Nutrition is a complex process, as a result of which substances necessary for the body are supplied, digested and absorbed. The last ten years have been actively developing a special science dedicated to nutrition - nutriciology. In this article, we will look at the process of digestion in the human body, how long it takes and how to do without a gallbladder.
The structure of the digestive system
The digestive system is represented by a set of organs that ensure the absorption of nutrients by the body, which are a source of energy for it, necessary for cell renewal and growth.
The digestive system consists of: mouth, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and rectum.
Digestion in the human mouth
The process of digestion in the mouth is grindingfood. In this process, there is an energetic processing of food by saliva, the interaction between microorganisms and enzymes. After treatment with saliva, some of the substances dissolve and their taste appears. The physiological process of digestion in the mouth is the breakdown of starch into sugars by the enzyme amylase contained in saliva.
Let's trace the action of amylase on an example: while chewing bread for a minute, you can feel the sweet taste. The breakdown of proteins and fats in the mouth does not occur. On average, the process of digestion in the human body takes approximately 15-20 seconds.
Digestion - Stomach
The stomach is the widest part of the digestive tract, has the ability to increase in size, and accommodates a huge amount of food. As a result of the rhythmic contraction of the muscles of its walls, the process of digestion in the human body begins with a thorough mixing of food with acidic gastric juice.
A lump of food that has entered the stomach stays in it for 3-5 hours, undergoing mechanical and chemical processing during this time. Digestion in the stomach begins with the exposure of food to the action of gastric juice and hydrochloric acid, which is present in it, as well as pepsin.
As a result of digestion in the human stomach, proteins are digested with the help of enzymes to low molecular weight peptides and amino acids. The digestion of carbohydrates that began in the mouth in the stomach stops, which is explained by the loss of amylases of their activity in an acidic environment.
Digestion in the stomach cavity
The process of digestion in the human body occurs under the action of gastric juice containing lipase, which is able to break down fats. In this case, great importance is given to hydrochloric acid of gastric juice. Under the influence of hydrochloric acid, the activity of enzymes increases, denaturation and swelling of proteins are caused, and a bactericidal effect is exerted.
The physiology of digestion in the stomach is that carbohydrate-enriched food, which is in the stomach for about two hours, the evacuation process is faster than food containing proteins or fats, which lingers in the stomach for 8-10 hours.
In the small intestine, food that is mixed with gastric juice and partially digested, being in a liquid or semi-liquid consistency, passes through simultaneous intervals in small portions. In what department does the process of digestion still take place in the human body?
Digestion - small intestine
Digestion in the small intestine, into which the food bolus enters from the stomach, is given the most important place in terms of the biochemistry of absorption of substances.
In this section, the intestinal juice consists of an alkaline environment due to the arrival in the small intestine of bile, pancreatic juice and secretions of the intestinal walls. The digestive process in the small intestine is not fast for everyone. This is facilitated by the presence of an insufficient amount of the lactase enzyme, which hydrolyzes milk sugar, associated with the indigestibility of whole milk. Duringdigestion in this department of a person consumes more than 20 enzymes, for example, peptidases, nucleases, amylase, lactase, sucrose, etc.
The activity of this process in the small intestine depends on the three departments that pass into each other, of which it consists - the duodenum, jejunum and ileum. The bile formed in the liver enters the duodenum. Here food is digested thanks to pancreatic juice and bile, which act on it. Pancreatic juice, which is a colorless liquid, contains enzymes that promote the breakdown of proteins and polypeptides: trypsin, chymotrypsin, elastase, carboxypeptidase and aminopeptidase.
The role of the liver
An important role in the process of digestion in the human body (we will briefly mention this) is assigned to the liver, in which bile is formed. The peculiarity of the digestive process in the small intestine is due to the assistance of bile in the emulsification of fats, the absorption of triglycerides, the activation of lipase, it also helps to stimulate peristalsis, inactivate pepsin in the duodenum, has a bactericidal and bacteriostatic effect, increases the hydrolysis and absorption of proteins and carbohydrates.
Bile is not made up of digestive enzymes, but is important in the dissolution and absorption of fats and fat-soluble vitamins. If bile is not produced enough or is secreted into the intestine, then there is a violation of the processes of digestion and absorption of fats, as well as an increase in their release into the intestine.original form with feces.
What happens in the absence of a gallbladder?
A person is left without the so-called small sac, in which bile was previously deposited "in reserve".
Bile is needed in the duodenum only if there is food in it. And this is not a permanent process, only in the period after eating. After some time, the duodenum empties. Accordingly, the need for bile disappears.
However, the liver does not stop there, it continues to produce bile. It was for this that nature created the gallbladder, so that the bile secreted between meals would not deteriorate and be stored until the need for it appeared.
And here the question arises about the absence of this "bile storage". As it turns out, a person can do without a gallbladder. If the operation is done in time and other diseases associated with the digestive organs are not provoked, then the absence of the gallbladder in the body is easily tolerated. The time of the digestion process in the human body is of interest to many.
After surgery, bile can only be stored in the bile ducts. After the production of bile by the liver cells, it is released into the ducts, from where it is easily and continuously sent to the duodenum. And this does not depend on whether the food is taken or not. It follows that after the removal of the gallbladder, food at first must be taken often and in small portions. This is explained by the factthat to process large portions of bile is not enough. After all, there is no more place for its accumulation, but it enters the intestine continuously, although in small quantities.
It often takes time for the body to learn how to function without a gallbladder, to find the right place to store bile. This is how the process of digestion works in a human body without a gallbladder.
Digestion - large intestine
The remains of undigested food move into the large intestine and stay in it for about 10 to 15 hours. Here the following processes of digestion take place in the intestine: absorption of water and microbial metabolism of nutrients.
In the digestion that occurs in the large intestine, dietary ballast substances play a huge role, which include indigestible biochemical components: fiber, hemicellulose, lignin, gums, resins, waxes.
The structure of food affects the rate of absorption in the small intestine and transit time through the gastrointestinal tract.
Part of dietary fiber that is not broken down by enzymes belonging to the gastrointestinal tract is destroyed by microflora.
The large intestine is the site of the formation of fecal masses, which include: undigested food debris, mucus, dead cells of the mucous membrane and microbes that continuously multiply in the intestine, and which cause the processes of fermentation and gas formation. How long does the process of digestion in the human body take? This is a frequently asked question.
Breakdown and absorption of substances
The process of absorption of nutrients is carried out throughout the entire digestive tract, covered with hairs. There are about 30-40 villi per 1 square millimeter of mucosa.
In order for the absorption of substances that dissolve fats, or rather fat-soluble vitamins, to occur, fats and bile must be present in the intestines.
The absorption of water-soluble products such as amino acids, monosaccharides, mineral ions occurs with the participation of blood capillaries.
For a he althy person, the entire process of digestion takes from 24 to 36 hours.
That's how long the process of digestion in the human body lasts.
