Nutrition

and Digestion Year 8 Biology

Topics

THE FOOD GROUPS

DIGESTION

ENZYMES

THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

Learning objectives
❑The components of a balanced diet
❑The different food groups
❑The importance of each food group
❑The importance of a healthy diet
❑The process of digestion
❑The role of enzymes
❑The organs of the digestive system
❑ Their roles and adaptions
What makes a balanced diet?
A balanced diet contains the right amount of each of the following
nutrients:

Water
Carbohydrates

Proteins Dietary fibre

Vitamins
Fats
Minerals
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates includes things like starch and sugars!
Starch can be found in foods like bread and pasta
One important sugar to remember is called glucose
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates provide us with energy

Respiration is the process inRemember

our body that lets cells release
energy
Respiration is the
process by
Glucose is needed for respiration!
cells that
provides us with ATP.
GLUCOSE + OXYGEN → CARBON DIOXIDE + WATER
Fats
Fats are also known as lipids Remember
When the body
They are also important in proving
receivesusawith energy
signal the
lipids are converted to
Our “spare” energy can be stored as
glucose fats will allow
– this
for respiration and
Foods like butter, oil and red meat are release!
energy high in fat
Fats
Small amounts of fats are important for a healthy diet

Fats also provide fatty acids

These help us to absorb vitamins

Proteins
Protein is important for the growth and repair of cells

Foods like eggs, fish and beans are good sources of proteins

Proteins are the fundamental

structure for cells – they are
like the building blocks!
Vitamins
VITAMIN WHERE WHY
Vitamins
A areCheese,
chemicals
eggs, that
fish…we need inImmune
very small amounts
system, vision, skin
B Fruits, nuts, wholegrain… Energy release, nervous
system
They’ll be involved in specific chemical reactions
C Citrus fruit, broccoli, Protect cells, skin and bones,
potatoes… wound healing
For example,
D
vitamin C!
Oily fish, red meat, eggs… Absorb calcium, bones, teeth
and muscles
E C isPlant
Vitamin oils, nuts
important inand seeds… involved
reactions Healthy
in skin
woundand eyes,
healing
immune system
K Leafy greens, vegetable oils… Healthy bones
Minerals Remember
Vitamins and minerals are
Minerals include iron and calcium! needed in very small amounts
but they also exist in foods in
Calcium is important in the growth of our bonessmall
and teeth
amounts!

Iron is important for making haemoglobin, a protein in our red blood

cells that carry oxygen in our blood
Dietary fibre
Dietary fibre comes mainly from the cell walls of plants

These are made out of cellulose

Leafy greens are high in dietary fibre

Dietary fibre

We cannot digest dietary fibre so it is removed via our faeces

However, the fibre does help to keep our large intestines stretchy

This stops us from getting constipated!

Water
Water is also important for the
structure of our cells
Water moves across membranes via
Our bodies are about 70% water! osmosis
The right balance keeps the cell from
becoming too turgid or too flaccid
We constantly lose water through breathing, sweating and urinating

Water must be replaced as all of the chemical reactions in our body

happen in solution in water
Exam question: When skimmed milk is made from full-cream
milk, most of what is taken out?

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Exam question: How are substances like fat or calcium taken
around the body?

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Exam question: A baby fed on its mother’s milk gets fewer
[Link] is the reason for this?

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Exam question: Which animals produce milk to feed their
young?

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Why is a balanced diet important?
We need all these food groups in the right amounts

You might have seen a well-being plate like this:

Carbohydrates
Fruit and
vegetables
Oils and
fats
Proteins Dairy
Why is a balanced diet important?
If we have too little, or too much, of a certain food group it could lead
to health problems

Let’s take a look at some examples:

Coronary heart disease Rickets

• High amount of lipids • Lack of vit D
• Deposit inside blood vessels • Less calcium absorbed
• Restricts blood flow • Bones weaken
Exam question
Select a burger, drink and potato product to produce the meal
with the least fat:

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Select a burger, drink and potato product to produce the meal
with the most fibre:

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Exam question
Exam question
Which food group is used for insulation?

