Chapter 18
Nutrients and Digestion
Nutrition
Courtesy of Children's Healthy Food
Nutrition is very important. When you don't eat healthy foods, your body will not be healthy, and you will probably be overweight. To make sure this doesn't happen, you have to get the right nutrients. Nutrients are substances in foods that provide energy and materials for cell development, growth, and repair. You need energy for every single thing you do. You need to have a certain amount of calories every day, and you need to have the correct amounts of foods from each food group. Food groups are foods that contain the same type of nutrient all together. The food pyramid tells us how much we should have of each food group.
There are six classes of nutrients; proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water. Proteins help with the replacement and repair of body cells. They are made of amino acids, which are their building blocks, or smaller units that make up the proteins.
Carbohydrates, or carbs for short, are the main sources of energy for your body. They are made of the elements carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Carbs are split into two groups, simple and complex carbohydrates. An example of a simple carbohydrate is glucose, and an example of a complex carbohydrate is starch.
The next nutrient class is fats. Though you may not think so, fat is important to your body. They provide energy and help your body absorb vitamins. Cell membranes are made majorly of fat. Fats are good storage units for energy.
Vitamins are organic nutrients needed in small quantities for growth, regulating body functions, and preventing some diseases. Water-soluble vitamins are easily dissolved in water. They can't be stored in your body, so you have to get some every day. Fat-soluble vitamins only dissolve in fat and can be stored by your body. Different vitamins help your body in different ways.
Minerals are inorganic nutrients that lack carbon and regulate many chemical reactions in the body. There are about 14 different minerals used by the body. They build cells, take part in chemical reactions in cells, send nerve impulses throughout the body, and carry oxygen to the cells.
Water is needed for you to live. Humans are made of 60-70% water, and all chemical reactions take place in water. You exhale, sweat, urinate, and poop out water that needs to be discarded from your body every day.
There are six classes of nutrients; proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water. Proteins help with the replacement and repair of body cells. They are made of amino acids, which are their building blocks, or smaller units that make up the proteins.
Carbohydrates, or carbs for short, are the main sources of energy for your body. They are made of the elements carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Carbs are split into two groups, simple and complex carbohydrates. An example of a simple carbohydrate is glucose, and an example of a complex carbohydrate is starch.
The next nutrient class is fats. Though you may not think so, fat is important to your body. They provide energy and help your body absorb vitamins. Cell membranes are made majorly of fat. Fats are good storage units for energy.
Vitamins are organic nutrients needed in small quantities for growth, regulating body functions, and preventing some diseases. Water-soluble vitamins are easily dissolved in water. They can't be stored in your body, so you have to get some every day. Fat-soluble vitamins only dissolve in fat and can be stored by your body. Different vitamins help your body in different ways.
Minerals are inorganic nutrients that lack carbon and regulate many chemical reactions in the body. There are about 14 different minerals used by the body. They build cells, take part in chemical reactions in cells, send nerve impulses throughout the body, and carry oxygen to the cells.
Water is needed for you to live. Humans are made of 60-70% water, and all chemical reactions take place in water. You exhale, sweat, urinate, and poop out water that needs to be discarded from your body every day.
The Digestive System
Courtesy of
What's the Digestive
System Picture for
Lactose Intolerance?
Digestion is the process that breaks down food into small molecules so that they can be absorbed and moved into the blood. Mechanical digestion takes place when food is chewed, mixed, and churned. Chemical digestion takes place When chemical reactions occur that break down large molecules of food into smaller ones. Digestion is happening throughout your body all the time, even right now.
In digestion, enzymes are very important. An enzyme is a type of protein that speeds up the rate of chemical reaction in your body. Enzymes work without being changed or used up. They can put molecules together, and break them apart!
The digestive system consists of several organs. It has the mouth (which has the teeth, tongue, and salivary glands), the esophagus, liver, gallbladder, stomach, pancreas, small intestine, large intestine, rectum, and anus.
The mouth uses chemical digestion (by the saliva), and mechanical digestion (by the teeth and tongue), to break down the foods.
The esophagus is like a long tube. It uses peristalsis to keep the food moving down it. Peristalsis is waves of muscle contractions. Peristalsis moves food throughout the entire digestive tract.
The stomach comes after the esophagus. Enzymes help break down the food here, along with mechanical digestion. After the food has been through the stomach, it is a thin, watery liquid called chyme.
The small intestine comes next in the digestive tract. It has thousands of villi, or finger-like projections, on the surface area of it. The villi absorb nutrients from the undigested chyme.
The large intestine absorbs water from the watery chyme. After it has done this, the rest of the waste goes to the rectum, where it is stored until it can be rid of by the anus.
There are three accessory organs for the digestive system. The liver, pancreas, and gallbladder are part of this system, but nothing passes through them. The liver makes bile, a greenish fluid that is added in the small intestine. The gallbladder's job is to store this bile. The pancreas spits things into the duodenum. The duodenum is the first foot of the small intestine, and it is where most digestion takes place.
Bacteria can actually be helpful for your body. They live in many of the organs of the digestive system. Some make vitamins, and they can also convert bile pigments into new compounds.
In digestion, enzymes are very important. An enzyme is a type of protein that speeds up the rate of chemical reaction in your body. Enzymes work without being changed or used up. They can put molecules together, and break them apart!
The digestive system consists of several organs. It has the mouth (which has the teeth, tongue, and salivary glands), the esophagus, liver, gallbladder, stomach, pancreas, small intestine, large intestine, rectum, and anus.
The mouth uses chemical digestion (by the saliva), and mechanical digestion (by the teeth and tongue), to break down the foods.
The esophagus is like a long tube. It uses peristalsis to keep the food moving down it. Peristalsis is waves of muscle contractions. Peristalsis moves food throughout the entire digestive tract.
The stomach comes after the esophagus. Enzymes help break down the food here, along with mechanical digestion. After the food has been through the stomach, it is a thin, watery liquid called chyme.
The small intestine comes next in the digestive tract. It has thousands of villi, or finger-like projections, on the surface area of it. The villi absorb nutrients from the undigested chyme.
The large intestine absorbs water from the watery chyme. After it has done this, the rest of the waste goes to the rectum, where it is stored until it can be rid of by the anus.
There are three accessory organs for the digestive system. The liver, pancreas, and gallbladder are part of this system, but nothing passes through them. The liver makes bile, a greenish fluid that is added in the small intestine. The gallbladder's job is to store this bile. The pancreas spits things into the duodenum. The duodenum is the first foot of the small intestine, and it is where most digestion takes place.
Bacteria can actually be helpful for your body. They live in many of the organs of the digestive system. Some make vitamins, and they can also convert bile pigments into new compounds.
