Nutrition and Digestion

Nutrients

 Nutrients - substances obtained from the environment that organisms need for growth
and survival

 Six major categories

- Carbohydrates

- Lipids

- Proteins

- Minerals

- Vitamins

- Water

Energy

 Most energy is provided by carbohydrates and fats

- Cells rely on a supply of energy to maintain their activities

- Nutrients that supply energy are lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins

- Broken down by digestion to their subunits, which are used during cellular respiration

- Energy from these subunits is released and is captured in ATP

Energy is measured in calories

 A calorie - the amount of energy required to raise 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius

 Food calorie content is measured in units of 1,000 calories (kcal) known as Calories

 The average human burns 70 Calories per hour at rest, and up to 20 Calories per minute
during exercise

 People differ in metabolic rate - the speed at which cellular reactions that release
energy will occur

 Exercise significantly boosts Caloric requirements

Carbohydrates A source of quick energy

 Include glucose, sucrose, and polysaccharides, long chains of sugar molecules

 Cellulose, starch, and glycogen are polysaccharides composed of glucose chains

- Cellulose - structural component of plant cell walls

- Starch -storage material of plants

- Glycogen - used by animals for short-term energy storage

Fats and Oils The most concentrated energy source

 Contain over 2X as many Calories per unit weight as do carbohydrates or proteins

 When an animal’s diet provides more energy than it expends, most of the excess
carbohydrates and fats are stored as body fat

- Fat is hydrophobic, neither attracts nor dissolves in water

- Stored fat does not accumulate water and so more energy can be stored per unit of
weight from fats than from other molecules

 Fat deposits also provide insulation for animals living in cold environments - seals,
whales, walruses

Body Mass index

 Body Mass Index (BMI) a common tool for estimating a healthy weight

 A BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is healthy

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that about 33% of all U.S. adults
are overweight (BMI between 25 and 29.9) and an addition 33% are obese (BMI of 30 or more)

Essential nutrients

  Provide raw materials

 Our cells can synthesize most of the molecules our bodies require, but they cannot
synthesize certain raw materials, called essential nutrients, which must be supplied in
the diet

Essential Nutrients for humans include certain fatty acids, amino acids, a variety of minerals,
vitamins, and water
Essential fatty acids

 Certain fatty acids are essential in the human diet

 Fats and oils provide a source of energy and essential fatty acids

 Essential fatty acids serve as raw materials used to synthesize molecules in a wide range
of physiological activities

- They help us absorb fat-soluble vitamins, are important in cell division, fetal
development, and immune response

- Sources of essential fatty acids are fish oils, canola oil, soybean oil, flaxseed, walnuts

Amino Acids

 Building blocks of protein

 Protein from food is broken down into its amino acid subunits, which can be used to
synthesize new proteins

 Protein functions in the body - act as enzymes, receptors on cell membranes, oxygen
transport molecules, structural proteins, antibodies, muscle proteins

 Humans are unable to synthesize of the 20 amino acids needed

 Must be obtained in the diet, are called essential amino acids

- Protein-rich foods - meat, milk, eggs, corn, beans, soybeans

Kwashiorkor is Caused by Protein Deficiency

 Symptoms:

- Changes in skin pigment

- Decreased muscle mass

- DiarrheaFailure to gain weight and grow

- Fatigue

- Hair changes
Minerals

 Minerals - elements that play a role in animal nutrition and can only be obtained in diet
or drinking water

- Calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus are components of bone and teeth

- Sodium, calcium, and potassium - needed for muscle contraction and nerve impulses

- Iron - hemoglobin in the blood

- Iodine - hormones produced by the thyroid gland

Animals also require trace amounts of zinc, magnesium, copper, and chromium
Vitamins

 Play a role in metabolism

 Vitamins - organic molecules that animals require in small amounts for normal cell
function, growth, and development

 Vitamins are required for the proper functioning of enzymes that control metabolic
reactions in the body

