HUMAN NUTRITION

Malnutrition
• Malnutrition is the result of not eating a
balanced diet. There may be:
• wrong amount of food.
• too little or too much food. 
• incorrect proportion of main nutrients 
• lacking in one or more key nutrients 
 Kwashiorkor
• It is an example of protein-energy
malnutrition in the developing world.
• Protein deficiency is not the only cause of
Kwashiorkor. Infection, plant toxins, digestive
failure or even psychological effects may be
involved.
Deficiency symptoms
 Dry skin
 Pot-belly
• Changes to hair colour.
• Weakness and irritability.
Treatment
• It can be cured or prevented by an intake of
protein in the form of dried skimmed milk.
 Marasmus
• This is an acute form of malnutrition due to a
very poor diet with inadequate carbohydrate
intake as well as a lack of protein.
• The incidence of marasmus increases in babies
until they reach the age of 12 years.
Deficiency symptom
• Emaciation
• Reduced fat and muscle tissue
• Thin skin which hangs in folds.
 Treatment
• Provision of energy-rich, balanced diet.
Causes and effects of mineral and vitamin
deficiency
Iron
Source; red meat, eggs,nuts ,brown rice,
shellfish,soybean flour, spinach.
Lack of iron in the diet can lead to iron-
deficiency anaemia, which is a decrease in the
red blood cells.
• Without sufficient iron, the body is unable to
produce enough haemoglobin, the protein in
red blood cells responsible for transporting
oxygen to respiring tissues.
• Iron is also needed by the muscles and for
enzyme systems in all the body cells.
• The symptoms of anaemia are feeling weak,
tired and irritable.
 Vitamin D
• This is the only vitamin that the body can
manufacture, when the skin is exposed to
sunlight.
• Foods that provide vitamin D include oily fish
such as sardines and mackerel, fish liver oil,
butter, milk, cheese and egg yolk.
• Vitamin D helps in the absorption of calcium
and phosphorus through the gut wall.
• Lack of vitamin D in the diet therefore results
in poor calcium and phosphorus deposition in
bones, leading to softening.
• The weight of the body can deform bones in
the legs, causing the condition called rickets in
children.
• Adults deficient in vitamin D can suffer from
Osteo-malacia; they are very vulnerable to
fracturing bones if they fall.
 The Human Alimentary Canal
• The alimentary canal is a long tube which runs from the mouth
to the anus. It is part of the digestive system. The digestive
system also includes the liver and the pancreas.
Main regions of the alimentary canal and associated organs are:
Mouth, salivary glands
• Oesophagus(gullet)
• Stomach
• Pancreas, liver, gall bladder
• Small intestine (duodenum + ileum)
• Large intestine (colon +rectum)
• Anus.
 Key Definitions
Intake of substances such as food and drink into the
Ingestion body through the mouth

Breakdown of food into smaller pieces without chemical

Mechanical digestion change to the food molecule.

Breakdown of large insoluble molecules into small

Chemical digestion soluble molecules.

Movement of small food molecules and ions through the

Absorption walls of the intestine into the blood.

