Components of food
- Carbohydrates, Proteins, Fats, Vitamins, Fibbers, Water and minerals
Carbohydrates
- made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen
- they provide energy and structural material
- eg sadza, cassava, bannanas, cereals and their products, sweet potatoes, honey….
- in plants- starch and in humans- stored as glycogen
- cell membranes have carbohydrates with fats
Nutrient | Uses |
Carbohydrates | Energy |
Fats | Source of energy, building materials, energy store, insulation, buoyancy, making hormones |
Proteins | Energy, building materials, enzymes, haemoglobin, structural material (muscle), hormones, antibodies |
Vitamin C | Protect cells from ageing, production of fibres |
Vitamin D | Absorption of calcium |
Calcium | Development and maintenance of strong bones and teeth |
Iron | Making haemoglobin |
Fiber | Provides bulk for faeces, helps peristalsis |
Water | Chemical reactions, solvent for transport |
PROTEINS
- made of carbon, hydrogen oxygen, nitrogen and rarely Sulphur
- for growth and repair of worm out tissues
- eg milk, chicken, fish, egg, meat, peas, beans……
- hormones production eg insulin
- transport of oxygen by hemoglobin (made from proteins)
FATS
- contains carbon, hydrogen and oxygen
- energy providers and reserve food material
- eg margarine, avocado, butter, fats, meat …
- insulation beneath skin
- structural purposes eg cell membranes
MINERAL SALTS
- protective and proper body function
- eg green vegetables, sea foods, iodized salts, milk, eggs ….
Deficiency effects of some vitamins
Name | Source | Function | Effects |
---|---|---|---|
Vitamin A | Green vegetables, milk, carrots, liver, milk.. | improves eyesight and resistant to cold | poor sight, upper respiratory tract infections |
Vitamin C | fresh fruits, vegetables | strengthening teeth and bones | poor healing of wounds, scurvy, swelling of gums |
Vitamin D | Fatty foods, fried foods | Absorption of calcium from the intestines. formation of bones and teeth | rickets, poor teeth and bone formation |
Deficiency effects of some Mineral salts
Name | Source | Function | Effects |
---|---|---|---|
Calcium | milk, vegetables | bone and teeth formation, proper muscle function, blood clotting | poor bone and teeth formation muscle cramps |
Iodine | sea fish, iodised salt | hormones formation | mental and physical growth, goitre in adults |
Iron | broad leaved vegtables eg spinach, dried fruits, pumkin | formation of haemoglobin | Anaemia |
Water
- gain; metabolic water; eating; drinking loss; sweating; urination; exhalation etc
Uses of water
- cooling
- transport of material
- reactant for photosynthesis
- lubrication
- used during hydrolysis
Deficiency effects of water
- dehydration
- thickening of blood
- drying mouth
Diet
Balanced diet
Is a diet containing required nutrients in their correct proportions
Food and energy requirements
- it depends on age, sex, activity and conditions eg pregnancy
- infants need some energy than their grandparents due to activity(high) and for growth
- boys need more energy than girls of their age
- a pregnant woman needs more energy than an ordinary woman for the fetus growth
- sedentary workers need less energy than manual workers
- each individual needs a minimum amount of energy to stay alive ie basal metabolic requirement
Malnutrition
- bad feeding either over or under feeding
- underfeeding leads to kwashiorkor (protein energy malnutrition-PEM)
- overfeeding leads to a condition called obesity
Effects of Malnutrition
- Starvation: losing strength & finally dying because of lack of food
- Coronary heart disease: eating too much fats which are rich in saturated fatty acids and cholesterol, may lead to heart attack
- Constipation: lack of roughages in food causes constipation because roughages are indigestible and form bulks. Friction between bulks and walls of intestine stimulate the peristalsis
- Obesity: Eating too much fats and carbohydrates leads to their storage in the body mainly in the forms of fats and causing an increase in body weight. This can cause; heart attack, stroke, joint pain, mobility impairment, high blood pressure
Symptoms of kwashiorkor
- thin limbs
- hair acquires reddish colour
- poor growth
- skin cracks
- miserable and restless
- distended stomach
Human alimental canal
Digestion
is the breaking down of large molecules into smaller ones that can be absorbed into our body system. It can be chemical or mechanical digestion.
Types of Digestion
Mechanical digestion
Involves the breaking down of large food molecules by means of teeth and churning of food in the stomach
Chemical digestion
it involves the breaking down of large food molecules in simple one by means of enzymes. It starts in the mouth; cooked starch is acted upon by salivary amylase into sugars(maltose)
Ingestion
This is the introduction of food into the human alimental canal through the mouth. Food is chowed by means of teeth into small pieces to increase surface area for enzyme activity and to be easily swallowed. Some mucus in saliva helps in the movement of the food down the gullet. Tongue helps in the swallowing of food.
