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14 HUMAN NUTRITION
 14.1 Introduction – Definations

 14.2 Human Digestive System – Alimentary canal

 14.3 Histological Structure of Alimentary Canal

 14.4 Digestive Glands

 14.5 Physiology of digestion

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 14.6 Absorption, assimilation & egestion

 14.7 Nutritional disorders & disorders of digestive system.

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Introduction:-

1) Nutrition –Sum of all processes in which food is taken, digest, absorbe, utilize and
undigested food thrown out from body.
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2) Ingestion – Process in which food is enter in mouth cavity.

3) Digestion – Complex, Non-diffusible, non-absorble food is converted into simple,

diffusible & absorble form.

4) Egestion- Undigested food.

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5) Balance Diet:- Diet contain proper proportion of all nutrients. i.e. Carbohydrates,
proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, water & fibres.
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 14.2 Human digestive system –

Consist of alimentary canal & associated digestive glands.

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I] Alimentary canal:-
Long, tubular part, 8-10 meters long, stert from mouth & ends with anus.
a) Mouth /Buccal Cavity/ Oral cavity-
Palate is roof, tongue is floor & cheeks are side wall, anteriorly by lips & posteriorly open into
pharynx. Teeth, salivary gland & mucous.
i) Teeth-
Thecodont, diphyodont & heterodont. 32 teeth in adult, 20 teeth in child (milk teeth).
Type of teeth- Incisors (I), Canines ( c), Premolars (pm) & Molars (M).
Dentition - Study of teeth with respect to their number, arrangement, development.

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 2 1 2 3
Dental formula – Each half of jaw contain = I , C , PM , M
2 1 2 3

ii. Tongue:- Muscular, fleshy organ & roughly trigular in shape. Floor of buccal Cavity, upper
surface bears papillae with sensory receptors called ‘taste buds’.
Functions:- Taste, mixing of saliva, mastication of food & swallowing.
a) Pharynx:- Common passage for food (digestive ) & air (respiratory) Glottis is
opening between trachea & glottis. It open into the oesophagus through
oropharynx.
b) Oesophagus:- Thin, muscular tube, lies behind trachea, 25 cm. long tube in

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neck region. Peristaltic movement for food passage.

c) Stomach:- Located in the upper left portion of the abdominal cavity It is

muscular, sac-like ‘J’ shaped organ, 25-30 cm. in length. Divided into upper
cardiac & lower pyloric region.

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Cardiac- Sphincter prevent back flow of food, upper dome shaped, left part is
fundus, middle large central portion is body for food storage.
Pylorus:- Narrow, posterior region open into the duodenum. Pyloric sphincter
for regulate food flow.
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d) Small intestine:- 6 meters long & 2.5 c.m. broad tube, coiled from divided into
duodenum, jejunum & ileum.

Duodenum – 26 cm. long, U shaped, left side of abdominal cavity,, below the
stomach.
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Jejunum:- 2.5 meters long, middle coiled portion, narrower than duodenum.

Ileum:- 3.5 meters long, highly coiled & broader. It open into the large- intestine.

e) Large intestine:- 1.5 meters in length, wide diameter. Consist of caecum, colon
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& rectum.

Caecum – Small, blind sac at junction of ileum & colon, 6 cm. in length. A
vermiform appendix arises from caecum. Appendix is vestigial ( functionless)
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organ in human.

Tube like organ, divided into 3 parts ascending colon, transverse colon &
descending colon. Mucous cells present.

Rectum- Posterior part, it temporarily store undigested waste material (faeces).

f) Anus:- Terminal openining, guarded by sphincter. It egest or remove faecal

matter by egestion/ defaecation.

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  14.2. Histological Structure of alimentary canal
Entire alimentary canal is lined by four basic layers serosa, muscularis, submucosa &
mucosa.

1) Serosa:- Outermost layer, made up of squmous epithelium & connective tissue. It

is uniform thickness.

2) Muscularis:- Made up of smooth muscles, smooth muscles are arranged in three

concentreic layers, outermost longitutional, middle circular muscles and innermost

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oblique muscles.

Oblique muscles are absent in intestine. It is not uniform, in stomach it is wider

while thin & narrow in intestine.

