Digestion: Overview

Four types of Tissue:

- Connective Tissue

o Connective tissue is comprised of cells separated by non-living material

o Connective tissue holds other tissues together such as in formation of organs.

o Examples: Bone, and blood

- Muscle Tissue

o Muscle cells form the active contractile tissue of the body known as muscle
tissue

o Muscle tissue function to produce force and cause motion.

o Muscle tissue is separated into three distinct categories

 Smooth muscle, which is found in the inner lining of organs

 Skeletal muscle, in which is found attached to bone providing for gross

movement

 Cardiac muscle, which is found in the heart, allowing it to concert and

pump blood throughout an organism

- Neural Tissue

o Cells comprising the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system are
classified as neural tissues

o Examples: brain, spinal cord, and cranial nerves

o Peripheral nervous systems forms the peripheral nerves, inclusive of the motor
neutrons.

- Epithelial Tissue

o Formed from layers of cells that over organ surfaces such as the surface skin.

o The cells comprising an epithelial layer are linked via semi-permeable

o In addition to this protective function, epithelial tissue may also function in

secretion and absorption.

Importance of Digestion:
 - Digestion is moving nutrients from food to the inside the body where they needed

- Large molecules (macromolecules) are broken into smaller components.

2 processes:
o Mechanical digestion

o Chemical digestion, using of hydrochloric acid, enzymes, and certain salts.

4 Step process
- Linear process (vertebrates)

- Food enters the mouth, proceeds through a number of stages, and is eliminated at the
anus.

o Ingestion – taking in nutrients

o Digestion – breaking down of complex molecules into simpler ones

o Absorption – transport of digested molecules into the body

o Exertion – removal of waste from the body

Simple organisms:
- Amoeba

o Food vacuoles

o Engulf food using phagocytosis

o Uses hydrolytic enzymes (enzymes that use water) to break down molecules

- Hydra

o Digestive sac (gastrovascular cavity), a compartment, usually with a single

opening that functions as both mouth and anus

o Encloses part of the external environment and allows food storage and digestion
to take place.

More complex:
- Alimentary Canal

- A tract that provides for digestion

- Ranges from simple (wrom) to more complex (brid)to most complex (pig or human)

Jaws
  Digestion starts as food is chewed, lubricated by saliva and pressed by the tongue
 Tongue aids movement of food to correct areas
 Soft lump formed is called a bolus

Teeth
 20 teeth in the first set
 32 teeth in the secondary set
 Incisors are chisel-shaped for cutting
 Canines pointed for tearing
 Ridged premolars and flatter molars crush and grind food

Salivary Glands
 Three pairs:
 Pariotid
 Sublingual
 Submandibular
 Numerous small accessory glands in the mucous membranes in the mouth and tongue

Saliva
 Solution of water and enzymes
 Keep the chewed food moist and softened
 Amylase decomposes starch into simple sugars

Tongue
 Controls food’s form
 Creates bolus for swallowing
 Taste buds found on tongue, sides of the mouth, and parts if the throat
 Four sensation: sweet (front) Sour (middle of the tongue left and right sides) Salty (front of
the tongue left and right sides) bitter (back)

Pharynx
 Aka the throat
 Channel for both air and food
 Connects with the nose and mouth, larynx (voice box) and leads into the esophagus
 Epiglottis prevents food from being swallowed the wrong way

Esophagus
 Flexible tube connecting pharynx to the stomach
 Made of layers of the smooth muscle fibre
 Sphincter muscle controls the passage of food into the esophagus
 Lower esophageal sphincter opens and closes the entrance to the stomach

Peristalsis
 Sequence of involuntary muscle contractions
 Muscles in front of bolus widen and those behind tighten the tube to push the food along
 Works even if you are upside down.

