Human nutrition

A balanced diet

It’s one which contains each of the different nutrients in the right proportions.

Energy needs

Diet depends on age, sex and activity

Definitions

- Ingestion: It’s the taking in of food or drink through the mouth

- Physical digestion: It’s the breakdown of food into smaller pieces without chemical change to the
food molecules.

Physical digestion increases the surface area of foods for the action of enzymes.

Examples of physical digestion

- Action of teeth on food

- Mixing of food with digestive juices in the stomach.

- Chemical digestion: It’s the breakdown of large insoluble molecules into small soluble molecules.

- Chemical digestion produces small soluble molecules that can be absorbed by the blood.

- Absorption: It’s the movement of small food molecules and ions through the walls of the intestine
to the blood.

- Assimilation: It’s the movement of molecules and ions into the cells where they become part of the
cell.

- Egestion: Is the passing out of food that has not been digested as feaces through the anus.
The main parts of the alimentary canal.

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 The alimentary canal is a long tube that runs from the mouth to the anus.
Food moves along the alimentary canal by peristalsis.
Mucus which is produced by goblet cells along the alimentary canal helps to lubricate the food.

1. The mouth

It consists of the following parts;

o Teeth, for biting and grinding food into smaller pieces, this increases surface area.

o Tongue, it mixes food with saliva to form a bolus. It’s also the organ of taste.

o Salivary gland, it produces saliva.

Components of saliva

o Mucus, this lubricates the food.

o Amylase, this enzyme breaks down starch to maltose.

o Water, it dissolves substances in food allowing us to taste.

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 2. The oesophagus.

It’s a tube that connects the mouth to the stomach. The oesophagus has circular and
longitudinal muscles that contract and relax to push food along in a wave like motion called
peristalsis.

3. The stomach

It’s a muscular bag that holds food, the walls of the stomach contract and relaxes to mix the
food with the enzymes and mucus to form a mixture called chime. (Mechanical digestion) The
walls of the stomach also produce a digestive juice called gastric juice.

Components of gastric juice.

o Hydrochloric acid.

Functions of hydrochloric acid.

 Kills bacteria in the food.

 Provides a suitable pH for the enzyme pepsin.

o The enzyme pepsin, which begins to digest proteins and and break it down into
polypeptides.

4. The small intestines.

Functions of the small intestine
- Completes digestion
- Absorption of the digested food

o The duodenum; it receives the pancreatic juice from the pancreas and bile from the gall
bladder.
Pancreatic juice

Its produced by the pancreas and transported to the duodenum through the pancreatic
duct.

Components of the pancreatic juice.

o Amylase: an enzyme that breaks down starch to maltose.

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 o Trypsin; a protease enzyme that breaks down proteins to polypeptides. Trypsin works in
alkaline conditions

o Lipase; enzyme that breaks down fats (lipids) to fatty acids and glycerol.

o Hydrogen carbonate; neutralizes acidity from the stomach.

Bile

It’s a yellow green liquid, produced by the liver and stored in the gall bladder. It is an
alkaline mixture that neutralizes the acidic mixture of food and gastric juices entering the
duodenum from the stomach, it provides a suitable pH for the enzymes in the duodenum

Function of bile

o It emulsifies fats by breaking down large drops of fats into very small droplets. This is a type
of mechanical digestion; it increases the surface area of fats for the action of enzymes.
Bile does not contain any digestive enzymes, its alkaline to neutralize the acidity from the
stomach

The villi

The inner walls of all the parts of the small intestine is covered with millions of tiny projections
called villi.

The cells lining the villi make enzymes which completes the digestion of food. These enzymes
include;

o Maltase which breaks down maltose to glucose.

o Peptidase which break down any polypeptide to amino acids.

o Lipase which breaks down lipids to fatty acids and glycerol.

Absorption of digested foods.

Absorption takes place in the small intestine. Molecules pass through the walls of the small
intestine into the blood or lymph either by diffusion or active transport.

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 Adaptations of the small intestine for efficient absorption.

o It’s very long, about 5m long, this gives plenty of time for food to be digested.

o It has villi, each villus is covered with even smaller projections called microvilli that gives a
large surface area for faster absorption.

o Villi has very thin walls so that digested food can easily cross to the blood.

o Villi contains lacteal which absorbs digested fats.

o Villi has blood capillaries which absorb glucose, amino acids, mineral ions, water, vitamins
etc

Features of a villi

After they have been absorbed into the blood, the nutrients are taken to the liver through
the hepatic portal vein.

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 Most fatty acids and glycerol are transported through the lymph vessels which enter the
blood near the heart and joins the main circulatory system. As a result, fat does not enter
the blood too quickly.

The nutrients dissolved in blood plasma are then taken to other parts of the body where they
are assimilated and become part of the cell.

2. The colon

By the time food reaches the colon, its mainly dead cells, fibre, bacteria and some water. Most
of the water is absorbed by the small intestine.

3. Rectum

It stores the solid waste (feaces) until time for egestion.

4. Anus

It’s where egestion takes place.

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 Functions of the liver

o Removing glucose from the blood and storing it as glycogen. This regulates the
concentration of glucose in the blood.

o Uses amino acids to make proteins such as those involved in blood clotting.

o Breaks down excess amino acids in a process called deamination.

o Converts fatty acids and glycerol to fats which is stored around the body.

o Produces cholesterol from fats.

The process of deamination

Excess amino acids cannot be stored by the body. So they are broken down by the liver. Each amino acid
molecule is broken down into two parts, one part is converted into carbohydrate or fat molecule which is
used to produce energy, the other part is converted into ammonia molecule which combines with carbon
dioxide to form urea.

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Questions.

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