Digestion and the digestive system

Digestion is the breakdown of carbohydrates, fats and proteins into small soluble substances that can be absorbed
in the blood. These small soluble substances will be more simple sugars, amino acids and less complex fat
molecules.
The diagram below shows the main parts of the gut. Read the text besides the diagram and label the parts of the
digestive system:
Digestion happens inside the digestive system, which begins at the mouth and ends at the anus.
In the mouth, our teeth break food down into small
pieces when we chew. The salivary glands produce the
saliva, which moisten the food and help to create a
food bolus. This lubricative function of saliva allows the
food bolus to be passed easily from the mouth into the
oesophagus. The tongue is vital for chewing and
swallowing food then. After we swallow, our food
passes through these organs in turn:
oesophagus or gullet. The epiglottis is essentially a
trapdoor in your throat to avoid the food and liquid
from entering the trachea.
stomach
small intestine. The small intestine is divided in
different parts: the duodenum followed by the ileum.
large intestine. The large intestine is divided in the
caecum, the colon and the Rectum, right before the
anus.

Stages of digestion:

Food is digested in the mouth, stomach and small intestine.

Digested food is absorbed into the bloodstream in the small intestine.
Excess water is absorbed back into the body in the large intestine.
Any undigested food passes out of the anus as faeces.

Liver, the pancreas and the Gall bladder:

The liver and the pancreas play important part in digestion. The liver produces bile, which helps the digestion of
fat. The pancreas produces chemicals called digestive enzymes. Some of these enzymes are called lipases,
carbohydrases and proteases. The gall bladder is a small pear-shaped structure located under the liver and on the
right side of the abdomen. It stores and concentrates the bile produced by the liver.

Digestion and enzymes:

Our teeth break food down into small pieces when we chew. This is only a start to the process of digestion, as
chewed pieces of food are still too large to be absorbed by the body. Food has to be broken down chemically into
really small particles before it can be absorbed. (Digestive) enzymes are needed so that this break-down chemical
reactions happen quickly enough to be useful.
Enzymes: Remember that enzymes are not living things. They are just special proteins that can break large
molecules into small molecules, among other things. The enzymes involved in respiration, photosynthesis and
protein synthesis work inside cells. Other enzymes are produced by specialised cells and released from them; the
digestive enzymes are like this. They pass out into the gut, where they catalyse the breakdown of food molecules.
Different types of enzymes can break down different nutrients, that is: different enzymes can catalyse different
digestion reactions:
carbohydrase or amylase enzymes break down starch into more simple sugar molecules (molecules of
glucose, which is a monosaccharide.)
protease enzymes break down proteins into amino acids.
lipase enzymes break down lipids (fats and oils) into fatty acids and glycerol.

Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates are digested in the mouth, stomach and

small intestine. Carbohydrase enzymes break down starch into
sugars.
The saliva in your mouth contains amylase, which is another starch
digesting enzyme. The saliva is produced in the salivary glands. If you
chew a piece of bread for long enough, the starch it contains is
digested to sugar, and it begins to taste sweet.
Proteins: Proteins are digested in the stomach and small intestine.
protease enzymes break down proteins into amino acids. Digestion of
proteins in the stomach is helped by stomach acid, which is strong
hydrochloric acid. This also kills harmful micro-organisms that may be
in the food.
Fats: Lipase enzymes break down lipids (fats and oils) into fatty acids
and glycerol. Digestion of fat in the small intestine is helped by bile,
made in the liver and stored in the gall bladder. Bile breaks the fat into
small droplets that are easier for the lipase enzymes to work on.

Different parts of the guts produce different enzymes

enzyme
amylase
protease
lipase

Produced in
salivary glands, pancreas, small intestine
stomach, pancreas, small intestine
pancreas, small intestine

Overall, this means that:

Amylases catalyses the breakdown of starch into sugars in the mouth and small intestine.
Proteases catalyse the breakdown of proteins into amino acids in the stomach and small intestine.
Lipases catalyse the breakdown of fats and oils into fatty acids and glycerol in the small intestine.
These three enzymes are produced in the pancreas, and amylase, in particular, is also produced in the
salivary glands.

Other substances in digestion

You should recall that different enzymes work best at different pH values. The digestive enzymes are a good
example of this.
Enzymes in the stomach: The stomach produces
hydrochloric acid. This helps to begin digestion, and it
kills many harmful microorganisms that might have
been swallowed along with the food. The enzymes in
the stomach work best in acidic conditions - in other
words, at a low pH.
Enzymes in the small intestine: After the stomach,
food travels to the small intestine. The enzymes in the
small intestine work best in alkaline conditions, but
the food is acidic after being in the stomach. A
substance called bile neutralises the acid to provide
the alkaline conditions needed in the small intestine.

Things that are not digested

Minerals, vitamins and water are already small enough to be absorbed by the body without being broken down, so
they are not digested. Digestive enzymes cannot break down fibre, which is why the body cannot absorb it.

