Chapter 2 : Food and digestion

I. A balanced diet
- What is a balanced diet?
+ All animals, including humans, need to eat a balanced diet to grow and function well. In other words, we need
food for the body to work properly, to move and to grow.
+ A balanced diet contains nutrients that your body need to be healthy.
+ A balanced diet means eating all the foods that your body needs, but it also means eating these foods in the
correct proportion. A balanced diet for humans must contain the right proportions of the 7 nutrients listed below.
+ If you eat too much of one type of food, your diet will not be balanced.

- Nutrients
+ Nutrients are substances that living organisms use for food. Nutrients are chemicals that are found in our food.
+ There are seven main groups of nutrient: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, fibre and water.

- The food pyramid diagram

+ The food pyramid diagram shows the
proportions of each type of food that we need.
+ Too little food (getting fewer kilojoules of
energy than your body needs) can lead to
starvation.
+ People who are starving have restricted
growth and development. They will become weak
and eventually die.
+ A general lack of food and nutrients,
particularly in children, can lead to a deficiency
disease know as marasmus, which causes severe
weight loss and diarrhoea.
+ An imbalanced diet can cause obesity, starvation and deficiency diseases.

- Why do people have different diet?

+ Available food sources
+ Health issues
+ Economic factors
+ Environmental/ ethical factor
+ Religious factor
+ Cultural traditions
+ Personal choice (likes and dislikes)

- Malnutrition diseases:
+ Kwashiorkor: Caused when a diet lacks protein
+ Night blindness: Caused when there is a lack of vitamin A
+ Scurvy: Caused when there is a lack of vitamin C
+ Obesity: Caused when there too much sugar and fat and not enough exercise.

1. Carbohydrates
- The picture shows foods that are good sources of carbohydrates.
- Carbohydrates include sugars and starches.
- Starches are made up of molecules of simple sugars such as glucose.
- The sugar molecules join together to form bigger molecules, such as starches.
- Carbohydrates do many jobs in our bodies, but their main role is to provide the energy our
bodies need to function.

2. Proteins
- The picture shows foods that are good sources of proteins.
- Protein molecules are made from chains of chemicals called amino acids.
- We need proteins in our diet because they are needed for growth and recover/repair damaged cell.
- Too much carbohydrate and too little protein can lead to deficiency diseases such as kwashiorkor.
 3. Fats
- The picture shows foods that are good sources of fats.
- Fats are a mixture of molecules called lipids.
- When such a mixture is solid at room temperature, it is called a fat, like butter.
- When it is a liquid at room temperature, it is called on oil, like olive oil.
- Fats are a good source of energy in our bodies. It stores energy, or it is a storage of
energy.
- One gram of fat has twice the energy value of one gram of carbohydrate.
- Fats are also important for keeping us warm and protecting our organs.
- Too much animal fat in the diet can result in high levels of cholesterol in our blood. .this causes arteries to become
blocked and it can lead to angina and heart attacks.

4. Vitamins
- Vitamins are nutrients that protect our bodies
by helping them to function well and fight diseases.
- We only need small amounts of most vitamins,
and we get these from the foods we eat.
- The table beside shows some vitamins that
humans need to be healthy. The table also shows
what happens if your diet is deficient in any of the
vitamins.
- Many people take vitamin tablets to make sure
they get enough vitamins in their diet.
- This may be because they do not eat a balanced
diet or because the foods they eat do not have
enough vitamins.

5. Minerals
- Our bodies also need minerals.
- Each mineral performs a different function to keep the body healthy.
- All minerals originally come from the soil, so green plants are an
important source of minerals for animals and humans.
- The table beside shows the main sources of some important minerals.
The table also shows what happens if your diet is deficient in any of the
minerals.

6. Fibre
- Fibre is sometimes called “roughage”.
- Fibre is actually cellulose, a carbohydrate found in all plants.
- Cellulose cannot be digested in the human body but it plays an important role by
keeping food moving through our digestive systems.
- This helps to prevent constipation - bệnh táo bón.
- If your diet is deficient in fibre, you may suffer from constipation and more serious
problems such as cancer.
- The picture shows the foods that are rich in fibre.

7. Water
- The human body is about 70% water.
- Water is necessary for transporting substances in the sweat, urine and blood.
- Sweating cools the body when it overheats. When we urinate, waste products are removed from our bodies. Our
blood transports oxygen and other important products around the body.
- The amount of water we need to drink varies depending on how active we are and how hot or cold it is. The more
active you are, the more water you need, and the hotter is it, the more water you should drink.
- On average though, you need to drink 1.5 litres each day to make your body performs at the best level.
 - If your diet is deficient in water, your body may become dehydrated. Dehydration causes your blood cells to shrivel
up. This is dangerous can it can result in death.

