The Digestive System

Organisms need food:

As fuel
• Because body cells need energy & heat to perform their functions

As building blocks
• For the formation of new tissue or the repair & production of
damaged tissue
As regulatory substances
• That ensure that the different cells work correctly

To keep the body healthy & strong

To protect it against disease

A healthy diet

The food you eat every day is called your diet

A healthy diet contains all the essential nutrients in the right

proportions that are needed for normal growth & good health

Food pyramids show what a healthy diet is made up of

• It shows us how many portions of every type of food we should eat every day
 Protein
s

Wate Carbohydrates
r

The seven
building
blocks of a
healthy Fats
Fibre diet
& Oils

Minerals Vitamins
 Proteins

► Are the body’s building blocks

► Form the structure that all cells consist of, required
for growth
► Play an important role in the growth & repair of worn
out tissue
► Can be used as a reserve energy fuel
► Animal sources:
► Lean meat, eggs, milk, cheese, fish, chicken
► Plant sources:
► Beans, peas, maize, potatoes, cabbage, nuts, soya
beans, seeds
 Carbohydrates

► Serve as fuel that supplies energy & heat to

body cells
► Are the main source of energy for our
bodies
► Animal sources:
► Milk
► Plant sources:
► Bread, mielies, rice, potatoes, cane sugar,
pasta, cereals, fruits, vegetables, sweet
potatoes, legumes
Fats & Oils

► Serves as fuel
► Provides a reserve source of energy for future use
► Protects & insulates the organs
► Forms a layer under the skin for insulation
► Forms a protective cover over nerve cells
► Animal sources:
► Butter, milk, cheese, sardines, eggs
► Plant sources:
► Margarine, olive oil sunflower oil, nuts, avocados
Vitamins

► Act as regulatory substances that are required for good health

► They ensure that the various processes in the body function correctly
► Enhance chemical reactions in the body
► Prevent deficiency diseases
► Offer resistance against diseases
► Animal sources:
► Milk, meat, butter, fish, eggs
► Plant sources:
► Whole wheat bread, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables
Minerals

► Act as regulatory substances that are required for good health

► They ensure that the various processes in the body function correctly
► Ensure normal growth & development
► Animal sources:
► Milk, cheese, eggs, meat, liver, fish
► Plant sources:
► Bread, cereals, potatoes, vegetables, raisins, fruit
Fibre

► Helps with movement of food through

the digestive system
► Prevents constipation
► Reduces the risk of colon cancer
► Plant sources:
► Whole wheat bread, whole grain food,
mealies, unpeeled potatoes & apples,
dried fruit & vegetables
Water

► The main component of the living body

► Provides a liquid medium in which metabolic processes can take place
► Makes up 75% of the body
► Serves as a solvent for chemicals & a liquid medium for chemical reactions
► Sources:
► Drinking water, drinking other beverages, fruits, food
Nutritional diseases & disorders

A diet consisting of too

Malnutrition refers to
much / too little of 1
the harmful effects on
type of food is an
the body by eating too
unbalanced diet, which
little or too much or
can lead to malnutrition
the wrong types of food
or a nutritional disorder
Undernourishment

► Occurs when too little food with too few nutrients are
ingested by the body
► Kwashiokor is caused by a lack of protein in food
► Aneamia is a blood deficiency disease caused by a
lack of iron
► Anorexia – loss of appetite & eating too little
► Marasmus – Ingesting too few energy-rich foods
(carbohydrates & fats)
► Deficiency diseases such as: rickets, scurvy & eye
diseases due to shortage of vitamins.
Overfeeding

Occurs when too much energy-rich food is ingested by the body

This can lead to obesity, tooth decay, heart diseases & diabetes (high
blood sugar)
Obesity occurs when the body has excess fat in the tissues

The fat accumulates as cholesterol in the arteries & affects the

functioning of the heart
The heart must work together to pump oxygen & nutrient-rich blood
through the body, which can lead to high blood pressure or a heart
attack
 Other diseases

Eating spoiled food &

drinking contaminated
water can cause
diarrhea & cholera
Four process take place
in the digestive system
 Ingestion:

Intake of food by biting, chewing and swallowing.

Digestion:

Mechanical and chemical processes that convert insoluble food into soluble nutrients.

Absorption:

Soluble nutrients are taken up by the bloodstream

Egestion:
Occurs when undigested food materials (faeces) are passed out of the body through the anus.
Structure of
the human
digestive
system
► Mouth:
► Food is ingested here.
► Contains teeth for mechanical
digestion and tongue for mixing food.
► Salivary glands:
► Secrete saliva, which moistens the
food and contains an enzyme for
breaking down starch.
► Oesophagus:
► Moves food to the stomach by
peristalsis.
► Stomach:
► Mixes (churns) food into a liquid called
chyme.
► Breaks food into smaller molecules for
enzymes to act on.
► Enzymes: Proteins that speed up the
rate of a chemical reaction.
► Small intestine:
► Final digestion of food.
► Most of the food is absorbed - Villi
► Large intestine:
► Absorbs water and forms faeces.
► Liver:
► Manufactures bile
► Breaks down alcohol, drugs and
hormones.
► Rectum:
► Faeces are stored there.
► Anus:
► Faeces released from body during
a process called egestion or
defecation.
 Types of
digestion

Mechanical Chemical
digestion digestion
Mechanical Digestion

Large food particles

are mechanically
broken down into
small particles.

Takes place in the:

mouth, oesophagus,
stomach, small
intestine.
 Mechanical Digestion

In the mouth it involves the physcial breaking, crushing and

mashing of food by the teeth.
The tongue pushes the food under the teeth and onto the
palate which breaks the food into smaller pieces.
The churning movement of the walls of the stomach break
down food into small pieces.
The peristaltic movements in the alimentary canals that push
food forwards, also helps to break down the food.
Bile in the small intestine breaks fats into small droplets.
Chemical Digestion

The small particles are

chemically altered into
nutrients.

Takes place in the

mouth, stomach and
small intestine.
 Chemical Digestion

Salivary glands secrete saliva into the mouth.

Saliva contains enzymes that break down starch.

Hydrochloric acid (stomach acid) is a digestive juice secreted by glands in the

lining of the stomach.

It contains enzymes which chemically alter food particles into substance that are
soluble in water and that are able to be absorbed into the blood stream.

Enzymes are secreted by the intestinal glands in the small intestine

 Absorption

After food particles have been broken down by

digestion, they are ready to be absorbed.

Absorption is the process whereby nutrients are

taken up in the bloodstream.

The inner wall of the small intestine is covered with

millions of small finger-like projections called villi.
 Absorption

The villi contain blood vessels

which absorb these nutrients.

The nutrients are now transported

in the blood stream to the body
cells.
 Egestion

The remaining
Waste & indigestible Water & minerals are undigested food
parts of the food go to absorbed into the (faeces) is stored in the
the large intestine. bloodstream. rectum & leaves the
body through the anus
 Food tests

► Starch test:
► Iodine solution
► Positive test: Turns
blue-black
 Food tests

► Fat/Oil test:
► Mix food with ethanol
► Pour some of the mixture onto a paper
► Ethanol evaporates
► Positive test: Oil patches left on paper