Nutrition is a complex process, as a result of which the substances necessary for the body are received, digested and absorbed. Over the past ten years, a special science devoted to nutrition, nutrition, has been actively developing. In this article we will consider the digestion process in the human body, how long it takes and how does it go without the gall bladder.
Digestive system
The digestive system is represented by a set of organs that provide the digestibility of nutrients by the body, which are for it the source of energy necessary for cell renewal and growth.
The digestive system consists of: the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small, large and rectum.
Digestion in the human oral cavity
The process of digestion in the oral cavity is the grinding of food. In this process, energetic processing of food by saliva occurs, the interaction between microorganisms and enzymes. After treatment with saliva, some of the substances dissolve and their taste is manifested. The physiological process of digestion in the oral cavity consists in the breakdown of starch to sugars by the amylase enzyme contained in saliva.
Let us follow the effect of amylase on an example: during a minute chewing of bread, you can feel the sweet taste. The breakdown of proteins and fats in the mouth does not occur. On average, the process of digestion in the human body takes about 15-20 s in time.
Digestion - Stomach
The stomach is the widest part of the digestive tract, with the ability to increase in size, and contains a huge amount of food. As a result of the rhythmic contraction of the muscles of its walls, the digestion process in the human body begins with thorough mixing of food with gastric juice, which has an acidic environment.
A lump of food that has got into the stomach is in it for 3-5 hours, being subjected to mechanical and chemical processing during this time. Digestion in the stomach begins with exposing the food to the effects of gastric juice and hydrochloric acid, which is present in it, as well as pepsin.
As a result of digestion in the human stomach, proteins are digested with enzymes to low molecular weight peptides and amino acids. The digestion of carbohydrates in the stomach, which began in the mouth, stops, due to the loss of amylase activity in an acidic environment.
Digestion in the stomach
The process of digestion in the human body occurs under the influence of gastric juice containing lipase, which is able to break down fats. In this case, great importance is given to hydrochloric acid of gastric juice. Under the influence of hydrochloric acid, the activity of enzymes increases, denaturation and swelling of proteins is caused, and a bactericidal effect occurs.
The physiology of digestion in the stomach is that carbohydrate-rich food located in the stomach for about two hours, the evacuation process is faster than food containing proteins or fats, which is delayed in the stomach for 8-10 hours.
In the small intestine, food that is mixed with gastric juice and partially digested, being in a liquid or semi-liquid consistency, passes through at regular intervals in small portions. In which department is the digestion process in the human body still going on?
Digestion - Small Intestine
Digestion in the small intestine, into which a food lump enters from the stomach, is given the most important place, from the point of view of the biochemistry of assimilation of substances.
In this section, the intestinal juice consists of an alkaline medium due to the entry of bile into the small intestine, pancreatic juice and secretions of the intestinal walls. The digestive process in the small intestine is not fast for everyone. This is facilitated by the presence of an insufficient amount of the lactase enzyme, which hydrolyzes milk sugar, associated with the digestibility of whole milk. During digestion, more than 20 enzymes, for example, peptidases, nuclease, amylase, lactase, sucrose, etc. are consumed in this part of the person.
The activity of this process in the small intestine depends on the three divisions turning into each other, of which it consists of the duodenum, skinny and ileum. The bile formed in the liver enters the duodenum. Here, food is digested due to pancreatic juice and bile, which affect it. Pancreatic juice, which is a colorless liquid, contains enzymes that help break down proteins and polypeptides: trypsin, chymotrypsin, elastase, carboxypeptidase, and aminopeptidase.
The role of the liver
An important role in the digestion process in the human body (briefly mention this) is given to the liver, in which bile is formed. The peculiarity of the digestive process in the small intestine is due to the promotion of bile in the emulsification of fats, the absorption of triglycerides, the activation of lipase, it also stimulates peristalsis, inactivation of pepsin in the duodenum, has a bactericidal and bacteriostatic effect, increases the hydrolysis and absorption of proteins and carbohydrates.
Bile does not consist of digestive enzymes, but is important in the dissolution and absorption of fats and fat-soluble vitamins. If bile is not sufficiently produced or secreted into the intestines, then there is a violation of the processes of digestion and absorption of fats, as well as an increase in their excretion in its original form with feces.
What happens in the absence of the gallbladder?
A man is left without the so-called small bag in which bile “in reserve” was previously deposited.
Bile is necessary in the duodenum only if there is food in it. And this is not a constant process, only in the period after eating. After some time, the duodenum is empty. Accordingly, the need for bile disappears.
However, the liver does not stop there, it continues to produce bile. For this purpose, the gallbladder was created by nature so that the bile secreted in between meals is not spoiled and stored until the need for it appears.
And then the question arises about the absence of this "bile storage". As it turns out, a person can do without a gall bladder. If the operation is done on time and does not provoke other diseases associated with the digestive organs, then the absence of the gallbladder in the body is easily tolerated. The time of the digestion process in the human body is of interest to many.
After surgery, bile can only be stored in the bile ducts. After the production of bile by the liver cells, it is released into the ducts, from where it is easily and continuously sent to the duodenum. Moreover, it does not depend on whether food is taken or not. It follows that after the removed gallbladder, food at first must be taken often in small portions. This is because for the processing of large portions of bile is not enough. After all, there is no more place for its accumulation, but it enters the intestine continuously, although in small quantities.
Often the body takes time to learn how to function without the gall bladder, to find the necessary place to store bile. This is how the digestion process in the human body goes without the gall bladder.
Digestion - Large Intestine
The remnants of undigested food move into the large intestine and are in it from about 10 to 15 hours. Here the following digestive processes in the intestine take place: water absorption and microbial metabolism of nutrients.
In the digestion, which takes place in the large intestine, a huge role is played by the ballast substances of food, which include indigestible biochemical components: fiber, hemicellulose, lignin, gums, resins, waxes.
The structure of food affects the speed of absorption in the small intestine and the time of movement through the digestive tract.
Some dietary fiber that is not broken down by enzymes belonging to the gastrointestinal tract is destroyed by microflora.
The large intestine is the place where fecal masses form, which include: undigested food residues, mucus, dead cells of the mucous membrane and microbes that continuously multiply in the intestine and which cause fermentation and gas formation. How long does the digestion process in the human body take? This is a common question.
The breakdown and absorption of substances
The process of absorption of nutrients is carried out throughout the digestive tract, covered with hairs. On 1 square millimeter of the mucosa there are about 30-40 villi.
In order for the absorption of substances that dissolve in fats, or rather fat-soluble vitamins, to occur, fats and bile must be present in the intestine.
The absorption of water-soluble products such as amino acids, monosaccharides, mineral ions, occurs with the participation of blood capillaries.
In a healthy person, the entire digestion process takes from 24 to 36 hours.
That's how long the digestion process in the human body lasts.