Food & digestion

Food is the fuel that provides energy to the human body. Food provides us with nutrients for growth and repair. Our food should contain:

1.  that gives us building material
2. that gives us energy.
3. that gives us dietary fibre
4. that help control chemical reactions.

                       

 Important information

"Each year a human eats over 1 ton(1000 kg) of food and drinks 500 litres of liquid"

• Carbohydrates: Such as bread, biscuits, potato, etc. are carbohydrates that provide us with energy. 
• Fats: Are also called energy foods. Fats is food in cheese and meat gives us double the energy than carbohydrates.
• Protein: Meat, cheese, fish, eggs, etc. contain protein. They are needed to build new body tissues.
• Mineral salts: Milk etc. contain mineral salts. They are required in a small amount. Calcium is important for growth.
• Vitamin: like minerals, they are also required in a small amount. If any vitamin is missing from our body we will suffer from a disease. Such disease is called Deficiency disease.
•  Roughage: It is not digested but is very important.

Important Information

"pepsin requires an environmental condition of pH2"

Note; Now we will discuss digestion and what it is.

Food can be absorbed by our body only when it changes into very small molecules. This process takes place with the help of a system called Digestive system. Food is broken down by enzymes.

Q: What are enzymes and what they do?

Enzymes are also called "Biological Catalyst". Enzymes are chemicals that take part in the chemical reaction but are not affected by it. In the presence of enzymes, chemical reaction speeds up and require a little amount of energy. They are good at breaking down starch, protein and fats.

Some common enzymes are 

1. carbohydrases
2. protease
3. lipase
4. amylase

Important Information

"Water is essential in a diet as the reactions take place in solution"

""Haemoglobin in red blood cells contains iron"

Q: How do our cells get supplied?

Chemicals from our food are absorbed in by small intestine and carried by the bloodstream in a solution called Plasma. Plasma is liquid in our blood. Blood carries these chemical to every cell of the body.

Do you know?

"Tissue fluid is mainly water. That is why fresh meat always looks and fell wet."