General Knowledge - Basic General Knowledge - Discussion

Absorption:

Digested food is now able to pass into the blood vessels in the wall of the intestine through either diffusion or active transport. The small intestine is the site where most of the nutrients from ingested food are absorbed. The inner wall, or mucosa, of the small intestine is lined with simple columnar epithelial tissue. Structurally, the mucosa is covered in wrinkles or folds called plicae circulares, which are considered permanent features in the wall of the organ. They are distinct from rugae which are considered non-permanent or temporary allowing for distention and contraction. From the plicae circulares project microscopic finger-like pieces of tissue called villi (Latin for "shaggy hair"). The individual epithelial cells also have finger-like projections known as microvilli. The functions of the plicae circulares, the villi, and the microvilli are to increase the amount of surface area available for the absorption of nutrients, and to limit the loss of said nutrients to intestinal fauna.

Each villus has a network of capillaries and fine lymphatic vessels called lacteals close to its surface. The epithelial cells of the villi transport nutrients from the lumen of the intestine into these capillaries (amino acids and carbohydrates) and lacteals (lipids). The absorbed substances are transported via the blood vessels to different organs of the body where they are used to build complex substances such as the proteins required by our body. The material that remains undigested and unabsorbed passes into the large intestine.

Absorption of the majority of nutrients takes place in the jejunum, with the following notable exceptions:

Iron is absorbed into the duodenum.
Vitamin B12 and bile salts are absorbed in the terminal ileum.
Water and lipids are absorbed by passive diffusion throughout the small intestine.
Sodium bicarbonate is absorbed by active transport and glucose and amino acid co-transport.
Fructose is absorbed by facilitated diffusion.

What is mean by absorption?

Describe it.

Gullet means tube from mouth to stomach to store the food.

What is gullet?

From where does the acid comes in the body and what is the role of acid in the body.

The 5 stages of digestion are as follows:

1. The chewing of food in the mouth, where saliva breaks down food to make it easier for it to go down the Esophagus.

2. The food enters the stomach where acids mix and break the food out more.

3. It goes to the small intestine where villi enable food into the blood to feed the body, this is where nutrition and vitamins are stored.

4. The large intestine is all waste, this is where the waste becomes more solid, because water is constantly sucked back into the body.

5. Waste collects in the rectum until the brain tells it to release the waste, where it leaves the body.

Intestine:

In vertebrates, the small intestine is the part of the gastrointestinal tract following the stomach and followed by the large intestine, and is where much of the digestion and absorption of food takes place.

What is intestine?