Stomach
 Can hold 1.5 L
 When full signal sent to brain to stop eating
 Stomach openings controlled by sphincter muscles
 Cardiac sphincter
 Pyloric sphincter opens to small intestine
 Sphincters prevent HCl from traveling outside the stomach
  Acid- secreting cells
 Enzyme- secreting cells
 Hormone- secreting cells
 Stem cells
 Mucus- secreting cells
 Few layers of muscle

1)

Carbohydrate Disaccharide Monosaccharide

(starch) (complex sugar) (simple sugar)
- Bread - Sucrose - Glucose
- Corn - Galactos - Fructose
- Potatoes e
- Pasta
- Amylase Disachanidase
Saliva and pancreas Pancreas into small intestine

1)

Protein Large chain Small Chan Polypeptide

- Meat Polypeptide
- Nuts
- Beans
- Eggs
- Fish

Pepsin Trypsin
(Stomach) (small intestine made
in pancreas)

Erepsin (small intestine made in pancreas)

Amino Acids
Fat (lipids) Large fat droplets Glycerol and Fatty acids
- Oil
- Big
Mac
- Butt
er
- Wax
es Bile Salts Lipase
(liver
- Lar to small intestine) (pancreas to small intestine)
d

1.
- Carbohydrates (sugars) are the major source of energy in our bodies
- Excess sugar is stored as glycogen in your muscles, when glycogen stores are full excess
sugar is stored as fat.
1.
- Protein are chains of amino acids
- Amino acids are the building blocks of most cellular structures
1.
- Fats are used for cellular membranes, long term energy storage and hormones.

Digestion:
- HCL is produced to kill harmful organisms and help decompose proteins
- Decomposes proteins by converting pepsinogen into pepsin
- Pepsin digests proteins at low pH
- Mucosa protects cells of the stomach from degradation

Small Intestine Sturucture:

- 6.5m in length
- From pyloric sphincter to the cecum (beginning of large intestine)
- Three sections:
o Duodenum
o Jejunum
o Ileum

Duodenum
- Short, curved tube attached to the stomach
- Receives secretions from liver and pancreas
- Pancreas releases bicarbonate to neutralize the low pH material (pH goes to about 9)

Pancreas
- Releases enzymes to break down peptides, lipids, and carbohydrates
 - Trypsinogen “trypsin – breaks down polypeptides
- Erepsin – short peptide to amino acids for absorption
- Lipases – decompose lipids

Jejunum
- Long, coiled section of the small intestine

Ileum
- Final and longest section
- Completes absorption of nutrients digested in the other two sections of the small
intestine
Small intestine
- Has lots of folding to increase surface area
- Folds are called Villi
- Role is to absorb nutrients and complete digestion
Homeostasis
It’s a matter of Balance

Homeostatis
- The ideal conditions for your body are:
o 37.0 C
o pH 7.35
o 0.1% blood glucose level
- Body needs a system to: monitor and make adjustments to maintain acceptable range.

Control System Diagram

- Homeo statsis maintating a balance for all of the body’s system
+  monitor (nerves) \
- Normal range Regulator(organ, muscle  coorinadting center (brian)
- -  Monitor /

Negative Feedback Loop

- In negative feedback, any change or deviation from the normal range of function is
opposed, or restricted
- Ex. Thermostat in your house.
- (note: positive feedback is when a system tends to increase output. The product of a
reaction influences or increases the forward direction of the system. Ex adrenaline
response)
- Negative feedback loops control the blood glucose by raises “bg” when it is low or
lowering bg when it is high
ENERGY
Food in = Food out
The energy output is used for:
• Activity
• Growth
• Basal metabolic rate
• Repair of damaged cells
• Maintenance of body temperature
• Excess energy is stored as fat
Factors that affect Metabolism
- Adults require around 9200kJ of energy per day to be considered
above starvation levels
- However,
o Activity level
o Body mass
o Rate of metabolism
- Affect the energy requirements of different people

Thyroid Gland
- A horomone (chemical messenger) produced in the thyroid gland
regulates the rate at which food energy is converted into other forms
of energy by cells
- An increase in this hormone increases the metabolic rate of an
individual
- Hypothyroidism – can cause increase weight gain
- Hyperthyroidism = can cause an individual to not be able to gain
weight easily

Calculating Energy Requirements

- Table 2 p. 232 – Energy factors for common activities
- How much energy would be expended by a 75kg individual who
sleeps all day?
- Energy = energy factor x body mass x time

Dieting
- Proper diet is important, but using “dieting” to control weight can
have unforeseen problems
- Dieting is one method that people can use to control their weight
-