II. Digesting your food

- Food can’t directly get into the cells in our
bodies in the form we eat it because the pieces
are just too big.
- Each piece of food you put into your
mouth has to be broken down into smaller and
smaller pieces.
- When the food as been broken down into
simple chemicals (nutrients), it can be absorbed
into the cells and used for body functions.
- The process of breaking down our food is
called digestion. Digestion is the process of
breaking down insoluble food into soluble food.
- The system responsible for digestion is
called the digestive system.
- The picture shows the parts of the
digestive system and the part they play in
breaking down food so that it can be absorbed
into the cells.
- Digestion quick summary: In the mouth food is chewed and mixed with saliva. Food moves
down the oesophagus (gullet) by a wave of muscle contraction called peristalsis. After leaving the stomach food
enters the small intestine. Food is broken into small soluble molecules which are absorbed into the blood. In the large
intestine water is taken back into the body out of the waste material.
- Digestion descriptive summary: Firstly, food goes into our mouth. On the way from our mouth to the stomach,
Pharynx, saliva helps digest food and pass it through to the stomach. Food then travel through the Esophagus down to the
stomach. The stomach job is to mix food with Hydrochloric acid. The stomach is also the stage where the digestion of
proteins in our food begins. From the stomach food travels to the small intestine. The small intestine is where digestion
occurs throughout the intestine. The small intestine is the largest part of our digestive system. The part that helps the small
intestine to absorb the molecules from the food is called the Intestine Wall. Also, in the small intestine, simple sugars and
amino acids enter our blood. Then, the food travels from the small intestine to the large intestine. The large intestine is
made up of 3 parts: Occum, Colon, Rectum. The large intestine is thicker than the small intestine. After that, food then
travels to the rectum, where the remaining waste is formed and expelled.

1. Mechanical and chemical digestion

- Two types of digestion take place in our bodies are mechanical digestion and chemical digestion.
- In mechanical digestion, food is physically broken down into smaller pieces. This starts with the teeth
and continues throughout the digestive system as food is squeezed and pushed by various muscles in the
process of peristalsis - the process by which muscles contract and relax to move food along the alimentary
canal (gut).
- Chemical digestion involves changing food into molecules of simpler substances, which can dissolve in
water. Digestive juices at various places in the digestive system help this happen. These digestive juices
contain enzymes - special proteins that are produced by cells and speed up a chemical reaction - which
break down large food molecules into smaller ones.
- When digestion is complete the food particles are small enough to pass from our intestines into our
blood. The blood then carries these nutrients around the body to be used for energy, growth and repair of cells.

III. Different digestive systems

- The digestive systems of different animals are adapted to suit the eating habits of the animals.

- Omnivores
+ Humans are omnivores.
+ This means we eat both plant and animal foodstuffs.
+ Our teeth are adapted to suit our diet.
 + For example, our front teeth, or incisors, are used for cutting and biting. We do not really need to tear flesh, so
our canines (side teeth) are not well developed. The flat teeth at the back are called molars and
are used for crushing and chewing our food.

- Carnivores
+ Lions are carnivores. This means they eat meat of other animals.
+ If you look at their teeth, you can see the specially adapted sharp canines to tear flesh.

- Herbivores
+ Sheep are omnivores. They only eat plants, so they have no canines at all.
+ The front teeth are adapted for biting or cutting grass and the molars are designed for
chewing plant matter.

- The structure of an animal’s is also adapted to suit what the animal eat.

+ Cellulose and Cows:

Cellulose is plant fibre that cannot be digested by humans.
Herbivores, such as cows, are able to digest cellulose because they have
special bacteria living in their four-part stomachs.
Cows chew their food and swallow it. Later on, they bring the food back up
and chew it again. This is known as “chewing the cud”. after the food is chewed for
the second time, it goes into another part of the stomach, where bacteria break down the cellulose in the process
of chemical digestion.

+ Birds:
Birds do not have teeth at all.
They peck their food into smaller parts before swallowing it and storing it in their
crops. When the food leaves the crop, it enters a chamber called a gizzards.

In most birds, the gizzard holds grit and small stones that the bird has swallowed.
These work together with the strong muscular walls of the gizzard to break down
the food.

+ Snakes:
Snakes are able to eat whole live animals that are bigger than their mouths.
They do this by unhinging their jaws to allow the food to pass through into the oesophagus.
Once the prey is in the oesophagus, strong muscles move it onwards.
The snake has extremely powerful digestive juices, which allow it to digest bones, teeth and
fur.

+ Earthworms:
Earthworms live in soil and eat decaying plant material found there.
They, like birds, store their food in a crop before it enters a gizzards.
The gizzard has strong muscular walls, which help to crush and break down food.
Digested food is absorbed from the intestine and dirt, stones and undigested food are
passed out through the anus.

IV. Testing and digesting nutrients

1. Testing for different nutrients and substances
- We can see certain solutions to see if a certain nutrient is present.