3) Submucosa:-

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Formed by loose connective tissue containing blood vessels, lymph
vessels & nerves. In duodenum this layer show presence of glands.

4) Mucosa:- Innermost layer, contain goblet cells that secreate mucus. Only this layer
show modification in different regions of alimentary canal. In stomach thrown into
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irregular folds called ‘rugae’. It form gastric gland. In intestine (small) it forms
finger like folding called villi (microvilli) with brush border. Capillaries & lymph
vessels present in intestinal mucosa called ‘lacteals’.
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 14.3. Digestive glands:-

Salivary gland, liver and pancrease are the digestive glands associated with
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alimentary canal.

1) Salivary glands – 3 pairs of gland present in month.

i. A pair of pavotid gland in front of the ear.

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ii. A pair of submandibular gland present below the lower jaw.

iii. A pair of sublingual gland – present below the tongue.

Salivary gland is made up of 2 types of cells

a) Serous cell – secreate salivary amylase enzyme

b) Mucous cell – Secreate mucus for lubricate the food & help in swallowing.

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 2) Liver:-

i. Largest gland of the body. Bilobed gland.

ii. Location – Below the diaphragm, right upper part of the abdominal cavity.

iii. Weight – 1.2 – 1.5 kg in adult.

iv. Colour – Dark reddish-brown.

v. Cover – Connective tissue capsule called ‘Glisson’s capsule’.

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vi. Hepatic lobules – Stuctural & functional units of liver. Polygonal in shape.
In the centre of hepatre lobule hepatic artevy, hepatic portal vein & bile
duct.

Phagocytic cells called ‘Kupffer cells’ are present in between the cords of

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hepatic cells. These cells destroy toxic substances, dead blood cells &
micro-organisms.

Hepatic cells produce bile juice that is collected & carried through bile
duct & stored in sac like gall bladder.
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 Functions of liver

Q. Write functions of Liver:-

i. Bile juice of liver emulsified the fats & make food alkaline.
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ii. Store excess of glucose in the form of glycogen.

iii. Deamination of excess amino acids to ammonia to urea.

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iv. Synthesic of vitamins A,D, K & B12.

v. Produce blood proteins like prothrombin & fibrinogen.

vi. In early development liver acts as haemopoietic organ (blood cells

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producing organ).

vii. Kupffer cells help in detoxification process & destruction of old RBCs.

3) Pancrease:-

i. Leaf shaped gland.

ii. Heterocrine gland i.e. both exocrine & endocrine.

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 iii. Location- Present in a gap formed by duodenum under the stomach.

iv. Exocrine part- made up of ‘acini’ It secreate alkaline pancreatic juice contain
digestive enzymes. Pancreatic duct is open into the duodenum. With
common bile duct. To form “Hepato-pancreatic duct” which is guarded by
“shincter of oddi”.

v. Endocrine part is made up to group of cells called “istets of Langerhans” in

between acini. It contain 3 types of cell.

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Alpha cells screate glucagon for & increase blood sygar level.

Bita cells secreate insulin for decrease blood sugar level.

Delta cells secreate ‘somatostatin’ that inhibit glucagon & insulin secreation.

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 14.4. Physiology / Mechanism of digestion.
Digestion means simplification of food, it involves both mechanical and
biochemical processes.

Mechanical process means mastication/ chewing by teeth, mixing of saliva, churning

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in stomach & peristaltic movement in gastrointestinal tract. Biochemical process
include/means catabolic reactions for hydrolyse the food.

Digestion process takec place in buccal cavity(bolus), stomach (chyme) & small
intestine (chyle).
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I) Digestion in buccal cavity:-

Both mechanical & blochemical digestion.

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mastication or chewing of food by teeth & tongue.

Salivary gland secreate saliva & mucus. Mucus lubricate the food & make it
sticky called as bolus.
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Chemical digestion - salivary amylase digest starch into maltose (30% starch).

Saliva also contain lysozyme (antibacterial) that prevent infection, protein, fats
are not digested, food makes alkaline.

From buccal cavity bolus move downward into stomach through oesophagus
by peristaltic movement.

II) Digestion in the stomach:-

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 Food enter in stomach through gastro-oesophageal sphincter.

Food store in stomach for 4-5 hours.

Both mechanical & biochemical digestion takes place.

Mechanical digestion- Thick muscular wall help in churning process. Which

break the food particles.

Biochemical digestion- Mucosa layer of stomach has gastric gland. 3 types of

cess present in gastric gland namely.

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Goblet/ mucous cell secreate mucus,

peptic/ chief cell secreate pepsinogen (inactive enzyme) &

parietal /oxyntic cells secreatte HCL & intrinsic factor.

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In infant stomach also secreate rennin. All these chemicals form gastric
juice.

Role of chemicals:-
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i. Mucus- Protect the inner lining of stomach from HCL.

ii. HCL – a)Make food Acidlic. b)stop action of salivary amylase. c)Kills the
germs present in the food. d)Inactive pepsinogen is converted into active
pepsin.
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iii. Pepsinogen- In the presence of HCL (acidic condition) pepsinogen

converted into pepsin which convert proteins into simple form peptones
& proteoses.
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iv. Rennin- It is present in infant stomach. It act on casein (milk protein)

make milk coagulated.
At the end of gastric digestion semifluid, acidic, partially digested is called as
‘chyme’.
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From stomach chyme is pushed in the small intestine through pyloric

sphincter.
HCL
Pepsinogen pepsin,
PH(1.8)

Pepsin
proteins , Peptones+ Proteose.
Acidic med

II) Digestion in the small intestine:-

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 Only biochemical digestion. Takes place. Intestinal juice, bile juice from liver &
Pancreatic juice from pancrease are mixed with ‘chyme’ by peristaltic movement.

Role of bile Juice:-

Contain bile pigments, bile salts, cholesterol + phospholipid but no digestive enzymes.

Dark green coloured bile contain bile pigments like bilirubin & biliverdin that give
colour to faecal matter.

Bile salts (Na-glycocholate & Na-taurocholate) i)neutralize the acidity of chime &

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make it alkaline. ii)Bile salts also brings about emulsification of fats.

iii)It also activates lipid digesting enzyme/ lijpase.

Role of pancreatic Juice:-

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Pancreatic juice contain various digestive enzymes like pancreatic amylase,
lipase, inactive trypsinogen & chymotrypsinogen and nuclease. (Secreated by
intestinal mucosa).

i)Pancreatic amylase acts on glycogen & starch to convert into disaccharides.

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Pancreatic
Glycogen / starch maltose.
amylase

ii) Fats Lipase Fatty acids & monoglycerides.

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iii) Trypsinogen (Inactive) Enterokinase Trypsin (Active form)

iv) Protein/Peptone/Proteose Trypsin Polypeptides.

v) Chymotrypsinogen Trypsin chymotrypsin.

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vi) Polypeptides chymotrypsin Dipeptides.

vii) Nucleic acid Nuclease Nucleotide

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Nucleotide Nucleotidase Nucleoside + Phosphate

Nucleoside Nucleosidase sugar + N-base.

Role of intestinal juice:-

Intestinal juice contain mucus, digestive enzymes like dipeptidase, lipase,

dkisaccharidase like mattase, sucrose, lactase.

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 i) Emulsified fats Lipase fatty acids + monoglycerides

ii) Dipeptides dipeptidase Amino acids.

iii) Maltose maltase glucose

Sucrose sucrase glucose + fructose

Lactose Lactase glucose + ggalactose

Finally In digestion carbohydrates to monosaccharide, nucleic acid to sugar & N-

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base, fat to fatty acids, proteins to amino acids is indicate end of digestion.
Now alkaline chyle (food) contain various nutrients are ready for absorption.

 Digestion in large intestine:-

Mucosa of large intestine produce mucus but no enzymes. Some

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carbohydrates & proteins are enter in large intestine are digested by only bacteria

bacteria
Carbohydrates CH4 + CO2 + H2
in clon

Protein Bacteria Indole/ skatole & H2S (odour of faeces)

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Bacteria also synthesic vitamin B & K.

 How digestion or enzyme activity control by Hormones.

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i)Digestive enzymes & juices are produced in sequential manner & proper time.

ii)Secreations are under nejurohormonal control.

