Digestion and Absorption

From Food to
Fuel

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 The Gastrointestinal Tract
• Organization
– Mouth  anus
– Accessory organs
• Salivary glands, liver, pancreas, gallbladder
• Functions
– Ingestion
– Transport
– Secretion
– Digestion
– Absorption
– Elimination
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 Objectives

• Provide an overview of the structures,

mechanisms, and processes of the GI tract.
• Understand how food is digested and absorbed
within the body.
• Explain how foods are transported after they are
digested and absorbed.
• Describe how the body keeps the complex
processes of digestion, absorption, and nutrient
transport running smoothly.
• Explain various influences on digestion and
absorption along with various nutrition and GI
disorders. 3
 Carbohydrates
• Major food sources:
plants Formed during
photosynthesis
• Sugars, Starches, Fibers
• Glycogen
• fructose Photo © PhotoDisc

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Photosynthesis: Sun’s energy becomes part of glucose molecule

energy
Carbon dioxide
Water GLUCOSE
Chlorophyll

6 CO2 + 6 H20 + energy (sun) C6H12O6 + 6 O2

 Carbohydrates in Your Diet
• Recommended carbohydrate intake
– 55-60% of kilocalories
– Daily Value (for 2,000 kcal) = 300 grams
– Dietary Guidelines
• Moderate sugar intake
• Variety of grains, fruits, vegetables
– Fiber intake of 25 grams/day

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 Simple Sugars:Mono and Disaccharides

• Monosaccharides – single sugar unit

– Glucose
• Found in fruits, vegetables, honey
• “blood sugar” – used for energy
– Fructose
• “fruit sugar”
• Found in fruits, honey, corn syrup
– Galactose
• Found as part of lactose in milk 7
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Disaccharides

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• Disaccharides – two linked
sugar units
– Sucrose: glucose + fructose
• “table sugar”
• Made from sugar cane and sugar beets
– Lactose: glucose + galactose
• “milk sugar”
• Found in milk and dairy products
– Maltose: glucose + glucose
• Found in germinating cereal grains
• Product of starch breakdown
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 Complex Carbohydrates
• Chains of more than two sugar molecules
• Oligosaccharides
– contain 3-10 sugar molecules
• Polysaccharides
– contain 100’s or 1000’s of monosaccharide
units
– starch-digestible
– fiber-indigestible
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 Complex Carbohydrates
• Starch
– Long chains of glucose units
• Amylose – straight chains
• Amylopectin – branched chains;
• Resistant starch-not digested
– Found in grains, vegetables, legumes
• Glycogen
– Highly branched chains of glucose units
– Body’s storage form of carbohydrate
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 Glycogen

 Major storage
carbohydrate in animals G
G G
 Long straight glucose G G G
G G
chains (a1-4) G G
G
 Branched every 4-8 glc G GG α 1-6 link
residues (a 1-6) GG
α 1-4 link G
 More branched than G
starch G
 Less osmotic pressure
 Easily mobilized
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 Complex Carbohydrates
• Dietary Fiber
– Indigestible chains of monosaccharides
• Oligosaccharides: short chains (3-10)
• Non-starch polysaccharides: long chains
– Cellulose, hemicellulose, pectins, gums, mucilages
• Other: Lignins, cutins, waxes
– Found in fruits, vegetables,
grains, legumes

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 Fiber
• Oligosaccharides
– dried beans, peas, lentils
• rafinose (gal-glu-fru)
• stachyose (gal-gal-gal-fru)
• metabolized by intestinal bacteria
• gaseous effects
• Cellulose
– makes walls of cells strong and rigid
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• Hemicelluloses
– mixed with cellulose in cell walls
– outer bran layer
• Pectins
– gel forming; in fruit
• Gums and Mucilages
– thick, gel-forming
– used by food industry to thicken, stabilize,
• Lignins
– not a carb; indigestible substances that make up woody
parts of veg; and fruit seeds

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Type of Fiber Major Food Action in Body
Sources
Soluble Fiber
Gums, pectins, Fruits (apples, citrus), * Delay GI transit.
some hemicell, oats, barley, legumes * Delay glucose
mucilages; absorption. *Lower
blood cholesterol.
Insoluble Fiber
Cellulose, many wheat bran, corn bran * Accelerate GI
hemicelluloses, whole grain breads transit. *Increase
lignins & cereals, vegetables fecal weight.
*Slow starch hydro-
lysis. *Delay
glucose absorption.
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Transit Times

