What is the process of digestion?
1 Answer
Digestion means to break apart, The process breaks food down into the basic molecular components needed by the body.
Explanation:
The goal of digestion is to break food down into small enough molecules that can pass into cells to be used in cellular metabolism. The process involves both physical and chemical breakdown of the components of the food.
The first step in the process is the chewing of the food. This physically breaks the food down into smaller pieces making the chemical break down of the food easier. Also in the mouth the food is mixed with salvia that starts the break down of starches into the sugars. The salvia contains an enzyme that breaks the bonds in starch that hold the sugar molecules together into the polysaccharides of starches.
The food is then sent to the stomach where the food is mixed with acids and enzymes that continue the chemical breakdown of the food. The acids soften the food making the digestion on of the food easier. Enzymes that have the specific structure to attack proteins break the proteins into amino acids. The stomach churns the food adding physical forces for the break down of the food.
When the food leaves the stomach it is mixed with bile that breaks down the fat into individual fat molecules that can be absorbed by cells.
The food that is has been broken down into much smaller pieces is sent to the small intestine where these very small pieces are absorbed into the blood at the villi.
The process of digestion is the breakdown of complex food into simple small molecules that can be taken into cells for metabolism