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Exam question
How confident do you feel about food groups?

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Learning objectives

❑The components of a balanced diet

❑The different food groups
❑The importance of each food group
❑The importance of a healthy diet
 Audience Q&A Session

ⓘ Start presenting to display the audience questions on this slide.

So how do we digest these?
Digestion is the process of breaking down larger insoluble molecules
into smaller insoluble ones

First, food is mechanically broken down in the mouth

This process can be split into
Food is digested in the mouth, stomach and small intestine
four stages!

Excess water is digested in the large intestine

Undigested food passes as faeces though the anus

The stages of digestion

DIGESTION: Absorption
Ingestion This is the breaking down of food
INGESTION:
EGESTION:
(eating)
This isare
ABSORPTION:
The faeces thethen
process
formed taking in food
in the intestine
This
isor can
thedrink
ThisDigestion be mechanical or chemical
absorption into the bloodstreamEgestion
It(breaking
containsdown)
the undigested food (removal from the
This Mechanical:
This can
mainly chewing
simply
happens inbetheorintestines
churning
swallowing body)
It is expelled from the anus
Chemical: enzymes or stomach acid
What makes up our digestive system?
The digestive system begins at the mouth and ends at the anus

mouth oesophagus

liver stomach
pancreas
small intestine
rectum
large intestine
and anus

There is also the presence of enzymes to help!

What are enzymes?
Enzymes are specialized proteins, known as:

BIOLOGICAL CATALYSTS

They speed up reactions involved in breaking down large molecules

Enzymes are complementary to the substrate
It makes the process of digestion faster
The pancreas makes many of the enzymes
Amylase
Amylase and other carbohydrates break down starch into sugars!
Amylase is an enzyme which speeds up the digestion of starch.
Amylase is produced by the salivary glands.

Why does amylase stop working in the acidic conditions in the

stomach?

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Protease
Protease breaks down proteins into amino acids!
Lipase
Lipase breaks down lipids into fatty acids and glycerol!
The rate of enzyme action
The speed of action of enzyme can be affected by different factors
Remember
Temperature Enzymes are proteins pH
This means that they can be
denatured in certain conditions

Enzyme
activity
Enzyme
activity

The bonds are broken and the

structure changed so they are
Temperature
less or not functional pH
How confident do you feel about enzymes?

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Learning objectives

❑The process of digestion

❑The role of enzymes
Mouth
Here, food is not digested but first physically broken down

In our saliva there is amylase, which will begin to breakdown

carbohydrates
saliva teeth
Oesophagus
Also known as the food pipe!

It connects the mouth to the stomach

The walls are muscular so it can contract and push

food down
Oesophagus

Muscular walls

Sphincters
(valves at each end)

Walls can also

expand
Stomach
The stomach temporarily holds the food

It mixes it with enzymes and hydrochloric acid!

The walls are muscular

Stomach

Lined with
cells to secrete
acid
The acid gives it a
low pH perfect
for the enzymes
Muscular walls
to churn food
Liver
The liver makes a liquid known as bile

This helps to emulsify fats

This means that fats can be broken down

more easily
Pancreas
The pancreas makes enzymes

It also makes hormones such as insulin

Insulin is important in controlling the levels

of glucose in your blood
Small intestine

Here, there is further digestion

The smaller soluble molecules can

now also be absorbed into the
bloodstream!
Small intestine

Large surface
Absorption will happen efficiently if:area to absorb

Muscular walls
• The surface is thin
can contract
• The area is large Thin walls to
absorb through
Small intestine
In the small intestine there are very
thin walls

There are also villi which are finger-like

projections

This gives it a very large surface area

to absorb across
Large intestine

The large intestine is also known as the

colon

Here, water is absorbed

This makes the faeces more solid

Rectum and anus

The faeces are stored in the rectum

They leave through the anus

Give the letter which labels the stomach.

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Give the letter which labels the small intestine.

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ANY QUESTIONS?
How confident do you feel about digestion?

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Learning objectives

❑The organs of the digestive system

❑ Their roles and adaptions
 Audience Q&A Session

ⓘ Start presenting to display the audience questions on this slide.