*Assuming 24
hour Transit
Time 20
 Carbohydrate Digestion and Absorption
• 1. MOUTH
• Liquid food = escape digestion in mouth
• Solid food = mastication
• 3 sets of glands secretes
– Salivary α amylase (ptyalin) requires cl‾ and ph
6.6 – 6.8
– It hydrolyzes α 1 – 4 linkage at random deep
inside
– Producing smaller molecules of maltose,
glucose, maltotriose.
2 STOMACH NO ACTION 21
Overview of Digestion

• Physical movement
– Peristalsis
– Segmentation
• Chemical breakdown
– Enzymes
– Other secretions

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 Small intestine
Pancreatic amylase completes starch
digestion
Also requirs cl‾, hydrolyse 1 – 4 linkage
– Brush border enzymes digest disaccharides
• End products of carbohydrate digestion
– Glucose, fructose, galactose
– Absorbed into bloodstream
• Fibers are not digested, excreted in feces

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 Small Intestine
• Pancreatic enzymes
α -amylase

maltotriose maltose
G G G G G G G G + G G

α amylase
amylose

G G G GG G GG
GG GGGG
GG G
amylopectin
α Limit dextrins
 Oligosaccharide digestion..cont

G
G G G α Limit dextrins
GG G sucrase
G G

maltase G
G Glucoamylase (maltase)
or G G G
α -dextrinase
GG α -dextrinase
GG G G
G
GG G
G
Overview of Absorption

Types of absorptive
processes

• Passive Diffusion

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Facilitated
Diffusion

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 Active
Transport

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Portal for transport of virtually all nutrients
Water and electrolyte balance

Enzymes associated with

intestinal surface
membranes
i. Sucrase
ι ι .α dextrinase
iii. Glucoamylase (maltase)
iv. Lactase
v. peptidases
Liver converts galactose and fructose
to glucose

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 Functions of Carbohydrates
– Energy source
• Glucose is the body’s main fuel
• Adequate glucose spares protein
• Adequate glucose prevents ketosis
– Allows for complete fat
breakdown
– Excess glucose is stored as
glycogen
• Stored in liver and muscle

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• Regulating
blood
glucose

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Hypoglycemia
 Nutrition and GI Disorders

• Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)

– Reduced by smaller meals, less fat
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
• Colon cancer
– Antioxidants may reduce risk
• Gas
• Ulcers
– Bacterial cause; helicobacter pylori
• Functional dyspepsia

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 Nutrition and GI Disorders
• Constipation
– Hard, dry, infrequent stools
– Reduced by high fiber, fluid intake,
exercise
• Diarrhea
– Loose, watery, frequent stools
– Symptom of diseases/infections
– Can cause dehydration
• Diverticulosis
– Pouches along colon
– High fiber diet reduces formation
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A diverticulum
bulges
outward through
weak spots in the
colon. Diverticula
can become
infected--
a condition called
diverticulitis

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 Diabetes
• Diabetes Mellitus
– Persistent high blood glucose levels
– Complications of high BG
– Type 1: lack of insulin production
• Treat with insulin
– Type 2: cells are resistant to insulin
• Treat with diet and exercise
• May treat with oral medications
• May treat with insulin
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 Diabetes
Risk factors for type 2 diabetes
•Age
•Ethnicity
•Obesity
•Hx of Gestational DM
•Family history
•Lack of exercise

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 Carbohydrates in Your Diet
• Increasing
complex
carbohydrate
intake
– Grains,
especially
whole grains
– Legumes
– Vegetables
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• Artificial Sweeteners
– Minimal or zero kcal
– Many times sweeter than sugar
– Non-cariogenic (don’t promote tooth decay)
– Current products --New Products
• Saccharin * Neotame
• Aspartame * D-tagatose
• Acesulfame * Alitame
• Sucralose
• Sugar alcohols
– ~2 kcal/gram
– Non-cariogenic 45
 Carbohydrates and Health
• High sugar intake
– Low nutrient content
– Contributes to tooth decay
– If excess kcal, contributes to obesity
• High fiber intake
– Better control of blood glucose
– Possible reduced cancer risk
– Reduced risk of heart disease
– Healthier gastrointestinal functioning
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 Lactose/disaccharide Intolerance
• Lactose in milk and other dairy foods
• Lactase enzyme
• Symptoms
• Diagnosis and treatment (alternative foods)
• Compared to a milk allergy
Variety of GIT diseases can alter disaccharidases. e.g
Malnutrition,drugs.

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• Rate of absorption decreases from above
down ward. In proximal jejunum 3 time
greater than distil ileum.
• Galactose >glucose> fructose> mannose>
xylose> arabinose
• Some disaccharides enters the cells of GIT
by pinocytosis and are hydralysed within the
cells or eliminated by kidneys.
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