Absorption
Digested food molecules are absorbed in the small intestine. This
means that they pass through the wall of the small intestine and
into our bloodstream. Once in the bloodstream, the digested food
molecules are carried around the body to where they are needed.
Only small, soluble substances can pass across the wall of the small
intestine. Large insoluble substances cannot pass through. Study
the slideshow to check your understanding of this.

The inside wall of the small intestine needs to be thin, with a

really big surface area. This allows absorption to happen
quickly and efficiently. If the small intestine had a thick wall
and a small surface area, a lot of digested food might pass
out of the body before it had a chance to be absorbed.
To get a big surface area, the inside wall of the small
intestine is lined with tiny villi (one of them is called a
villus). These stick out and give a big surface area. They also
contain blood capillaries to carry away the absorbed food
molecules.

Egestion
Excess water is absorbed back into the body in the large intestine. What is left then is undigested food. This is
stored in the rectum, the lower part of the large intestine, until we are ready to go to the toilet. It then comes out
of the rectum through the anus as faeces. This process is called egestion.

Some effects of a poor diet

If you have too little of a particular nutrient, we say that you have a deficiency in that nutrient. For example,
fibre is needed to keep food moving through the intestines easily, and people who have a fibre deficiency in their
diet may get constipation.
- Mineral deficiencies: People with iron deficiency may get anaemia and have too few red blood cells. People with
iodine deficiency may get a swelling in the neck called a goitre (pronounced "goy-ter").
- Vitamin deficiencies: Although we only need small amounts of the different vitamins in our diet, we become ill if
we don't get enough. For example, vitamin A deficiency can cause blindness. Vitamin C deficiency causes scurvy,
which makes the gums bleed, and vitamin D deficiency causes rickets, which makes the legs bow outwards in
growing children.
- Too thin, too fat: Food is a store of chemical energy. If you look on the side of food packets you will see the
food's energy content. This is usually measured in kilojoules, kJ. If we eat too little food, we will use up our store
of fat and become too thin. If we eat too much food, especially foods rich in sugar and fat, we will increase our
store of fat and become too fat.
It is important to balance the amount of food we eat with who we are and what we do. The amount of energy we
need from our food depends on our age, our height and how much exercise we get.
For example, a one-year old baby needs 3850 kJ each day to continue to grow, whereas an adult Olympic swimmer
in training needs 15,600 kJ each day. Someone who sits at a desk all day will need less food than their twin who
climbs ladders all day to wash windows.

Enzymes and digestion questions

Multiple-choice autoevaluation. The correct answers are highlighted in blue.
1. What type of substances do lipases break down?
fats
lipids
proteins
carbohydrates
non of the above is correct

10. Which nutrient(s) cannot be digested?

fibre
fat
minerals and vitamins
protein
non of the above is correct

2. What type of substances do lipases break down?

fats and oils into glycerol and amino acids
fats and oils into lipids
fats and oils into glycerol and fatty acids
lipids into glycerol and fatty acids
non of the above is correct

11. Which nutrients do not need to be digested?

protein, minerals and vitamins
minerals, vitamins and water
fat, minerals and vitamins
non of the above is correct

3. Protease is produced by:

the stomach and small intestine only
the pancreas and small intestine only
the stomach, small intestine and pancreas
non of the above is correct
4. Amylase catalyses the breakdown of starch into:
amino acids
fatty acids
sugars
carbohydrates
non of the above is correct
5. Amylase catalyses the breakdown of starch into:
glycogen
disaccharides, such as sucrose
the monosaccharide fructose
the monosaccharide glucose
non of the above is correct
6. Proteases are used in some baby foods to:
predigest the fats
keep the baby's clothes clean
increase the shelf life of the food
predigest the proteins
non of the above is correct
7. One job of bile is to:
neutralise the alkali produced by the pancreas
neutralise the acid produced by the stomach
neutralise the acid produced by bacteria in the mouth
non of the above is correct
8. What is the main reason why we need protein in our
diet?
for energy
to provide roughage
for growth and repair
non of the above is correct
9. What are the nutrients needed for energy?
carbohydrate and fat
sugars and fat
fat and minerals
all nutrients
non of the above is correct

12. What is the correct order for food passing through

the digestive system?
stomach - large intestine - small intestine
small intestine - stomach - large intestine
stomach - small intestine - large intestine
13. What is mainly absorbed in the large intestine?
water
digested food
fibre
all the above is correct
non of the above is correct
14. Where is most digested food absorbed?
in the stomach
in the small intestine
in the gullet
in the pancreas
non of the above is correct
15. What is produced when proteins are digested?
sugars
fatty acids and glycerol
amino acids
vitamins
minerals
non of the above is correct
16. What does lipase digest?
carbohydrates
proteins
fats
glycerol
fosfolipids
non of the above is correct
17. What gives the small intestine a large surface area?
lots of loops of intestine
thin walls
villi
the bacteria living in the guts
non of the above is correct
18. When faeces are passed out of the body, this is
called:
ingestion
egestion
indigestion
respiration
non of the above is correct