LG 11 DIGESTION!

The wavelike muscular contractions of the intestine or other tubular structure that propel the contents onward by alternate contraction and relaxation. Also called vermicular movement.


What does the liver do?

• production of bile, which helps carry away waste and break down fats in the small intestine during digestion
  
  
• production of certain proteins for blood plasma
  
  
• production of cholesterol and special proteins to help carry fats through the body
  
  
• conversion of excess glucose into glycogen for storage (This glycogen can later be converted back to glucose for energy.)
  
  
• regulation of blood levels of amino acids, which form the building blocks of proteins
  
  
• processing of hemoglobin for use of its iron content (The liver stores iron.)
  
  
• conversion of poisonous ammonia to urea (Urea is one of the end products of protein metabolism that is excreted in the urine.)
  
  
• clearing the blood of drugs and other poisonous substances
  
  
• regulating blood clotting
  
  
• resisting infections by producing immune factors and removing bacteria from the blood stream

Villi are located in your small intestine, and are tiny fingerlike projections that stick out from the small intestine and absorb the nutrients. They are very small and tremendously increase the surface area of the small intestine for maximum absorption of nutrients. In addition to their structure, each villi is shaped like a rod so that it will be surrounded by the nutrients as the nutrients pass by them. This allows a total covering of all the whole villi as well as microvilli for maximum absorption. 

Bile and lipids:
Bile acids play their first critical role in lipid assimilation by promoting emulsification. As derivatives of cholesterol, bile acids have both hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties (amphipathic.)






Stomach Juices:
In your stomach the pH level is LOW (low is very acidic) around 2pH,  and the pH level increases as you travel through the digestive tract.

Aside from the need to break the food we eat into smaller chemical pieces (i.e. break proteins down into amino acids and carbohydrates into monosaccharides), some compounds in our food are only soluble in the bloodstream when there in an environment of a certain pH value.


Digestive system: