7.

Human Nutrition
 Balanced Diet
● A balanced diet consists of all of the food groups in the correct
proportions
● The necessary food groups are:
1. Carbohydrates

2. Proteins

3. Lipids

4. Vitamins

5. Minerals

6. Dietary Fibre

7. Water
Specific vitamin and mineral requirements:
Causes & Effects of Vitamin & Mineral Deficiencies
Human Digestive System
The main organs of the digestive system:

(a)alimentary canal: mouth, oesophagus,

stomach, small intestine (duodenum and
ileum) and large intestine (colon, rectum,
anus)

(b)associated organs: salivary glands,

pancreas, liver and gall bladder
1. Mouth:
● First part of the digestive system, where food
enters our body.
● Putting food in the mouth is called feeding or
Ingestion.

2. Salivary glands:
● It produces saliva, which contains enzyme
Amylase.
● Amylase breaks down starch to sugar.

3. Epiglottis:
● Prevents swallowed food from entering the lungs.
4. Oesophagus/ Gullet
A long muscular tube between mouth and
stomach.
● It pushes Bolus (balls of food) into the
stomach by ‘peristalsis’.

5. Stomach:
● A muscular bag that churns food with
digestive juices.
● Digestive juices contain;
a.) Enzymes – to digest food.
Pepsin (a protease) to break proteins to amino
acids.
b.) Hydrochloric acid – to kill bacteria and
maintain optimum pH (1-2).
6.) Liver:
● Produces bile which emulsifies (breakdown)
fat.
● Bile  is a dark green to yellowish brown
fluid, produced by the liver , that helps the
digestion of fats in the small intestine.
7.) Gall Bladder:
● Stores bile before releasing it into the
duodenum.
8.)Pancreas:
● Produces digestive enzymes and releases
into the small intestine.
● Also makes hormones insulin and glucagon.
● Pancreatic juice contains pancreatic
amylase, lipase and protease enzyme
(trypsin)
9. Small Intestine:
Where food is mixed with digestive enzymes, pancreatic enzymes and bile.
1. DUODENUM:
Digestion is completed.

2. ILEUM: Where digested food is absorbed into the blood.

Role of the hepatic portal vein

 The hepatic portal vein transports absorbed

food from the small intestine to the liver.
 After a meal, the blood in this vein contains
very high concentrations of glucose and amino
acids, as well as vitamins and minerals.
 The liver reduces levels back to normal.
Absorption, small intestine and significance of villi
10.) Large Intestine:
● Solid materials pass through the large intestine
(indigestible solids – fibers).
● Water and electrolytes are absorbed.
● Vitamins K and B are reabsorbed along with
water.

11.) Rectum (End part of the large intestine): Rectum

• Solid waste matter/Undigested food (faeces) is stored
here. Anus

12.) Anus:
It is the opening at the end of the digestive track through which solid waste
matter leaves the body.
Egestion is the passing out of undigested food as faeces, through the anus.
Physical digestion

• Physical digestion is the breakdown of

food into smaller pieces without chemical
change to the food molecules.

• Physical digestion increases the surface

area of food for the action of enzymes in
chemical digestion.
Mechanical Digestion
 Structure of Tooth
Crown: The part of the tooth that is visible above the gum line.

Gum: Is a tissue that overlays the jaws.

Root: The rest of the teeth, embedded in the jaw bone.

Enamel: Covers tooth crown. Enamel is very hard (harder than bone), and prevents the tooth
from decaying.

Dentine: Located under the enamel, this looks quite similar to bone. Not as hard as enamel.

Pulp: Found at center of tooth, and contains blood vessels, nerves and soft tissues which
delivers nutrients to your tooth.

Cement: The layer of bone-like tissue covering the root. It is not as hard as enamel.