 Vitamins are essential nutrients that the body cannot synthesize and must be obtained
in the diet

 They are grouped into two categories: water soluble or fat soluble

Water-soluble vitamins- b,c

Water-soluble vitamins

 Vitamin C and the nine compounds that make up B-vitamin complex

 - Because these substances dissolve in the watery blood plasma and are filtered out by
the kidneys, they are not stored in appreciable amounts

 Most act as coenzymes -work in conjunction with enzymes to promote chemical

reactions

 Each vitamin participates in several metabolic processes so the deficiency of one vitamin
can have wide-ranging effects

- For example, folic acid is required to synthesize thymine, a nucleotide; folic acid
deficiency impairs cell division

 Important for pregnant women to get enough folic acid to supply a rapidly growing fetus

 Folic acid deficiency leads to a reduction in red blood cells and anemia

Fat-soluble vitamins- adek

Pellagra Is Caused by Niacin Deficiency

• Pellagra is a disease caused by low levels of niacin, also known as vitamin B-3. It’s
marked by dementia, diarrhea, and dermatitis, also known as “the three Ds”. If left
untreated, pellagra can be fatal.

• Symptoms

- Dermatitis

- Dementia
 - diarrhea

Fat-soluble vitamins

 Can be stored in body fat and accumulates over time

 Vitamin A is used to synthesize the light-capturing molecule in the retina of the eye

 Vitamin D is required for bone formation

- Deficiency can lead to bone deformities such as ricket

 Vitamin E is an antioxidant, neutralizing free radicals that form in the body

 Vitamin K helps to regulate blood clotting

Water

 The human body is about 60% water

 A person can survive longer without food than without water

 All metabolic reactions occur in solution, and water participates directly in hydrolysis
reactions that break down proteins, carbohydrates, fats

 Water is the principal component of saliva, blood, lymph, extracellular fluid, and
cytoplasmic fluid

 By sweating, people use evaporation of water to prevent overheating

 Urine, mostly water, is necessary to eliminate cellular waste products

Digestion

 Digestion - the process that physically and chemically breaks down food, accomplished
by digestive systems

- Takes in food and digests complex molecules into simpler molecules that can be used by the
body

- Material that cannot be absorbed is expelled

Digestive Systems Perform 5 Tasks

 Ingestion: Food is brought into the digestive tract through an opening, usually a mouth
  Mechanical digestion: Food is physically broken down into smaller pieces that have a
greater surface area, allowing digestive enzymes to attack them more efficiently

 Chemical digestion: Digestive chemicals and enzymes break down large food molecules
into smaller subunits

 Absorption: The small subunits are transported out of the digestive tract through cells
lining the digestive tract to the blood for use by body cells

 Elimination: Indigestible materials are expelled from body

How do sponges digest?

 Sedentary filter-feeders that lack a digestive chamber

 Rely on intracellular digestion, occurs in individual cells

 Digestion takes place in collar cells lining water-filled sponge chambers

 Sponges are permanently attached to rocks, circulating seawater and food particles
through pores in their bodies

 Collar cells engulf food particles in the water and ingest them using phagocytosis,
forming a food vacuole

 The food vacuole fuses with a lysosome, a packet of digestive enzymes within the cell
that breaks down the food into smaller molecules

 Smaller food molecules are absorbed into the cell cytoplasm

 Indigestible material is expelled from the cell and sponge through a large opening in the
body wall
Extracellular digestion

 The simplest digestive system is a chamber with one opening

 All other types of animals evolved a chamber within the body in which chunks of food
are broken down by enzymes outside the cells, a process called extracellular digestion

 A sac with one opening is the simplest digestive system, and is found in the cnidarians
such as sea anemones, Hydra, and sea jellies

Gastrovascular Cavity

 Gastrovascular cavity - a single opening at one end that acts as both a mouth and an
anus

