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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 obtain energy: from consumed dietary fats and from stored fat. [5] Vertebrates (including humans) use both sources of fat to produce energy for organs such as the heart to function. [6]
Gastric acid or stomach acid is the acidic component – hydrochloric acid of gastric juice, produced by parietal cells in the gastric glands of the stomach lining. In humans, the pH is between one and three, much lower than most other animals, but is very similar to that of carrion eating carnivores , needing protection from ingesting pathogens .
Gastric acid, and the production of mucus in the stomach, are essential for the continuation of digestion. Peristalsis is the rhythmic contraction of muscles that begins in the esophagus and continues along the wall of the stomach and the rest of the gastrointestinal tract.
The digestion products consisting of a mixture of tri-, di- and monoglycerides and free fatty acids, which, together with the other fat soluble contents of the diet (e.g. the fat soluble vitamins and cholesterol) and bile salts form mixed micelles, in the watery duodenal contents (see diagrams on the right).
Gastrointestinal physiology is the branch of human physiology that addresses the physical function of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.The function of the GI tract is to process ingested food by mechanical and chemical means, extract nutrients and excrete waste products.
The following are enzymes produced by the stomach and their respective function: Pepsin is the main gastric enzyme. It is produced in the stomach by gastric chief cells in its inactive form pepsinogen, which is a zymogen. Pepsinogen is then activated by the stomach acid into its active form, pepsin.
Digestion is the breakdown of large insoluble food compounds into small water-soluble components so that they can be absorbed into the blood plasma. In certain organisms, these smaller substances are absorbed through the small intestine into the blood stream .
The acid and semi-digested fats in the duodenum trigger the enterogastric reflex – the duodenum sends inhibitory signals to the stomach by way of the enteric nervous system, and sends signals to the medulla that (1) inhibit the vagal nuclei, thus reducing vagal stimulation of the stomach, and (2) stimulate sympathetic neurons, which send ...