Digestion

• Peristalsis

  Involuntary wave of muscular contractions that push food along the alimentary canal in one direction only
• Digestion

  The breakdown of food into particles that are small enough to pass into body cells
• Why is digestion necessary?

  To make food soluble and allow it to be transported in the bloodstream
• Heterotrophic organisms: cannot make it's own food, must obtain from another source

  • Carnivore: eat animals only
  • Herbivore: eat plants only
  • Omnivores: eats both plant and animals
• 5 stages of human nutrition (I don't always accept emails)

  1. Ingestion - taking food into the digestive system at the mouth
  2. Digestion - breaking food down into it's molecules so it can be absorbed into the bloodstream
  3. Absorption - digested food is absorbed into the bloodstream at the small intestine (ileum)
  4. Assimilation - the way the body uses the absorbed food
  5. Egestion - getting rid of unused, unabsorbed or undigested food through the large intestine