 Food is captured by stinging tentacles that bring food to the mouth and into the
gastrovascular cavity

 Gland cells lining the gastrovascular cavity release enzymes and digest the prey

 Nutritive cells lining the cavity then absorb the nutrients, and food particles are
engulfed by phagocytosis

 Further digestion occurs within the vacuoles in the nutritive cells and undigested wastes
are expelled through the mouth
Tubular digestive systems

 Most animals have tubular digestive systems with specialized compartments

 Most invertebrate animals—mollusks, arthropods, echinoderms, earthworms, and all

vertebrates—have digestive systems that are one-way tubes that begin with a mouth
and end with an anus

 Specialized regions within the tube physically grind up the food and enzymatically break
it down, absorbing the nutrients, and expelling the wastes through the anus

Earthworm

 As it burrows the worm ingests soil through the esophagus, a muscular tube leading
from the mouth to the crop, an expandable sac where food is stored

 The food is released into the gizzard, where sand grains and muscular contractions grind
it into smaller particles
  In the intestine, enzymes breaks down food particles, producing small molecules that
are absorbed into the worm’s body

 Undigested organic matter is expelled through the anus

A tubular digestive system

Vertebrate Digestion Specializations

 Different animals have radically different diets

- Carnivores -wolves, cats, seals, and predatory birds - eat other animals

- Herbivores - eat only plants - seed-eating birds, deer, camels, cows, many rodents such
as mice

- Omnivores - humans, bears, and raccoons - eat both animals and plants

Teeth

 The teeth of omnivores, carnivores, and herbivores are adapted to their diet

- Incisors for biting

- Canines for tearing

- Premolars for grinding

- Molars for crushing and chewing

- Omnivores, like humans, have flat incisors for shearing food, small canines, and large
premolars and molars for crushing and grinding
 - Carnivores have enlarged canines for stabbing and tearing flesh, and molars and
premolars with sharp edges for shearing through tendon and bone

- Herbivores have reduced canines but large incisors for snipping plants, and big,
flattened premolars and molars for grinding plant material

Teeth Have Evolved to Suit Different Diets

Birds

 Bird’s stomachs grind food

 Birds lack teeth and swallow their food whole

 The food passes through a muscular esophagus and enters the crop, which stores and
moistens the food

 The food enters the stomach, the first chamber secretes protein-digesting enzymes, and
the second chamber (a thick- walled, muscular chamber) grinds the food

 The food enters the gizzard and ground further

 Pulverized food particles are released to the small intestine, where they are further
digested and nutrients absorbed
Ruminant

 Specialized stomachs allow ruminants to digest cellulose

 Ruminant herbivores are able to break down cellulose and extract nutrients from tough
plant matter

 These animals have elaborate digestive systems that house microorganisms able to
break down cellulose

 Ruminants have multiple stomach chambers that contribute to the digestion of plant
cellulose

- The first chamber is the rumen, which houses microorganisms that use enzymes to
break down and ferment cellulose and other carbohydrates

- The plant material enters the reticulum, where it is formed into a cud that is
regurgitated, chewed, and swallowed back into the rumen

- The partially digested plant material enters the omasum where water, salts, and some
small organic molecules are absorbed

- Plant material is then passed to the abomasum, where acid and protein- digesting
enzymes begin protein digestion
  Most of the products of digestion are absorbed through the wall of the small intestine

Small intestine

 Small intestine length is correlated with diet

- Because cellulose is difficult to digest, herbivore intestines are long, to allow more time
for nutrient absorption

- Carnivore intestines are relatively short because proteins are easy to digest

 In frogs the herbivorous tadpole has a long small intestine, but the carnivorous
frog intestine shortens to one-third its tadpole length

Human digestive system

 The human digestive system, which is adapted for processing a wide variety of foods,
provides a good example of the mammalian digestive system

