Kimsclass Digestion Basic

Front 1

producer

Back 1

organism that makes its own food.

Front 2

consumer

Back 2

organism that eats other consumers or producers for food.

Front 3

What three things do we use food for?

Back 3

1. Energy 2. Raw materials for growth. 3. Raw materials for repair

Front 4

Name the seven main nutrients your body needs.

Back 4

1. Carbohydrates 2. Proteins 3. Fats 4. Vitamins 5. Minerals 6. Fiber 7. Water.

Front 5

What do carbohydrates break down into, and how is this useful to the body?

Back 5

Carbohydrates break down into simple sugars, which are used mainly for energy.

Front 6

What do proteins break down into, and how are these substances used in the body?

Back 6

Proteins break down into amino acids, which are used as building blocks for proteins your body needs for growth and repair.

Front 7

What are fats broken down to, and how are they used by the body?

Back 7

Fats are broken down to lipids and fatty acids. These are used as energy stores, cell membranes, and padding for vital organs.

Front 8

What do vitamins do for you?

Back 8

They are essential for different chemical reactions in your body. Your body can't make most vitamins, so you have to supply them by eating.

Front 9

How are minerals different than vitamins?

Back 9

They are similar in that they are essential for various body functions and your body can't make them. They are different, however, in that vitamins are complex organic molecules made from many different elements, while minerals are single elements.

Front 10

How does fiber benefit your body?

Back 10

Its bulk helps food pass through the intestines more easily.

Front 11

How does water benefit your body?

Back 11

Since your body is made of over 70% water, it is an essential nutrient. Without enough water, nothing in your body would function well, especially the digestive and excretory systems.

Front 12

digestion

Back 12

The process of breaking down food into smaller pieces that are usable in your body.

Front 13

What is physical digestion?

Back 13

When food is broken into smaller pieces, but the pieces are still of the same chemical composition as the larger pieces, physical digestion has taken place. It's like breaking a rock into smaller pieces. The small pieces are still made of the same chemical stuff as the initial rock, they are just in littler physical pieces.

Front 14

What is chemical digestion?

Back 14

Chemical digestion is the breaking of food into pieces that have a different chemical composition than the original piece. For instance, a large starch molecule might be broken into many different glucose and fructose molecules, which have different chemical formulas than the original starch molecule.

Front 15

If the body has all the enzymes it needs to break down food chemically, why does it need to perform physical digestion first?

Back 15

Since enzymes can only work on food that they can touch, the surface area of the food must be greatly increased before enzymes can work quickly. By breaking food into many small pieces, physical digestion allows the enzymes many more food surfaces to work on at once. Otherwise, it would take a very long time for you to digest your food.

Front 16

Name two examples of physical digestion.

Back 16

Chewing and stomach churning.

Front 17

Name three substances that contribute to chemical digestion.

Back 17

Enzymes, acids, and bases.

Front 18

Protein designed to specifically aid a chemical reaction. In the digestive system, these proteins make the chemical breakdown of particular substances happen quickly.

Back 18

enzymes

Front 19

Name the three salivary glands.

Back 19

Parotid, submandibular, and sublingual.

Front 20

How do the salivary glands perform mechanical and chemical digestion?

Back 20

The liquid in saliva physically softens food, while amylase chemically digests starches, changing them into simple sugars.

Front 21

"Ball" of food gathered in the mouth and pushed on to the esophagus.

Back 21

bolus

Front 22

What normally prevents food from going up your nose or into your larynx?

Back 22

When you swallow, the soft palate in the back of your mouth elevates, closing off the nasal cavity. The epiglottis also flaps down to cover up the opening to the larynx.

Front 23

Name and explain the process that moves food along the esophagus.

Back 23

peristalsis - the involuntary, sequential contraction and relaxation of muscles that moves food along the digestive tract.

Front 24

Name the two main chemical processes which digest food in the stomach.

Back 24

Pepsin begins the breakdown of proteins, and lipase begins the breakdown of fats.

