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Nutrition And Digestion Essay

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1. The stomach is an expandable muscular sac that is capable of holding 2-4 liters of food and liquids and breaks them down with the use of pepsinogen, an inactive form pepsin, a protein-digesting enzyme. If the stomach was damaged or dysfunctional, then it would be harder to gradually release food into the small intestine at a rate suitable for proper digestion and absorption and to digest the food because it is not as small or digested because the stomach also assists in the mechanical and chemical breakdown of the food as well as the killing of harmful bacteria due to the high acidic environment due to the hydrochloric acid. (Audesirk, T., & Audesirk, G. (1999). Retrieved November 21, 2015 from Chapter 29: Nutrition and Digestion. In Biology: …show more content…

It also lubricates food to facilitate swallowing and dissolves some food molecules. If the salivary glands were damaged or dysfunctional, the process of breaking down starches into sugar would not begin in the mouth, the food would not be lubricated, some food molecules would not be dissolved, and there would be a higher change of infection as saliva contains a bacteria-killing enzyme and antibodies that guard against infection. (Audesirk, T., & Audesirk, G. (1999). Retrieved November 21, 2015 from Chapter 29: Nutrition and Digestion. In Biology: Life on Earth (5th ed., p. 582, 583). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice …show more content…

If the small intestine were damaged or dysfunctional, food would not be digested or absorbed into the blood stream and this could result in starvation and malnutrition. (Audesirk, T., & Audesirk, G. (1999). Retrieved November 21, 2015 from Chapter 29: Nutrition and Digestion. In Biology: Life on Earth (5th ed., p. 585, 586). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.) The gallbladder stores and concentrates bile. If the gallbladder was damaged or dysfunctional there would be softer and more frequent stools. (Audesirk, T., & Audesirk, G. (1999). Retrieved November 21, 2015 from Chapter 29: Nutrition and Digestion. In Biology: Life on Earth (5th ed., p. 585, 586). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.) (General Surgery- Gallstones (Cholelithiasis). (n.d.). Retrieved November 21, 2015, from

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