Biology II

Kyoung Mi Kim
Chapter 21.
Nutrition and Digestion
21.0. Finding the right diet requires critical scientific thinking

• More than a third of American adults are obese.

• More than 300,000 deaths per year in the United States are attributed to
weight-related issues.

• As you think about your own diet, you should begin with a clear
understanding of the structure and function of your digestive system.
 Obtaining and
Processing Food
21.1 Animals Obtain and Ingest Their Food in a Variety of Ways

• All animals eat other organisms—dead or alive, whole or by the piece.

Animal diets vary extensively.

– Herbivores, such as cattle, gorillas, and snails, dine mainly on

plants and algae.

– Carnivores, such as lions, spiders, and whales, mostly eat other

animals.

– Omnivores, including humans, crows, and cockroaches, regularly

consume both plants and animals.
 21.1 Animals Obtain and Ingest Their Food in a Variety of Ways

• Animals vary in how they eat. Four major types of feeding

mechanisms have evolved among animals.
– Suspension feeders capture food particles from the
surrounding medium.
– Substrate feeders live in or on their food source and
eat their way through it.
– Fluid feeders suck nutrient-rich fluids from a living host.
– Bulk feeders ingest large pieces of food.

Figure 21.1
 21.2 Overview: Food Processing Occurs in Four Stages

• Food is processed in four stages:

1. Ingestion
2. Digestion
3. Absorption
4. Elimination

Figure 21.2
 21.2 Overview: Food Processing Occurs in Four Stages

• Chemical digestion is necessary because animals cannot

directly use the proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and nucleic
acids in food.

Figure 21.2
 21.3 Overview: Food Processing Occurs in Four Stages

• Sponges are the only

animals that digest their
food entirely in food
vacuoles.
• Most animals digest food
in compartments.
– Cnidarians and
flatworms have a
gastrovascular
cavity with a single
opening, the mouth.

Figure 21.3
 21.3 Overview: Food Processing Occurs in Four Stages

• Most animals digest food in

compartments.
– Most animals have an
alimentary canal that runs
from mouth to anus with
specialized regions along the
way.

Figure 21.3
The Human Digestive
System
 The Human Digestive System Consists of an Alimentary
21.4
Canal and Accessory Organs
• In humans, food is
– ingested and chewed in the mouth, or
oral cavity
– pushed by the tongue into the pharynx
– moved along through the alimentary
canal by the rhythmic muscle
contractions of peristalsis
– moved into and out of the stomach by
sphincters.

• The final steps of digestion and nutrient

absorption in humans occur in the small
intestine.

• Undigested material moves slowly through

the large intestine and is then expelled
through the anus.
Figure 21.4
 21.5 Digestion Begins in the Oral Cavity

• Mechanical digestion and

chemical digestion begin in the
mouth.
• Chewing cuts, smashes, and
grinds food, making it easier to
swallow.
• The tongue
– tastes the food
– shapes the food into a ball
called a bolus
– moves it toward the pharynx.
Figure 21.5
 After Swallowing, Peristalsis Moves Food
21.6
Through the Esophagus to the Stomach
• The pharynx, or throat, opens to two passageways:
1. the esophagus (part of the digestive system) and
2. the trachea (or windpipe, part of the respiratory system).

• The swallowing reflex moves food into the esophagus and

keeps it out of the trachea.

Figure 21.6
 A food bolus shown at three points
21.6
as it moves through the esophagus

Giraffes have a very

long esophagus

Figure 21.6
 The Stomach Stores Food and
21.8
Breaks It Down with Acid and Enzymes

• The stomach secretes a digestive

fluid called gastric juice, which is
made up of a protein-digesting
enzyme, mucus, and strong acid.
– Pepsinogen and HCl are
secreted in the stomach.
– HCl converts some
pepsinogen to pepsin.
– Pepsin in gastric juice begins
to digest protein.

Figure 21.8
 The Stomach Stores Food and Breaks It Down with
21.8
Acid and Enzymes

Figure 21.8
 The Small Intestine Is the Major Organ of
21.10
Chemical Digestion and Nutrient Absorption

• Enzymes from the

pancreas and cells of
the intestinal wall digest
food molecules.
• Bile, made in the liver
and stored in the
gallbladder, emulsifies
fat for attack by enzymes.