Front 25

What are the roles of hydrochloric acid (HCl) in the stomach?

Back 25

HCl converts pepsinogen into its active form, pepsin. It also softens food and kills bacteria.

Front 26

What is the role of mucus in the stomach?

Back 26

It coats the stomach walls to prevent their breakdown by pepsin and HCl; the stomach mucosa is, after all, a protein that could be damaged by pepsin or HCl.

Front 27

Thick, creamy partially-digested mix that exits the stomach.

Back 27

chyme

Front 28

Name three nutrients that are absorbed directly in the stomach.

Back 28

1. Simple sugars 2. alcohol 3. medications.

Front 29

Why can't other substances be absorbed in the stomach?

Back 29

They are still too large.

Front 30

Name the three parts of the small intestine.

Back 30

Duodenum, jejunum, ileum

Front 31

What is unique about the mucosal layer in the small intestine?

Back 31

It is made up of countless villi, finger-like projections into the lumen of the small intestine. This greatly increases the surface area of the small intestine that is available to absorb nutrients.

Front 32

What happens in the duodenum?

Back 32

Digestive juices made by the liver, pancreas, and small intestine are added to the chyme. This leads to further chemical digestion of food.

Front 33

Where is bile made and then stored?

Back 33

Bile is made in the liver, then stored in the gallbladder.

Front 34

How does bile get from the gallbladder to the duodenum?

Back 34

When you eat fatty foods, a chemical signal goes to the gallbladder, causing it to contract and pushing out the bile that was stored there. It travels down a narrow tube (common bile duct) to the duodenum. If there is a stone in the common bile duct, it can cause severe pain as the gallbladder tries to push bile past the blockage.

Front 35

What does bile do?

Back 35

Bile contains salts that break up large fat globules into small fat droplets, increasing the surface area that enzymes have to access and digest the fat.

Front 36

What happens in the jejunum?

Back 36

Digestion continues, but enzymes are mostly located in or on the actual mucosal cells instead of floating around in the small intestine. The absorption of nutrients also begins in the jejunum.

Front 37

How does the jejunal mucosa differ from the duodenal mucosa?

Back 37

The mucosal cells lining the villi develop many little projections of their own, called microvilli. This "brush border" of microvilli increases the digestive/absorptive surface area even further.

Front 38

Where do the absorbed nutrients go from the jejunal mucosal cell interior?

Back 38

They pass to the opposite side of the cell, which faces blood vessels (capillaries) and lymph vessels (lacteals).

Front 39

What happens in the ileum?

Back 39

The bulk of nutrient absorption takes place in the ileum.

Front 40

Where do the blood vessels that have just come from the small intestine go next?

Back 40

They go to the liver, where the nutrients undergo further processing/storage.

Front 41

What happens in the large intestine (colon)?

Back 41

Much of the water that had been added to the stomach and small intestine is reabsorbed in the colon. Also, Vitamin K (produced by bacteria living in colon) is absorbed as well as some B vitamins.

Front 42

Name two reasons why it is important that water is re-absorbed in the large intestine.

Back 42

We would become dehydrated if the water wasn't reabsorbed, plus we would have constant diarrhea.

Front 43

Name the two major functions of the pancreas.

Back 43

1. Production of various digestive enzymes and juices. 2. Production of insulin and glucagon, two hormones which control the level of blood sugar in your body.

Front 44

What does the liver do?

Back 44

Too many things to count! As far as digestion is concerned, it helps regulate the release of nutrients into the general bloodstream by storing them when there is excess and releasing them when there is a deficiency. It also produces bile which helps in the digestion of fats.

Front 45

What is the difference between the digestive system and the digestive tract?

Back 45

The digestive tract contains the organs through which food passes on its journey through us (mouth, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine.) Besides the organs of the digestive tract, the digestive system also contains other organs which dump substances into the digestive tract - salivary glands, pancreas, liver, and gallbladder.