How Nutrients Get in, and Wastes Out :: essays research papers

How Nutrients Get in, and Wastes Out.In a homosexual being, nutrients be necessary for survival. But how are thesenutrients obtained? This report will go into depth on how the pabulum we eat getsinto our cells, and how the waste products that we produce get out of the body.Also, the unicellular organism Paramecium will be compared with a human being,in terms of all of the above factors.Dietary NutrientsThe chief nutrients in a diet are classified chemically in four groupscarbohydrates, proteins, vitamins (Which do not require digestion) and fats.Carbohydrates in the diet occour mainly in the form of starches. These areconverted by the digestive process to glucose, one of the main nutrients needfor cellular respiration to occour. Starch is a large molecule, a polymer ofglucose. Dextrin and maltose are intermediate products in the digestion ofstarch. Some foods contain carbohydrates in the form of sugars. These are thesimple sugars, such as sucrose (cane sugar) or lactose (milk su gar), that mustbe processed into smaller units. Occasionally, the simplest form of sugar, amonosaccharide such as glucose, is present in food. These monosaccharides donot require digestion.Proteins are polymers composed of one or more amino acids. When they aredigested, they produce free amino acids and ammonia.Vitamins are a vital part of our food that are absorbed through the smallintestine. There are two different types of vitamins, water-soluble (All the Bvitamins, and vitamin C) and fat-soluble (vitamins A, D and K).Neutral fats, or triglycerides, are the principal form of dietary fat. They aresimple compounds, and within digestion are broken down into glycerol and fatacids, their component parts.IngestionIntake of food in the Paramecium is controlled by the needs of the cell. Whenfood is sensed, the organism guides itself towards the food, and guides it intothe oral groove, then enclosing it in a vacuole. Enzymes are then secreted todigest the food, which is then absorbed in to the cytoplasm and made available tothe various organelles. But, a Paramecium has to be able to move to its foodsource, while a human cell has his food brought to it through the circulatorysystem. In man, a much more complicated system exists than that of aunicellular organism, for the size of the animal and the fact that all of thecells within the animal must be able to absorb food and get rid of wastes, just exchangeable the Paramecium does.Digestion in the MouthUpon entering the mouth, the food is mixed by mastication with saliva, which