The human digestive tract

 Salivary glands: Secrete lubricating  Esophagus: Transports food to the

fluid and starch-digesting enzymes stomach

 Pharynx: Shared digestive and  Liver: Secretes bile (also has many
respiratory passage non-digestive functions)

 Epiglottis: Directs food down the  Gallbladder: Stores bile from the
esophagus liver
  Pancreas: Secretes pH buffers and  Stomach: Breaks down food and
several digestive enzymes begins protein digestion

 Large intestine: Absorbs vitamins,  Small intestine: Food is digested and

minerals, and water; houses absorbed
bacteria; produces feces
 Rectum: Stores
 Oral cavity, tongue,teeth:

Mechanical and Chemical Digestion

 Chewing begins the mechanical breakdown of food

 Three pairs of salivary glands produce saliva to begin chemical digestion

 The functions of saliva include:

- Saliva contains amylase - breaks starch into sugars

- It contains bacteria-killing enzymes and antibodies to guard against infection

- It lubricates food to ease swallowing

It dissolves some molecules, acids and sugars, exposing them to taste buds on tongue, which
helps to identify the type and quality of food

How do humans digest food?

  The tongue pushes food into the pharynx

 The epiglottis folds over the larynx (leads to the trachea and the lungs) keeps swallowed
food from entering the trachea

 The esophagus conducts food to the stomach, mechanical and chemical digestion

- Swallowing forces food into a muscular tube – esophagus

Muscles surrounding the esophagus produce waves of muscular contraction, called peristalsis,
which propel food to the stomach and though the rest of the digestive tract

Stomach

 Food enters the stomach, expandable muscular sac

 Food is held in the stomach by two rings of circular muscles, called sphincter muscles

- The sphincter at the top, the lower esophageal sphincter, keeps food and acid from
sloshing up into the esophagus

- A second sphincter, the pyloric sphincter, separates the lower portion of the stomach
from the upper small intestine, regulating the passage of food into the small intestine
Four functions of the stomach

1. It stores food and gradually releases it into the small intestine at a rate that allows the
small intestine to completely digest the food and absorb the nutrients

2. It produces a variety of churning contractions for the mechanical breakdown of food

3. It begins protein breakdown using secretions from gastric glands, clusters of specialized
epithelial cells that line the stomach

4. It secretes the digestion-regulating hormone gastrin

Gastric gland secretions

 Hydrochloric acid, pepsinogen, and mucus

- Hydrochloric acid (HCl) gives the stomach an acidic pH of 1 – 3 which destroys many
microbes swallowed along with food

- Pepsinogen is the inactive form of pepsin, a type of protease—a protein-digesting

enzyme

 The stomach’s acidity converts inactive pepsinogen into pepsin, its active form

- Mucus coats the stomach and as a barrier to self-digestion

 Food in the stomach is converted to chyme, a mixture of partially digested food and
stomach secretions
Peristaltic waves move the chyme toward the small intestine

Small intestine

 Most chemical digestion occurs in the small intestine

 The small intestine - a long, narrow tube that receives food from the stomach

 The main functions are to chemically digest food into small molecules and to absorb
these molecules into the body

 Most fat and carbohydrate digestion occurs in the small intestine, and protein digestion
started in the stomach is completed here

Digestive secretions also come from…

 After the stomach releases chyme into the small intestine, chemical digestion is
accomplished with the aid of enzymes and other digestive secretions from three
sources:

- The liver

- The pancreas

- The cells of the small intestine

Liver and gallbladder

 The liver and gallbladder provide bile which helps break down fats

- Functions of the liver

 It stores fats and carbohydrates

 It regulates blood glucose levels

 It synthesizes blood proteins

 It stores iron and certain vitamins

 It converts ammonia into urea

 It detoxifies harmful substances

 It produces a liquid called bile, which is stored in the gallbladder

  The bile is released through the bile duct and empties into the first segment of the small
intestine, the duodenum