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iii) Sight, smell & even thought trigger saliva secretion.

iv)Vagus is 10th cranial nerves stimulate secretion of gastric juice in stomach.

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v)Intestinal mucosa produce hormones like secretin, cholecystokinin (cck) & gastria
inhibiting pepktide (GIP) & gastrin.

a) Gastrin hormone- Stinulate gastric gland for the secretion of HCL +

Pepsinogen.

b) Secretin hormone – Act on exocrine part of pancrease for secretion of

pancreatic juice.

c) Gastric inhibiting peptide (GIP) - Inhibit / prevent gastric gland secreation.

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 d)Cholecystokinin (CCK)

Act on pancrease, gall bladder to stimulate pancreatic juice & bile

juice.

14.5. Absorption, assimilation and egestion

I) Absorption:- After digestion process simple, soluble, liquid form of food (chyle) passage
from mucosal lining of alimentary canal into lymph and blood.

Site- Maximum absorption (90%) takes place in small intestine and remaining (10%) in

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mouth, stomach & large intestine.
Way- Absorption by simple diffusion, Osmosis, Transport, Diffusion- Glucose, amino acids &
chloride like electrolytis Facilitated transport-Fructose.
Active transport- Sodium ions
Osmosis – Water

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Absorption in mouth- Only some drugs like painkillers.
Absorption in stomach- No absorption of nutrients. Little amount of water, electrolytes,
alcohol & drugs like aspirin.
Absorption in small intestine:-
Glucose, fructose, galactose, amino acids, minerals, water soluble vitamins (B & C) absorbe
in blood capillaries while lipids/fats & fat soluble vitamins (A, D ,E & k) are absorbed in
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lacteals.
+ -
Absorption in Large intestine- Water, Na Cl , drugs & some vitamins.

II) Assimilation:- Absorbed food finally reaches the tissue, cells and form a part of
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protoplasm.

III) Egestion:- Undigested waste is converted into faeces in colon & rectum.

Composition- Water, inorganic salts, bacteria, mucosal cells & undigested food.
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Neural signal is given by rectum when pressure is increase. It is voluntary process or control.

*** 1gm carbohydrate = 4 K calories, 1gm protein = 6 K calories & 1gm Fat = 9 K calories.
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14.6 Nutrional and digestive system disorders

I) Nutritional disorders:-

Deficiency or over nutrition leads to dietary or nutritional disorders.

Deficiency of protein in diet leads to protein energy malnutrition (PEM) .

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 Vitamins & minerals deficiency is also cause of PEM. It can leads to disease
like kwashiorkor & Marasmus.

Protein-Energy malnutrition (PEM): It is the dietary deficiencies of proteins &

food calories.

PEM causes Marasmus & Kwashiorkor in children.

• Marasmus: It is due to deficiency of both proteins and calories. It is found in infants

less than a year in age.

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Reason: Replacement of mother’s milk by foods with poor proteins and caloric value.
This often happens if mother has second pregnancy or child birth when the older
infant is still too young.

Symptoms: Impaired growth and replacement of tissue proteins; extreme emaciation

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of the body, thin limbs, dry, thin and wrinkled skin, declined growth rate and body
weight, impaired growth and development of brain and mental faculties.

• Kwashiorkor: It is due to protein deficiency only.

Reason: Replacement of mother’s milk by a high calorie-low protein diet in a child

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more than one year in age.

Symptoms: Like marasmus, it shows wasting of muscles, thinning of limbs,

failure of growth & brain development. Unlike marasmus, some fat is still under
the skin; extensive oedema and swelling of body parts are seen.
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II)Digestive system disorder:-

Jaundice: Here, the skin and eye turns yellow due to the deposition of bile pigments. It
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indicates liver damage.

2. Vomiting: Ejection of stomach content through mouth. It is controlled by medulla

oblongata.
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3. Diarrhoea: Frequent elimination of watery faeces. It reduces the absorption of food.

4. Constipation: Infrequent elimination of dry stool. It is due to decreased peristalsis

in colon.

5. Indigestion: Condition leading to feeling of fullness due to improper digestion. It is

due to anxiety, inadequate enzyme secretion, food poisoning, spicy food etc.

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