Nutrients at Work

1. Nutrients at Work Fall 2013

2. Nutrients at work… • The 6 basic nutrients in food and their relationship to health • Intro to nutrition guidelines • The digestive process • Energy Requirments

3. The Nutrients in Food • What does food look like at a chemical level? • Always contains water (5-90%) • The remaining solid materials are mostly carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. • In smaller amounts vitamins, minerals, and other chemical compounds. • This make up is called Nutrients… • Carbohydrates • Fats • Proteins • Vitamins • Minerals • Water

4. Nutrients and Health • Your body is made of trillions of tissues, healthy tissue means a healthy person! • Must eat a variety to ensure that your body is getting all of the nutrients that it needs. • If you are not getting enough or a variety of nutrients it can cause health problems. **Malnutrition – Deficiency or severe shortage of a nutrient. **Anemia – a blood disorder characterized by lack of energy, weakness, shortness of breath, and cold extremities.

5. Nutrient Requirements • How much do I need? • Depends on a variety of things. • Gender • Age • Size • Activity level www.choosemyplate.org

6. The Digestive Process • When you eat food your body needs to use the nutrients. • Food must be broken down in order for these nutrients to be used. **Digestion – the mechanical and chemical process that breaks food down to release nutrients in forms your body can use. • Digestion takes place in the digestive tract. • Hollow tube approximately 26 feet long. • Goes from the mouth to the rectum.

7. The Mouth • This is where digestion begins • You chew, which grinds down food • This is considered the “mechanical” part of digestion • Saliva begins to be released to help start the further break down of food this is the “chemical” part of digestion • What makes your saliva start pooling?

8. The Esophagus • Once you swallow food it goes into the esophagus. • This connects the mouth and the stomach. **Peristalsis – how food moves through the esophagus. • The muscles create a wavelike movement to help the food move down the tube. • A valve (sphincter) closes to prevent food from moving back up the tube.

9. The Stomach • The widest part of the digestive system • Hollow muscular pouch just below the rib case • Produces lots of gastric juices – acids and enzymes that help break food down • A sticky mucus lines the stomach for protection • The churned food turns into chyme **Chyme – a thick paste like liquid of food

10. The Small Intestine • Food next moves to the small intestine • A long, narrow, and winding tube that connects the stomach and large intestine • 3 different digestive juices work on the chyme to continue to breakdown the food **Bile- digests and absorbs fats. Produced in the liver and stored in the gall bladder **Pancreatic juice – breaks down carbs, proteins, and fats. Produced by the pancreas. **Intestinal Juice – works with other juices to break down food. Produced in the small intestine.

11. Absorption of Nutrients • After food is broken down it has to be absorbed. • Takes place through the surface of the small intestine. • The inner wall is arranged in folds lined with villi. **Villi – tiny fingerlike projections in the small intestine. • After absorption the waste moves into the colon and then is excreted. • If not needed immediately then some nutrients can be stored.

12. Questions???? The Digestion System Challenge!