Digestion Concise

 Mouth: salivary amylase breaks down starch into amylose.

The food passes through the esophagus into the stomach by
peristalsis.

 Stomach: pepsin partially breaks down protein into

polypeptide chains. The stomach is acidic because it contains
hydrochloric acid. The acid kills bacteria.the food then
travels to the small intestine (duodenum &ileum).

 Pancreas: produces 3 enzymes:

 Pancreatic amylase
 Pancreatic lipase
 Pancreatic protease (trypsin)

All these enzymes travel to the duodenum (top part of the small
intestine).

Liver: produces bile. Bile is stored in the gall bladder. It is

released into the small intestine where it breaks up/emulsifies
the fat

Duodenum:
 pancreatic amylase: breaks down starch into amylose and
amylase breaks down amylose into glucose.
 Pancreatic lipase: breaks down fats/lipids into fatty acid
and glycerol.
 Trypsin: breaks down polypeptide chains into amino acids

 Ileum: Glucose, amino acids and fatty acids and glycerol are
the end products of digestion. They travel to the ileum where
absorption takes place.
Absorption: this is the uptake of soluble digested food into
bodily fluids, such as blood.

The ileum has finger like projections called villi to increase the
rate of absorption.

Assimilation: this is the incorporation of absorbed food into the

cells of the body.

NB.

Most of the chemical digestion takes place in the duodenum,

absorption takes place in the ileum.

Both chemical and mechanical digestion takes place in the

stomach.
Mechanical digestionin the stomach is called ‘churning’.
Mechanical digestion is the same as physical digestion.

Tooth

Incisor: used for cutting

Canine: used for biting and tearing
Premolar and molar: used for crushing and grinding.

Blood glucose/sugar regulation:

When the blood sugar level is high like after a meal rich in
carbohydrate the pancreas secretes insulin. The insulin
removes excess glucose from the blood and sends it to the liver
where it is stored as glycogen. The blood sugar level returns to
normal

When blood glucose level is low like in periods of ‘fasting’

glucagon is secreted by the pancreas. This causes the
breakdown of glycogen in the liver into glucose which are
then released into the bloodstream. The blood sugar level returns
to normal.
This is how a normal person blood sugar level is maintained
with the help of these two hormones. This is what happens in a
normal person

Diabetics

For diabetics there blood sugar level is high because the body
does not make insulin (type 1 diabetes) or your body does not
respond to insulin well or make sufficient insulin (type 2). as a
result the blood sugar level is unregulated.