Process of Digestion
It is the very first function of digestion that occurs when food enters the body.
What is ingestion?
Bile is produced here, stored in the gallbladder, and finally passed into the duodenum.
What is the liver?
These glands secrete saliva to moisten food and begin carbohydrate breakdown.
What are salivary glands?
The disease characterized by a physiological issue caused by the failure of the lower esophageal sphincter to close properly, letting stomach acid into the esophagus.
What is GERD?
Enzymes fall into this macromolecule group.
What are proteins?
Saliva beginning to break down sugars in the mouth is a prime example of this type of digestion.
What is chemical digestion?
This is a muscular tube that primarily serves to transport food from the pharynx to the stomach, no actual digestion or absorption occurs within this organ.
What is the esophagus?
This complex mixture of hydrochloric acid and pepsin is secreted by gastric glands to break down proteins and kill bacteria.
What is gastric juice?
This painful condition involves the formation of hardened deposits in the gallbladder that can block the flow of bile into the duodenum.
What are gallstones?
This enzyme is found in both saliva and pancreatic juice and is explicitly responsible for breaking down starches into simpler sugars.
What is amylase?
This type of digestion relies on physical movements, such as the churning of the stomach and the segmentation of the small intestine, to break food down into smaller pieces.
What is mechanical digestion?
This organ of the digestive system houses beneficial bacteria that produce essential vitamins.
What is the large intestine?
Secreted by goblet cells and various glands, this slippery substance coats and protects the lining of the entire digestive tract from corrosive acids and enzymes.
What is mucus?
Small clumps of cells that can eventually become cancerous.
What are colon polyps?
Operating best in the highly acidic environment of the stomach, this active enzyme initiates the chemical digestion of dietary proteins.
What is pepsin?
This major phase of digestion involves the active and passive transport of nutrients, water, and electrolytes from the GI tract into the blood or lymphatic vessels.
What is absorption?
This is the part of the GI tract that helps the body absorb the most nutrients because they increase surface area.
What are the villi and microvilli?
Hydrochloric acid converts this inactive version secreted by chief cells into the active protein-digesting enzyme pepsin.
What is pepsinogen?
This autoimmune condition is triggered by eating gluten, which damages the villi of the small intestine.
What is celiac disease?
This group of enzymes, produced by the pancreas and small intestine, splits complex fat molecules into fatty acids and glycerol.
What are lipases?
This rhythmic, muscle contraction is what moves food through your gastrointestinal tract.
What is peristalsis?
These are all of the accessory organs in the digestive system.
Salivary Glands, Liver, Gallbladder, Pancreas
This is what is found in pancreatic juice.
What is bicarbonate to neutralize the stomach chyme, as well as the following enzymes: Proteases – digest proteins, Amylases – digest starches, Lipases – digest fats, and Nucleases – digest nucleic acids?
This condition is caused by bacteria destroying the protective mucus lining of the stomach, allowing stomach acid to damage the wall of the stomach.
What are peptic ulcers?
This enzyme breaks the carbohydrate lactose into galactose and glucose.
What is lactase? (-ase)