GI tract assignment

Follow a Meal through the GI tract Assignment

Assigned: February 5, 2021

Due: February 28, 2021

Standard Competencies tested (from Syllabus)

• Point #4: Explain how behavioral and psychological factors affect food consumption
• Point #5: Explain the function of all the organs in relationship to digestion

20 Points. See Rubric for grading. Make sure to check your spelling, use complete sentences, and paragraph form.

For this assignment, you will choose a balanced meal and follow it through your GI tract. You will need to choose a balanced meal, meaning it must contain a carbohydrate, protein and a fat. I recognize that food doesn’t only fit in to one macronutrient category, for example: cheese – has both fat and protein. If you choose cheese as your fat, choose another food for your protein, ex: hamburger patty.

You will take your meal throughout the digestion and absorption process of the GI tract and detail to me how the individual macronutrients are processed in the body.

What did you choose? Why did you choose this meal? Together, taste and odor affect our perception of flavor. The book gives an example of closing your nose while eating chocolate (pg 105). While you might sense sweetness or bitterness, you will have trouble identifying what the food is, without smell. I encourage you to try holding your nose during the first few bites of your meal. Then release your nose, allowing your sense of smell to kick in, does the flavor of the food change? Is it amplified? Is it the same?

Where does digestion start?  How does food travel through your GI tract? What are the functions of each organ in the GI tract? There are 5 main organs of the GI tract you must mention.  Where does the majority of absorption happen?  You must also mention the 4 assisting organs. What are their functions?

Reflect on what you learned regarding your meal’s path throughout your body. How hungry were you going in to this meal? Do you eat particularly fast or slow? Are you mindful and present during your meal experience, or are you multi-tasking or thinking about something else? Can you feel food move down your body? Did you experience any sensations of movement or gas upon eating? How full were you after this meal? How did you feel after eating this food? Energized? Tired? Fatigued? Comfortable? Sluggish? Motivated?

ANSWER

GI Tract Assignment

The selected meal for this assessment comprises roasted potatoes for carbohydrates, avocado guacamole for fats and beef steak for proteins. The selection is made up of one of my favourite meals and contains all nutrients required for a healthy diet including vitamins that are the raw vegetable salad contained in the guacamole. In the urban centres, eating healthy meals has gained popularity in pop culture, entertainment and also as a culture that has a desire to avoid obesity. The meal is a little expensive compared to the go to foods of most people who would alternatively check in to a fast food joint for a quick and cheap meal. This essay follows this food through the digestive tract to trace the absorption organs, the breakdown process and the benefits of each to the body.

Digestion begins in the mouth through the process of chewing. The mere scent of food prepares the body for digestion through the secretion of saliva. Once the food is in the mouth, it is broken down to small pieces that ease the process of digestion. In the mouth, carbohydrates are digested by the help of an enzyme called amylase. However, the chemical breakdown of all the food does not begin until the food moves to the stomach through the oesophagus in a process referred to as peristalsis (Thomson 2019). When food arrives in the stomach, digestion of proteins begins with the aid of the stomach enzyme pepsin that breaks down proteins in the process proteolysis. Carbohydrates and fats are not chemically broken down in the stomach, instead, the food moves again through peristalsis into the small intestines. A majority of nutrients are broken down in the small intestines. Fats for instance are broken down with the help of digestive juices from the gallbladder, liver and the pancreas. Fats are broken down to smaller particles by bile salts and further through the process of emulsification by the enzyme lipase from the pancreas. Further breakdown of fats into fatty acids and glycerol occurs in the small intestine. Glycerol and fatty acids are then absorbed into the body. In the small intestine, the enzyme amylase chemically breaks down carbohydrates into simple sugars that can be absorbed into the bloodstream. In the blood stream, as the sugar level rises, insulin is releases to aid in the movement of sugar from the blood and stored into the cell as sources of energy. Lastly, proteins that were initially digested in the stomach by the enzyme pepsin, move to the duodenum where the broken down polypeptides are further broken down to amino acids absorbed into the body. Absorption of proteins however, also occurs in the small intestine.

After the small intestine, the undigested food moves to the large intestine. Water is majorly absorbed in the large intestine while the undigested food is moved to the rectum as waste. Little or no nutrients are absorbed in the large intestine and that becomes the end of the digestive process.

From the process, it is clear that maintaining a healthy diet is important. Carbohydrates are converted to energy useful to the body, proteins into amino acids that aid the in the healing and replacement of worn out cells. Fats deposited underneath the skin provide insulation and can also be converted to energy during starvation. Too much intake of one nutrient means an imbalance in the body that could lead to being overweight or malnutrition (Svihus 2014). My chosen meal is an effective choice for an all-round food intake requirement.

References

Svihus, B. (2014). Function of the digestive system. Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 23(2), 306-314.

Thomson, J. R., & Friendship, R. M. (2019). Digestive system. Diseases of swine, 234-263.