Figure 21.10
 The Small Intestine Is the Major Organ of
21.10
Chemical Digestion and Nutrient Absorption

• Folds of the intestinal lining and finger-like villi (with

microscopic microvilli) increase the area across
which absorbed nutrients move into capillaries and
lymph vessels.
Figure 21.10
 The Small Intestine Is the Major Organ of Chemical
21.10
Digestion and Nutrient Absorption
 The Liver Processes and Detoxifies Blood
21.11
from the Intestines

• Capillaries from the

small and large
intestines converge into
veins that lead into
hepatic portal vein and
then into the liver.
• The liver regulates
nutrient levels in the
blood, detoxifies alcohol
and drugs, and
synthesizes blood
proteins.
Figure 21.11
21.12 The Large Intestine Reclaims Water and Compacts the Feces

• The large intestine has a

pouch called the cecum near its
junction with the small intestine,
which bears a small, finger-like
extension, the appendix.

• Some bacteria in the colon

produce vitamins.

• The large intestine

– absorbs these vitamins and
water into the bloodstream
– helps form firm feces,
which are stored in the
rectum until elimination.

Figure 21.12
 Evolution Connection: Evolutionary Adaptations of
21.13
Vertebrate Digestive Systems Relate to Diet

• The length of the digestive tract

often correlates with diet.
• Herbivores may have
– longer alimentary canals
than carnivores
– compartments that house
cellulose-digesting
microbes.

Figure 21.13
Nutrition
 21.14 An Animal’s Diet Must Provide Sufficient Energy

• The diet must provide chemical energy (measured in kilocalories; 1

kcal = 1,000 calories), raw materials for biosynthesis, and essential
nutrients.
• Metabolic rate, the rate of energy consumption, includes the basal
metabolic rate (BMR) plus the energy used for other activities.
Figure 21.14
 21.15 An Animal’s Diet Must Supply Essential Nutrients

• Essential nutrients are substances that

an animal requires but cannot assemble
from simple organic molecules.
– Essential fatty acids, such as
linoleic acid, are
→ used to make phospholipids of
cell membranes and
→ found in seeds, grains, and
vegetables.
– Essential amino acids are
→ used to make proteins and
→ found in meats, eggs, milk, and
cheese.
Figure 21.15
 A Proper Human Diet Must Include
21.16
Sufficient Vitamins and Minerals

• A vitamin is an organic molecule required in very small

amounts in your diet. Most function as coenzymes.
• Minerals are inorganic nutrients, required in small
amounts, that play a variety of roles.
• A varied diet usually meets the Recommended Dietary
Allowances (RDAs) for these nutrients.
Table 21.16 Vitamin requirements of humans
Table 21.16 Vitamin requirements of humans
Table 21.16 Mineral requirements of humans
 21.17 Food Labels Provide Nutritional Information

• Food labels indicate

– serving size
– calories per serving
– amounts of selected
nutrients per serving
and as a percentage
of daily value
– recommendations for
daily limits of selected
nutrients.

Figure 21.17
 21.18 Dietary Deficiencies Can Have a Number of Causes

• Malnutrition, a diet insufficient in

nutrients or calories, can cause
significant health problems.
• Protein deficiency is the most
common cause of malnutrition
worldwide.

Figure 21.18
 The Human Health Problem of Obesity
21.19
May Reflect Our Evolutionary Past

• Obesity is defined as a too-

high body mass index (BM
I), a ratio of weight to height.
• Obesity is linked to a lack of
exercise and an abundance
of fattening foods and may
partly stem from an
evolutionary advantage of
fat hoarding.

Figure 21.19
 The Human Health Problem of Obesity May Reflect Our
21.19
Evolutionary Past

• The hormone leptin is produced

by adipose (fat) cells and
suppresses appetite.
• Researchers discovered that mice
who inherit a defect in the gene
for leptin become very obese.
• Obese children who have
inherited a mutant form of the
leptin gene lose weight after leptin
treatments. But, relatively few
obese people have such
deficiencies.

Figure 21.19
 Diet Can Influence
21.21
Risk of Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer

• Two main types of cholesterol occur in the blood.

1. Low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) correlate with a
tendency to develop blocked blood vessels, high blood
pressure, and heart attacks.
2. High-density lipoproteins (HDLs) may decrease the
risk of vessel blockage, perhaps because HDLs convey
excess cholesterol to the liver, where it is broken down.
• The ratio of HDLs to LDLs is influenced by diet.
Dietary Guidelines for Reducing Cancer Risk

• Maintain a healthy weight throughout life.

• Eat five or more servings of a variety of fruits and
vegetables daily.
• Choose whole grains over processed (refined) grains.
• Limit consumption of processed and red meats.
• If you drink alcoholic beverages, limit yourself to a
maximum of one or two drinks a day (a drink = 12 ounces
of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80% distilled
spirits).