Movement of digested food molecules into the cells of

Assimilation the body where they are used, becoming part of the
cells.
Egestion Passing out of food that has not been digested or
absorbed, as feaces, through the anus.
 Diarrhoea
• This is the loss of watery feaces.
• Its sometimes caused by bacterial or viral
infection from food or water.
• Other possible causes of diarrhoea include
anxiety, food allergies, lactose intolerance, a
side-effect of antibiotics and bowel cancer.
• Treatment is known as oral hydration therapy.
• This involves drinking plenty of fluid-sipping
small amounts of water at a time to rehydrate
the body
 How Cholera causes diarrhoea
• When Vibrio cholerae bacteria are ingested, they
multiply in the small intestine and invades its
epithelial cells.
• As the bacteria becomes embedded, they release
toxins(poisons) which irritates the intestinal and
lead to the secretion of large amounts of water and
salts including chloride ions.
• These salts decrease the osmotic potential of the gut
content drawing more water from surrounding
tissues and blood by osmosis.
• This makes the undigested food much watery,
leading to acute diarrhoea, and the loss of
body fluids and salt leading to dehydration
and kidney failure.
 Mechanical Digestion
• The process of mechanical digestion mainly
occurs in the mouth by means of the teeth,
through a process called mastication
• Mechanical digestion is performed by the
teeth and pieces of food are mixed with saliva
and become smaller for easy swallowing and
to increase the surface area of food.
Structure of a tooth
 Causes of dental decay
• Bacteria are present on the surface of our teeth. Food
deposits and bacteria form a layer called plaque.
Bacteria on the plaque feed on sugars, respiring them
and producing acid. This acid dissolves enamel,
forming a hole.
• Dentine underneath the enamel is softer, it dissolves
more rapidly.
• If the hole reaches the pulp cavity, bacterial infection
can get to the nerve. This results in toothache and
possibly, an abscess (an infection in the jaw).
 Proper care of teeth
• Avoid sugary food, especially between meals, so
bacteria cannot make acid and clean teeth regularly to
remove plaque.
• Use dental floss or a toothpick to remove pieces of
food and plaque trapped between them.
• Use fluoride toothpaste (or drink fluoridated water) –
fluoride hardens tooth enamel.
• Visit a dentist regularly to make sure and tooth decay
is detected early and any stubborn plaque is removed.
 Chemical Digestion
• Involves breaking down large, insoluble
molecules into small, soluble ones that can be
absorbed.
• Enzymes speed up the process. They work
efficiently at body temperature (370 C) and at
suitable pH.
• The main places where chemical digestion
happens are the mouth, stomach and small
intestine.
• Amylase breaks down starch to simple sugars.
• Protease breaks down protein to amino acids.
• Lipase breaks down fats to fatty acids and
glycerol.
 Digestion of Starch
• Starch is digested in two places in the
alimentary canal.
• By salivary amylase in the mouth and by
pancreatic amylase in the duodenum.
• Amylase works best in a neutral or slightly
alkaline pH and converts large insoluble starch
molecules into smaller, soluble maltose
molecules
• Maltose is further broken down to glucose by the
enzyme maltase which is present in the
membrane of the epithelial cells of the villi.
• Starch maltose glucose
Digestion of Protein
• There are several proteases which breaks down
protein.
• One protease is pepsin which is secreted in the
stomach.
• Pepsin acts on protein and breaks them into
soluble compound called peptides
• Another protease is called trypsin. It is
secreted by the pancreas in the inactive form,
which is changed to an active enzyme in the
duodenum.
• It breaks down protein to peptides
• The epithelial cells of the villi contain enzyme
peptidase in their cell membrane that
completes the breakdown of peptide into
amino acids.
• Protein Peptides Amino acids
 Role of Bile
• It is made in the liver, stored in the gall-bladder and
delivered to the duodenum by the bile duct.
• Bile is slightly alkaline as it contains sodium hydrogen
carbonate and, along with pancreatic juice it has the
function of neutralising the acidic mixture of food and
gastric juice entering the duodenum from the stomach
to provide a suitable p H for enzyme action.
• Bile emulsifies fats to increase the surface area for the
chemical digestion of fats to fatty acids and glycerol by
lipase
Functions of hydrochloric acid in gastric juice

• Hydrochloric acid is secreted by the cells in the

stomach walls.
• It creates a very acidic p H of 2. This p H is
important because it denatures enzymes in
harmful organisms in food such as bacteria
and it provides the optimum p H for the
protein-digesting enzyme pepsin to work.
 Absorption
• Absorption is the movement of digested food
molecules through the wall of the intestine
into the blood or lymph.
• Digestion is completed in the ileum. By now, most
carbohydrates have been broken down to glucose,
proteins to amino acids, and fats to fatty
acids and glycerol. These molecules are small
enough to pass through the wall of the small
intestine and into the blood.
• The ileum is efficient in the absorption of digested
food for the following reasons:
• It is very long and presents a large absorbing
surface to the digested food.
• It has villi which gives the inner surface of the
ileum a very large surface area for absorption
• The epithelium lining is very thin for faster
diffusion of digested nutrients to easily cross
the wall to reach the blood capillaries and
lacteal. The outer membrane of each
epithelial cell has microvilli, which increase
the surface area for absorption.
• There is a dense network of blood capillaries
in each villus to absorb amino acids and
glucose
 Significance of Villi 

• Villi are finger like projections that increase

the surface area for absorption. 
• Inside each villus are:

Blood capillaries: absorb amino acids and

glucose.
Lacteals: absorb fatty acids and glycerol.
• Food molecules are absorbed:

 - mainly by diffusion.
 - or by active transport.

Epithelial cells contain mitochondria to provide

energy for absorption against the concentration
gradient.
• Water, minerals salts and vitamins are also absorbed
in the small intestine. The small intestine absorbs 5-
10 dm3 of water each day. How ever, the colon
absorbs much less water and salt than the small
intestine, generally around 0.3–0.5 dm3 per day.