement.

c) Age

• Growing children have higher BMR than older people

• This is because children require more energy to grow.
• Carbohydrates : for energy, Protein: for growth, Calcium and vitamin D: for the formation of
healthy bones and teeth

d) Sex

• Men have higher BMR compare to women of the same body size and age.
• This is because, man has less fatty tissues in their body compare to woman. Fatty tissues helps
to retain (keeps in) the heat which is needed to keep the body warm. So man needs more
energy to maintain their body temperature compare to woman.
• Also a man has more muscle compare to woman. More muscle means more energy needed
for movements of these muscles

e) Health

Thyroid gland

 The thyroid gland produces a chemical called thyroxine that control the a person BMR.
 Someone with underactive thyroid gland will produce insufficient thyroxine which leads to
low BMR.

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  Someone with overactive thyroid gland will produce much thyroxine which leads to high
BMR.

Pregnancy

 Pregnant woman need more energy (proteins, vitamins and minerals) than a non pregnant
woman.
 This is because pregnant mother has to provide food for the foetus with all the important
nutrients for growth and its development.

f) Occupation

 An active adult or a manual worker has a higher BMR compare to office worker.
 This is because manual worker has more muscle. So more muscle means more energy is
needed for movement of muscle.

**Remember to not only eat the right amount of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals
BUT ALSO…

Balanced in terms of the correct amount of food eaten daily to meet your daily energy requirements
of the body.

Energy intake = Energy expenditure

(Energy in food) (BMR + daily physical activity + heat production)

- What happens if you don’t have balanced diet?

Malnutrition

Malnutrition is the results of unbalanced diet of either eating a diet in which nutrients are too much
(over-nutrition) or are too little (under-nutrition).

1) Over-nutrition: Too much intake of energy food every day, more than the amount
required for normal growth and development of the body.T

This often leads to obesity

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8.2 HUMAN DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

There are 4 types of teeth:

Incisors Canine

Sharp, Chisel shaped teeth Coned shaped/pointed teeth

2 in each quarter of the jaw 1 in each quarter of the jaw
Single rooted single rooted
For biting and cutting For biting and tearing

Pre-molar Molar

Cheek teeth behind the canine
2 in each quarter of the jaw
Single root
Surface of tooth has 2 projections/cusps
used for biting, grinding, chewing
Cheek teeth behind the pre-molar
3 in each quarter of the jaw
double root
Tooth surface is square with 4 cusps
used for cutting and grinding

quarter of the jaw

Note: Third molars the wisdom teeth, only appear at least at

the age of 17 (mid-teen).

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Teeth and their function in Physical digestion

A person has two sets of teeth in their lifetime. The first set is called milk teeth and lasts
around 10-12 years. They are then pushed out by permanent teeth.

Parts of teeth Composition Functions

Enamel Hard, non living layer -Forms a hard biting surface

-Protect dentine

Dentine Softer bone like layer Acts as shock absorber

Pulp cavity Contains blood vessels and Supply food and oxygen to cells
nerves

Cementum A thin layer of bone like Covers dentine's root and hold
material root in socket in jaw

Fibre Embedded in cementum Allow slight movement of root

in jaw.

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The digestive system

Why must we digest our food?

• Most of the food we ingest is large, complex and insoluble.

• It cannot passes through the wall of the intestine into the blood.

• Food has to be _____________________ into smaller, simple and soluble molecules

(simple units)

before it can be ____________.

Mouth

❖ This is an opening through which the food is ingested into the buccal cavity (mouth cavity).

❖ Teeth mechanically digest food by__________________ action - mastication

❖ Salivary glands secrete saliva (~pH 7 ), which contains:

-Salivary amylase/ptyalin : digestion of starch and maltose
-Mucus- a sticky substance which moistens and lubricates the food, to assist in
mastication and easier swallowing.
-an enzyme that helps destroy any _______________ present in the mouth.

❖ Tongue rolls the food into balls or boli (bolus-singular) and pushes them into the back of the
buccal cavity (pharynx) for swallowing.

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Oesophagus

❖ A narrow muscular tube connecting the mouth cavity and the stomach.

❖ Each bolus is moved down the oesophagus towards the stomach partly due to -
____________________ and partly by the rhythmic wave like contraction of the oesohageal

muscular walls called ___________________ (involuntary action).

Peristalsis

-Two sets of muscles work antagonistically to each other i.e. one contracts one relaxes.

-Behind the food bolus:

circular muscles contracts (small lumen), longitudinal muscle ______________.

Aim: to decrease the diameter of the lumen, pushing the food bolus forward.

-Region of food bolus:

circular muscle ______________ (wide lumen), the longitudinal muscle contracts (shorter distance).

Aim: to allow the lumen to widen to accommodate the food bolus, and to shorten the distance that
the food bolus has to move.

❖ Peristalsis is actually a general process which moves food throughout the alimentary canal,
not just in the oesophagus.

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Stomach

❖ A bag like structure with thick muscular walls.

❖ It has two rings of muscle called _____________________, one at its entrance and one at its
exit.

❖ Stomach physically digest food by the contraction of its muscular walls. This is called the
Churning action.

❖ Combined efforts of chemical and physical digestion produce a thick semi-liquid called
chyme

❖ The stomach wall secretes the gastric juice which contains :

-Protease enzymes- pepsinogen and prorennin (inactive forms).

Pepsin: digests ______________into short chain__________________________.

Rennin: coagulates/ clots/ curdles milk proteins i.e. converts soluble _________________
into insoluble _________________.

The insoluble casein remains long enough in the stomach to be digested by pepsin

-Hydrochloric acid
Provides correct pH (pH 1-2) for the proteases (pepsin and rennin) to work in and stops
the action of salivary amylase.

