How is food digested?

Answer 1

Food is digested by digestive enzymes in your digestive system. The first digestive enzyme is called amylase and it is found in you mouth, in other words your saliva, this enzyme breaks down carbohydrates/ sugars. Then your food is churned with your teeth and becomes a bolus ( a ball of food), that then travels down to the stomach through methods of peristalsis. The food enters the stomach upon passage through the cardiac orifice, also known as the esophageal sphincter. In the stomach, food is further broken apart through a process of heuristic churning and is thoroughly mixed with a digestive fluid, composed chiefly of hydrochloric acid, and other digestive enzymes to further denature proteins. The parietal cells of the stomach also secrete a compound, intrinsic factor which is essential in the absorption of vitamin B-12. As the acidic level changes in the small intestines, more enzymes are activated to split apart the molecular structure of the various nutrients so they may be absorbed into the circulatory or lymphatic systems. Absorption is when smaller molecules, such as glucose or alcohol, pass through the membrane of the stomach directly into the blood stream.After being processed in the stomach, food is passed to the small intestine via the pyloric sphincter. This is where most of the digestive process occurs as chyme enters the first 10 inches (25 cm) of the small intestine, the duodenum. Here it is further mixed with 3 different liquids: 1. bile (which helps aid in fat digestion, otherwise known as emulsification) (Bile also contains pigments that are by-products of red blood cell destruction in the liver; these bile pigments are eliminated from the body with the feces.) 2. pancreatic juice and enzymes, (made by the pancreas) 3. intestinal enzymes of the alkaline mucosal membranes. The enzymes include: maltase, lactase and sucrase, to process sugars. Trypsin and chymotrypsin are other enzymes added in the small intestine. Most nutrient absorption takes place in the small intestine. The nutrients pass through the small intestine's wall, which contains small, finger-like structures called villi. The blood, which has absorbed nutrients, is carried away from the small intestine via the hepatic portal vein and goes to the liver for filtering, removal of toxins, and nutrient processing. The primary activity here is regulation of blood glucose levels through a process of temporary storage of excess glucose that is converted in the liver to glycogen in direct response to the hormone insulin. Between meals, when blood glucose levels begin to drop, the glycogen is converted back to glucose in response to the hormone glucagon.

Answer 2

The walls of the Small Intestine have hair-like protuberances on them called Villi. There are blood vessels on the hairs which absorb food to be used by the body.

Answer 3

Food is digested in the stomach and in the upper part of the small intestine (duodenum). Most nutrients are absorbed in the middle part (jejunum) of the small intestine.

Answer 4

by your brain