Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Foods that contain large amounts of starch but little sugar, such as rice and potatoes, may acquire a slightly sweet taste as they are chewed because amylase degrades some of their starch into sugar. The pancreas and salivary gland make amylase ( alpha amylase ) to hydrolyse dietary starch into disaccharides and trisaccharides which are ...
Before processed foods, people consumed large amounts of uncooked and unprocessed starch-containing plants, which contained high amounts of resistant starch. Microbes within the large intestine ferment or consume the starch, producing short-chain fatty acids , which are used as energy, and support the maintenance and growth of the microbes.
The pancreas is located in the visceral region, and is a major part of the digestive system required for proper digestion and subsequent assimilation of macronutrient substances required for living. Pancreatic juice is alkaline in nature due to the high concentration of bicarbonate ions. Bicarbonate is useful in neutralizing the acidic gastric ...
[2] [3] The majority of lipids found in the human body from ingesting food are triglycerides and cholesterol. [4] Other types of lipids found in the body are fatty acids and membrane lipids . Lipid metabolism is often considered the digestion and absorption process of dietary fat; however, there are two sources of fats that organisms can use to ...
Some dietary fat is necessary to facilitate absorption of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K) and carotenoids. [ 91 ] : 903 Humans and other mammals have a dietary requirement for certain essential fatty acids, such as linoleic acid (an omega-6 fatty acid ) and alpha-linolenic acid (an omega-3 fatty acid) because they cannot be synthesized ...
Starch (a polymer of glucose) is used as a storage polysaccharide in plants, being found in the form of both amylose and the branched amylopectin. In animals, the structurally similar glucose polymer is the more densely branched glycogen, sometimes called "animal starch". Glycogen's properties allow it to be metabolized more quickly, which ...
Bile (from Latin bilis), or gall, is a yellow-green/misty green fluid produced by the liver of most vertebrates that aids the digestion of lipids in the small intestine. In humans, bile is primarily composed of water , is produced continuously by the liver, and is stored and concentrated in the gallbladder .
Fat has a food energy content of 38 kilojoules per gram (9 kilocalories per gram) proteins and carbohydrates 17 kJ/g (4 kcal/g). [ 2 ] Water makes up a large proportion of the total mass ingested as part of a normal diet but it does not provide any nutritional value.