Bile

 A mixture made of bile salts, water, other salts, cholesterol

 Bile salts emulsify large fat globs into microscopic particles

 Lipid-digesting enzymes from the pancreas, called lipases, are able to attack the fat
molecules due to the increased surface area for digestion produced by emulsification

Pancreas

 Supplies several digestive secretions to the small intestine

- Lies between the stomach and small intestine

- Two types of cells

 One type produces hormones that regulate blood sugar concentration

 The other secretes pancreatic juice, a digestive secretion that is released into the small
intestine through the pancreatic duct

- Pancreatic juice contains:

  Water

 Sodium bicarbonate, which neutralizes the acidic chyme

 Digestive enzymes

 Amylase breaks down carbohydrates

 Lipases break down lipids

 Proteases break down proteins and peptides

Microvilli in small intestine

 The digestive process is completed by cells of the intestinal wall

- Small intestinal cells have microscopic projections or microvilli that increase the surface
area for absorption and release enzymes that complete the digestion process

 Some enzymes complete the breakdown of peptides to amino acids

 Other enzymes break disaccharides into monosaccharides

 Additional enzymes digest lipids

 Most absorption occurs in the small intestine

- The intestinal lining provides a large surface area for absorption

 The small intestine has numerous folds with fingerlike projections, called villi, on its
surface to increase absorptive surface area

 Each villus cell has many microvilli that increase surface area even more
Movement in the small intestine

 Unsynchronized contractions of the circular muscles of the small intestine, called

segmentation movements, slosh the chyme back and forth, bringing nutrients into
contact with the enormous surface area of the small intestine

 After absorption is complete, peristaltic waves conduct the leftovers into the large
intestine

Movement out of the small intestine

 Nutrients are transported through the intestinal wall in several ways

- Each intestinal villus contains capillaries and lymph vessels, called lacteals, that are
responsible for the collection of absorbed nutrients that pass across the intestinal cells

 Nutrients are absorbed into intestinal cells by diffusion or active transport, and then
diffuses from the cell to the bloodstream

 Water is absorbed by osmosis

 Fats are absorbed into the lacteals as chylomicrons, which then enter lymphatic
capillaries that lead to the bloodstream

Large intestine
  Water is absorbed and feces are formed in the large intestine

- The large intestine is about 5 feet long and 2.5 inches wide; most is called the colon, the
last 6 inches is the rectum

 A mix of water, undigested nutrients, fiber enter the large intestine

 The remaining semisolid material is called feces

 The feces is transported by peristaltic contractions to the rectum, which expands and
stimulates defecation

- The large intestine contains bacteria that consume unabsorbed nutrients and synthesize
vitamins such as vitamin B12, thiamin, riboflavin, and vitamin K

- The large intestine absorbs vitamins, water, and salts

Control of Digestion

 Controlled by the nervous system and hormones

- Food triggers nervous system responses

 The nervous system responds to sensory input, such as sight, smell, taste, and even
thought of food

 Signals from the brain act on the salivary glands and other parts of the digestive system,
preparing it to digest and absorb food

- Hormones help regulate digestive activity

 Hormones secreted by the digestive system enter the bloodstream and circulate
through the body, acting on receptors within the digestive tract

 Like most hormones, they are regulated by negative feedback

Example of hormonal control

 For example, the amino acids and peptides in chime stimulate cells in the stomach lining
to release gastrin into the bloodstream

 Gastrin stimulates further acid secretion in the stomach, which promotes protein
digestion
 When the pH of the stomach reaches a high level of acidity, this inhibits gastrin
secretion, which in turn inhibits further acid production

 Two additional hormones are released by cells of the duodenum in response to the
acidity and nutrients in chyme, particularly peptides and fats

- Secretin slows stomach acid production and inhibits stomach contractions

- Cholecystokinin stimulates the pancreas to release enzymes and the gallbladder to

release bile

 These hormones help regulate the chemical environment within the small intestine, and
the rate at which chyme enters, promoting optimal digestion and absorption of
nutrients