Macromolecules: Larger, more complex assemblies of organic molecules, also known as nutrients.

● Carbohydrates
● Fats
● Nucleic acid
● Protein

Metabolism: the sum total of all the chemical reactions that occur in an organism.

Essential nutrients: The basic raw materials they need to make their own structures, perform their life functions, and
obtain energy for survival.

Hydrolysis: a chemical reaction in which water breaks apart macromolecules into smaller molecules.

Enzyme: a Protein molecule that helps speed up important chemical reactions in the body.

Carbohydrates
● Provide short-term or long-term energy storage for organisms
● two main types of carbohydrates: simple sugars and polysaccharides

Monosaccharides (Simple Sugars)

Disaccharides
•Made up of two simple sugars (di- = two). –Examples: sucrose (table sugar)

Polysaccharides
•Complex carbohydrates that consist of many linked simple sugars (poly- = many). –Examples: Starch stores energy
in plants, and glycogen stores energy in animals.

Fats
● Are insoluble in water
● function as energy storage molecules.
● The basic structure of lipids is a molecule of glycerol

Proteins
● Assembled from smaller sub-units known as amino acids
● Polypeptides are chains for hundreds of amino acids joined together by peptide bonds
● Most enzymes are proteins, and so are antibodies, which combat disease.
● Proteins help build and repair muscles and cell membranes

Nucleic acids
● Nucleic acids direct growth and development of all organisms using a chemical code
● The two types of nucleic acids are ribonucleic acid (RNA) and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

Mechanical digestion: the physical breakdown of food into smaller pieces, ie. Teeth, stomach, tongue.

Chemical digestion: the chemical breakdown of nutrient molecules into smaller molecules by enzyme action, ie.
Stomach acid and enzymes.

Autotrophic: creates own food, ie. Photosynthetic.

Heterotrophic: consumes other organisms as food.

Saliva: moistening food, and helping to create a food bolus, so it can be swallowed easily. Saliva contains the
enzyme amylase that breaks some starches (amylose) down into maltose. Thus, digestion of food occurs within the
mouth, even before food reaches the stomach.

Teeth: They grind the food in the mouth and mix it with the saliva so it can be swallowed easily before it enters your
body.

Tongue: push the food around while you chew with your teeth. When you're ready to swallow, the tongue pushes a
tiny bit of mushed-up food called a bolus down your esophagus.

Epiglottis: The epiglottis is a small, movable "lid" just above the larynx that prevents food and drink from entering
your windpipe.

Esophagus: The esophagus is a hollow muscular tube that transports saliva, liquids, and foods from the mouth
to the stomach.

Stomach: holds food while it is being mixed with stomach enzymes. These enzymes continue the process of
breaking down food into a usable form. Uses a mixture of chemical and mechanical processes to break down the
food.

Pancreas: During digestion, your pancreas makes pancreatic juices called enzymes. These enzymes break down
sugars, fats, and starches. Your pancreas also helps your digestive system by making hormones. It regulates
blood sugar and assists with digestion.
Liver: its main job within the digestive system is to absorb harmful/ poisonous chemicals found in some of the
things we eat or drink. Is also very regenerative because it must absorb the worst of the things we consume.

gallbladder: Its function is to store bile until it's needed for digestion. When we eat, process the nutrients
absorbed from the small intestine. Bile from the liver secreted into the small intestine also plays an important role
in digesting fat and some vitamins.
the gallbladder contracts, or squeezes, to send bile into your digestive tract.

Duodenum: a short, wide U shaped section of the small intestine into which food passes from the
stomach.

Jejunum: Portion of the small intestine that follows immediately after the duodenum

Ileum: Portion of the small intestine that comes after the jejunum.

Large intestine: absorb water and salts from the material that has not been digested as food, and get rid of
any waste products left over. By the time food mixed with digestive juices reaches your large intestine, most digestion
and absorption has already taken place.

Rectum: The rectum's job is to receive stool from the colon, let you know that there is stool to be evacuated and
hold it till it's released.

Protein → polypeptides → Amino acids

Peristalsis is a series of wave-like muscle contractions that move food through the digestive tract. It starts in
the esophagus where strong wave-like motions of the smooth muscle move the bolus to the stomach.

Digestion of carbohydrates

Gastric juice: kills ingested microorganisms and limits bacterial growth in the stomach and prevents intestinal
infections

Pepsin: An enzyme made in the stomach that breaks down proteins in food during digestion.

Chyme: thick semifluid mass of partially digested food and digestive secretions that is formed in the stomach
and intestine during digestion. After the bolus has been digested, it becomes chyme.

Bile: Bile helps with digestion. It breaks down fats into fatty acids, which can be taken into the body by the digestive
tract

Monomer: Subunits that string together to form a polymer

Polymer: large molecule made up of monomers joined together.

Cardiac sphincter: entry in the stomach

Phyloric sphincter: exit from the stomach

Emulsification: Breaking down fat molecules into smaller fat droplets.

Sodium bicarbonate: reduces acidity of bolus

Gastrin: Stimulates the stomach when you smell food.

Carbohydrases: Enzyme that breaks down carbohydrates.

Proteinases: enzyme that breaks down protein.

Lipases: enzyme that breaks down fats.

Nucleotidases: enzymes that break down DNA or RNA.

Pepsin: enzyme in the stomach

Salvory amylase: acts on starch, breaks it into disaccharide

Fats: fat molecule→ glycerol + 3 fatty acids

Carbs: starch→ maltose→ glucose + glucose