Nerves: Each tooth and periodontal ligament has a nerve supply and the teeth are sensitive
to a wide variety of stimuli.
 2. Chemical digestion
  Amylase breaks down starch to simpler sugars.
 Protease breaks down protein to amino acids.
 Lipase breaks down fats to fatty acids and
glycerol.                                               

Enzyme Where enzymes are Substrate End – products

produced
 Where digestion happens:

 Proteases catalyse the breakdown of proteins into amino

acids in the stomach and small intestine.

 Lipases catalyse the breakdown of fats and oils into fatty

acids and glycerol in the small intestine.

 Amylase catalyses the breakdown of starch into maltose

in the mouth and small intestine.

 Maltase catalyses the breakdown of maltose into glucose

in the small intestine.
 Digestion of protein:

Several proteases which break down proteins.

 Pepsin is secreted in the stomach.

Pepsin acts on proteins and breaks them down into
soluble compounds called peptides.

 Trypsin is secreted by the pancreas in an inactive

form, which is changed to an active enzyme in the
duodenum, breaking down proteins to peptides.
The stomach:
• The stomach produces hydrochloric acid.
• It kills many harmful microorganisms (bacteria) that might
have been swallowed along with the food.
• The enzymes in the stomach work best in acidic conditions –
at a low pH.
 
Functions of HCl in gastric juice:
• Creates a very acidic pH of 2.
• This pH is important because it denatures enzymes in
harmful organisms in food, such as bacteria.
• It provides the optimum pH for the protein-digesting enzyme
pepsin to work.
 Bile:
• After being in the stomach, food travels to the small intestine.
• The enzymes in the small intestine work best in alkaline conditions – but the
food is acidic after being in the stomach.
• Bile is a substance produced by the liver and stored in the gall bladder.

• The bile emulsify the fat – they break them up into small droplets with a large
surface area, which are more efficiently digested by lipase.

• Bile is slightly alkaline and has the function of neutralising the acidic mixture of
food and gastric juices as it enters the duodenum.

• This is important because enzymes secreted into the duodenum need alkaline
conditions to work at their optimum rate.
7.5) Absorption
• The small intestine is the region where digested food is
absorbed.
• Most absorption happens in the ileum.
• Longest part of the small intestine and is between 2-4 metres
long.
• The small intestine has a large internal surface area for
absorption to happen quickly and efficiently.
• Glucose and amino acids pass into the bloodstream.
• Fatty acids and glycerol pass into the lacteals connected to
the lymphatic system.
• Water is absorbed in both the small intestine and the colon, but
the most absorption of water happens in the small intestine.
The ileum is efficient in the absorption of digested food:

• It is fairly long and presents a large absorbing surface to the digested

food.
• Its internal surface is greatly increased by circular folds bearing
thousands of tiny projections called villi. These villi are about 0.55mm
long and may be finger-like or flattened in shape.
• The lining epithelium is very thin and the fluids can pass rapidly through
it. The outer membrane of each epithelial cell has microvilli, which
increase by 20 times the exposed surface of the cell.
• There is a dense network of blood capillaries (tiny blood vessels) in each
villus.
• Network of blood capillaries – transports glucose and amino acids away
from the small intestine in the blood
• Internal structure called a lacteal – transports fatty acids and glycerol
away from the small intestine in the lymph
Assimilation:

Assimilation is the movement of digested food molecules

into the cells of the body where they are used.

Glucose is used in respiration to provide energy.

Amino acids are used to build new proteins.
Fats are built into cell membranes and other cell structure
and is also an important source of energy for cell
metabolism.
Egestion:

The small intestine absorbs most of the water in the contents of the gut. By
the time the contents reach the end of the small intestine, most of the
digested food has also been absorbed.
The remaining material consists of:
• water
• bacteria (living and dead)
• cells from the lining of the gut
• indigestible substances – such as cellulose from plant cell walls
 The colon is the first part of the large intestine.
 It absorbs most of the remaining water.
 This leaves semi-solid waste material called faeces.
 The faeces are stored in the rectum, the last part of the large intestine.
 Egestion happens when these faeces pass out of the body through the
anus.