- Steps for testing starch, glucose, protein and fat:

+ Test for starch (a form of carbohydrates )
1. Put 1 drop of iodine solution into the well of a spotting tile using a plastic pipette.
2. Observe the colour of the iodine solution and record it in your table.
3. Add 1 drop of starch solution to the well using a plastic pipette.
4. Observe the colour and record it in your table.
 + Test for sugar – glucose(sugar-broken down form of carbohydrates)
1. Measure 1 cm3 of Benedict’s solution into a test tube using a plastic pipette.
2. Observe the colour of the Benedict's solution and record it in your table.
3. Add 1 cm3 of glucose solution into the test tube using a plastic pipette.
4. Place the test tube into a water bath at 80oC for 5 min.
5. Observe the colour and record it in your table.

+ Test for protein

1. Measure 1 cm3 of Biuret solution into a test tube using a plastic pipette.
2. Observe the colour of the Biuret solution and record it in your table.
3. Add 1 cm3 of protein solution into the test tube using a plastic pipette.
4. Observe the colour and record it in your table.

+ Test for fat

1. Collect a piece of paper and observe its transparency and record it in your table.
2. Add cooking oil into test tube.
3. Add ethanol to oil and shake, add water to test tube and shake
4. Put 1 drop of oil onto the paper.
5. Observe the transparency of the paper and record it in your table.

- Results and summary:

Nutrient Reagent Colour before Positive result
Carbohydrate - starch Iodine solution Dark yellow Black
Carbohydrate - glucose Benedict’s solution Light blue Orange
Protein Biuret solution Clear blue Light purple
Fat Ethanol Blur Milky white

2. Digesting different nutrients

- Each nutrient, carbohydrate, protein and fat, has a different and unique digestive enzyme which helps to break down
the nutrient.

Food group Digestive What is it broken down to? Where is it broken down?
enzyme
Carbohydrates Carbohydrase Smaller sugar molecules - In the mouth,
mechanically with the teeth
and chemically with saliva
- Continued through the
small intestine
Protein Protease Different small molecules called amino acids - In the mouth,
mechanically with the teeth
- Continued in the stomach
and small intestine
Fats Lipase / lipid Stage 1: bile (released by the liver) allows the fat - In the mouth,
to "mix" with water by breaking the fat into mechanically with the teeth
smaller droplets, this is called emulsification. - Continued in the stomach
Stage 2: the digestive enzyme lipase breaks each and small intestine
fat molecule into the smaller glycerol and fatty
acid molecules.
3. Teeth
- We, humans, use teeth to mechanically digest our food.
- Our tooth have different parts and are drawn and labelled in the picture.
- Also have many types of teeth which serve different purposes.
- The table below shows the name, picture and function of different teeth.

Name Picture Function

Incisor Small rectangular shaped teeth, which
are found between the canines. They
are used for cutting food.

Canine Sharp pointed teeth, which are used to

bit and tear food.

Premolar Found behind the canines and are used

to grind soft food.

Molar Found behind the premolars and are

used to grind hard food.
V. Keywords
 Microbes: Tiny living things that can only be seen using a microscope.
 Soluble: Able to dissolve
 Teeth: Cut and grind the food to physically digest it.
 Mouth: The first part of the digestive system where food is taken in.
 Oesophagus: The tube that the food passes down from the mouth to the stomach by peristalsis.
 Peristalsis: The process of wave-like muscle contractions that move along.
 Stomach: Large muscular sac that continued the mechanical and chemical digestion of food.
 Small intestine: An organ where most chemical digestion and absorption of food takes place.
 Large intestine: The section of the digestive system where water is absorbed from food and the remaining materials is
eliminated from the body.
 Rectum: The final section of the large intestine where the faeces is stored before terminating at the anus.
 Anus: The opening at the end of the digestive system through which solid waste matter leaves the body.
 Faeces: The solid waste left over from the digestion of food.
 Pancreas: An organ that secretes digestive enzyme.
 Liver: an organ the produces bile which helps with mechanical digestion.
 Absorption: The process by which nutrient molecules pass through the wall of the digestive system into the blood.
 Carbohydrate: A nutrient in food that provides energy.
 Protein: A nutrient in food needed for growth and repair.
 Fat: A nutrient in food functions as energy storage.
 Vitamins: A nutrient needed to keep us healthy by fighting disease and making sure our body works properly.
 Minerals: Nutrients that occur naturally in rocks and soil , used to help our bodies function.
 Fibre: A nutrient which plays an important role in helping food move through our digestive system.
 Water: A nutrient that makes up 70% of the body, used to transport substances around the body.
 Diet: What you eat.
 Malnutrition: Bad nutrition
 Deficiency disease: A sickness caused by a lack of an essential nutrients.
 Nutrients: All the chemical substances that your body requires to live.
 Reagent: A chemical which indicates the presence of a substance usually through the change of colour.
 Emulsification: Breakdown of large fat molecule into smaller, digestible ones.
 Bile: A substance produced by the liver that breaks up fat particles.