Human teeth and dental decay
Structure of a tooth
- crown
- part exposed to the mouth cavity
- enamel- the strongest tissue inn the body made from calcium salts
- The neck
- part surrounded by the soft gum between the crown and root
- The root
- Part embedded in the jaw bone
- pulp cavity-contains tooth-producing cells, blood vessels and nerve endings which detect pain
Types of teeth
- Incisors
- chisel shaped teeth at the front for biting and cutting of food pieces
- Canines
- Cone shaped and pointed to cut and tear tough food
- Pre-molars
- have two flat projections for crushing and grinding
- Molars
- found at the back of the mouth, have four projections/cusps for chewing
Dental Decay
Causes
Food remains in the mouth forms a layer on teeth- plaque. Bacteria inn the mouth act on the plaque too produce lactic acid(fermentation). Lactic acid is corrosive ie it corrodes the enamel and the the destine to form a cavity. When the cavity reaches the nerves severe pain if felt
Care for the teeth
- brush your teeth regularly
- dietary fibres
- dental discloses
- reduce the consumption of surgery foods eg seets
- eat foods rich in calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D to strengthen them
- use of fluoridated/ alkaline toothpastes
- use dental floss to remove debris between the teeth
- Regularly visit a dentist for check ups
- eat balance diet
Peristalsis
One food is chewed and swallowed it moves along alimental canal by peristalsis is pushed through the esophagus by waves of contraction of circular muscles in the esophagus and relaxing of longitudinal muscles
Digestion in the stomach
Gastric juices produced by the stomach walls contains enzymes pepsin and renin and hydrochloric acid.The stomach walls also mix food and gastric juices to form chyme. It moves into the duodenum.
Pepsin
- break down proteins into peptides
Renin
- Clot milk in young children
Hydrochloric acid
- creates proper medium for the enzyme pepsin
- Kill harmful bacteria in food
- stops the action of the salivary
Digestion in the Doudenum.
- Juices from the pancreas contains;
- Amylases- act on stomach converting it tot maltose then to glucose
- Trypsin- act on proteins breaking them into peptides then into amino acids
- Lipase- acts on fats to break them down into fatty acids and glycerol.
- Fat digestion is added by bile from the gall bladder in the liver. Bile emulsifies fats.
Digestion in the ileum
- Digestion of food by enzymes from doudenum continues
- unchanged peptides are changed into amino acids
- unchanged fats are changed into fatty acids and glycerol
- Unchanged maltose are changed into glucose.
- Soluble foods is absorbed into the blood stream in the ileum – so it ahs greater surface area to volume ratio.
Adaptation of the small intestines for the absorption
- they are very long and coiled to increase the surface area.
- presence of villi increase surface area
- villi have a dense network of blood capillaries to carry the absorbed food
- walls of the small intestines are very thin to allow easy food diffusion.
- food moves from the ileum into blood stream by diffusion and active uptake
- the absorbed food is transported by the blood to the rest of the body.
Assimilation
The absorbed food is transported by blood to the liver and to the body where it is used. The making use of absorbed food by the body eg for growth, energy, repairing tissues..- assimilation. Diffusion rate is affected by the surface are, thin membrane, partially permeable membrane and continous flow of materials.
Large intestines- colon
- No food digestion takes place in the large intestines.
- Escherichia coli, E-coli breaks down cellulose to produce vitamiin B.
- Water and vitamin B are absorbed into the blood stream.
- the remaining wastes are passed to feaces where they are ejected at intervals.
Egestion
- Is the realize of waste from digestion through the anus.
Caecum and Appendix
- These contain E-coli which breaks down cellulose into vitamin B and gases.
- In humans the appendix may be blocked as a result of collection of hard materials leading to a appendicitis
- This can lead to the removal of the appendix.
Region | Digestive juice | Enzyme | Food acted upon | End product |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mouth | Saliva | salivary amylase | cooked starch | maltose |
Stomach | gastric | pepsin renin |
Proteins Milk |
peptides and amino acids |
Duodenum | pancreatic juices | Trypsin lipase amylase |
Proteins fats amylase |
amino acids fatty acids-glycerol Glucose |
Ileum | intestinal juices | Trypsin Lipase |
peptides Fats |
Amino acids fats acids & glycerol. |
Pancreatic enzymes | Maltose Sucrase Lactase |
maltose sucrose lactose |
glucose + fructose glucose glucose. |