Kills any harmful microorganisms present in the food bolus.

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Small intestine

small intestines has three sections: Duodenum, Jejunum and Ileum.

Duodenum

❖ Duodenum is the first part of the small intestine.

❖ It is a U-shaped tube about ______cm long.

❖ It receives 3 types of digestive juices:

1) Bile juice from the gall bladder in the liver.

❖ Liver is the largest internal organ. Bile juice is transported via_____________________.

❖ It is a green-yellow coloured fluid, temporarily stored in the gall bladder.

❖ Bile is the product of breakdown of the old red blood cells in the liver. It contains:

o Bile salts : _________________ fats i.e. coverts large fats droplets into small
droplets.

o Emulsification increases surface area for the enzyme lipase to act on = faster enzyme
reaction.

❖ Bile juice has an alkaline pH and it is important to ________________ the acidic chyme
from the stomach.

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2) Pancreatic juice from the pancreas

❖ Pancreas lies between the stomach and the duodenum.

❖ The juice contains:

Lipase : digests ______________ into ________________ and __________________.

Amylase : digests any remaining ______________ into __________________.

Trypsin : digests _______________ into __________________.

Sodium hydrogen carbonate (NaHCO3): To provide a slightly alkaline pH for the enzymes to
work and to neutralise the acidic chyme from the stomach.

3) Intestinal juice: produced by duodenal walls

The juice contains:

Lipase: digests ______________ into ________________ and __________________.

Erepsin: digests _________________________ into ______________________.

Maltase : digests _____________________ into ______________________.

Sucrase/Invertase : digests _____________________ into glucose and _________________

Lactase : digests ________________ into glucose and _____________________ (This

enzyme is absent in lactose intolerant individuals).

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Summary of digestion

Organ Carbohydrates Proteins Fats

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Small intestine: Ileum and Jejunum

Jejunum: second part of the small intestine which is about 2.5 m long in which chemical digestion is
completed and absorption begins.

Ileum: the last part of the small intestine which is about 3.5 m long in which absorption of digested
food takes place.

The structure of small intestine (jejunum and ileum) is highly adapted in order to carry out its function.
The main aim of the adaptations is to increase surface area for absorption as much as possible.

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How the small intestine is suited to absorb food efficiently?

Adaptive features How this helps in absorption

Long coiled tube (6m) Provides sufficient time for digestion and
absorption of digested food.

Wall folded, has finger like projection called villi Provides large surface area for absorption of
(singular villus) which is about 1mm long. digested food.

Wall of each villus is one cell thick. Enables digested food to pass through quickly
across the wall of the small intestine into the
blood and lacteal.

Microvilli on the surface of intestinal/epithelial This further increase the surface area by 20
cells. times.

Within each villus:

-Small blood capillaries which are very close to -Absorb simple sugars, amino acids and glycerol
the surface of each villus.

-and a lacteal (lymph capillaries)

-absorb fatty acids.

-Blood capillaries are connected to the hepatic portal vein which leads to the liver.

-The absorb food undergo first stage of their treatment in the body in the liver.

-Lacteals by pass the liver and enter the circulatory system at a vein in the neck.

❖ These help to maintain the concentration gradient between the contents of lumen in the
small intestine and the blood plasma in the blood capillaries for faster diffusion.

Colon

• The colon absorbs excess water, salts and vitamins

• For more effective absorption, its walls are folded transversely to increase its surface area.
• Infections of the colon can lead to diarrhoea.
• Food is moved along the colon by peristalsis.
• The indigestible fibre provides the faeces bulk against which the muscles of the colon can
push.

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Rectum

The rectum is a muscular storage chamber where undigested food (faeces) is held temporarily and
shaped/moulded before being pushed out through the anus during egestion.

Anus

The anus is the exit to the alimentary canal. It is closed by a ring of muscle called the anal spinchter
which is relaxed during digestion.

Assimilation: The role of liver

The small food substance, absorbed as small soluble molecules, must now built up into the large
molecules needed by the body.

Sugars

- Glucose and any other simple sugars absorbed by the villi may be used as it is, as a substrate for
respiration to release energy.

-However after a meal, there is more glucose than is needed immediately.

• These excess glucose molecules need to be stored

• ______________, a hormone secreted by the pancreas, regulates blood glucose
concentration.
• Insulin converts _______________ into large insoluble molecules ______________ which is
stored in the liver and the muscle
• Glycogen can be converted back into glucose when there is insufficient glucose supply in the
diet, using the hormone glucagon (also from pancreas).

Amino acids

-What are the function of amino acids?

-Excess amino acids are never store in the body.

-Any excess amino acids in the body are broken down in the __________________ by a process called
_________________

• This is the removal of their amino group (-NH3) leaving a carbohydrate backbone.
• Two separate molecules are produces as a result of deamination.
1) A carbohydrates that can be changed into glucose. Excess glucose is converted into
______________ and stored.
2) _________________, a nitrogenous waste product which passes in the blood from the liver
to the kidneys for excretion in the urine.

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Fats

-Once in the blood fatty acids and glycerol recombine to form tiny fat droplets.

-Fats at body temperature are in liquid form (both fats and oils).

-Lipids are stored in the special storage cells in the skin known as ________________ tissue and
around the body organs such as the kidneys.

Recap: What are the other function of fats?

Breakdown of alcohol

Another major function in the liver is detoxification, the removal and breakdown of poisons (toxins)
from the blood such as alcohol.

Liver can remove small quantities of alcohol on a regular basis. However, high levels of alcohol in the
blood can eventually lead to liver disease or 'cirrhosis'.

Other functions of liver

• bile production,
• iron storage,
• bile pigment excretion,
• plasma protein synthesis,
• detoxification,
• vitamin storage,
• blood reservoir,
• heat energy source.

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