How do we digest things?
In: Biology
The food we eat contains carbs, fats , proteins, vitamins etc. each type of nutrient gets digested(I.e. metabolised) in our body through various mechanism. Eg our mouth chews the food, makes it into a bolus(circular small ball) and the saliva in our mouth have enzymes( things in body that digests certain nutrients). The salivary enzymes break it down partially . Then through the food pipe it goes into stomach , which contains HCL and other enzymes further breaking down the food into micronutrients, the food then goes ahead into intestine where many intestinal bacteria and enzymes ( eg pancreatic, bile acids) come together and further break down the nutrients into micronutrients), further these micronutrients are taken up to the body’s various organs by its absorption from intestine and the waste product or byproduct from various organs are then dumped into the intestine. Further these byproduct are excreted from the body from rectum
Two ways: mechanical and chemical
Mechanical is your chewing to mash food into smaller, more manageable bits, and your stomach rolling around to accomplish the same thing.
Chemical is through enzymes that break chemical bonds in large molecules to make them smaller. For example, amylase breaks down starch, lipases break down lipids, and proteases break down proteins. Digestive enzymes are found in your saliva, stomach, and the beginning part of the small intestine, with most of digestion done in the small intestine.
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