HELP!! how are fats and proteins digested?I'm doing a biology project on the digestive system and i need to explain how fats and proteins are digested in the digestive system. i've been researching all day, but i still don't understand the process. i think it's because most of the source use a whole bunch of technicall terms that i don't comprehend. so i greatly appreciat it if you explain the processes using "dummy terms" rather than copying and pasting from a science article .
thanks in advance :)
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Posted by Ryan Gregg
Fats and proteins are broken down my little things called Enzymes. The enzymes are catalysts (things that speed up reactions) they attach onto the protein or fats and break them down into smaller molecules so that the body can diffuse them into the blood and stuff.
Proteins are broken down by an enzyme called protease.
Fats are broken down by an enzyme called lipase.
When protein is broken down, it gets broken down into amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins
When a fat is broken down by lipase, you get glycerol and fatty acids.
The body breaks down them because for example protein can't be used in the body, the molecule is too large and doesn't pass through the blood.
Fats and proteins are broken down in the small intestines, the pancreas release the PROTEASE and LIPASE enzymes and they just kind of trickle into the small intestines and break them down so the body can use them!
Posted by Noob
lipase enzymes produced from the pancreas and small intestines break down fats into fatty acids and glycerol.
Posted by pranab d
Fats aren't "broken down" on the molecular level but rather emulsified or broken down but physically. This is done by the bile to increase the surface area.
Posted by Pressie R
Ok lets start by taking an example. Think you are eating a sausage, a sausage has both protein and fat. The first process of digestion starts the moment you bite into it. You start tearing the sausage up in your mouth to tiny pieces with your jaws and teeth, this is the mechanical (mechanical due to the fact that you are chewing and tearing it to pieces physically with your mouth).
Once the sausage has been chewed up to the extent of tiny pieces that you can swallow, you swallow it and the protein and fat enter the tummy. In the tummy is where chemical and mechanical digestion both start on the protein and to a little extent on fats. The mechanical digestion the stomach occurs by the stomach walls contracting and relaxing and churning and crushing the food, with protein into tiny even tinier pieces. The stomach also releases hydrochloric acid to break down the food further (another form of chemical digestion. Now comes the real protein digestion in the stomach with the help of the enzymes called protease, since a another substance is being used (enzymes) to help break down a protein, this process is called chemical digestion. The proteins are made with molecules held together with peptide bonds, the protease enzyme rams right through the bonds and breaks them and hence release the molecules that we absorb into our body. So protein digestion occurs in the stomach and ends in the stomach. The stomach is very acidic due to the hydrochloric acid, and the protease enzyme loves the acid and works best on an acidic medium.
Sadly chemical digestion on fats in the stomach does not occur. Fats are only broken down into tinier pieces by the mechanical digestion in the stomach and by the hydrochloric acid but true and proper digestion of fats does not occur in the stomach, the reason is that to digest fats, another enzyme is required called lipase and the enzyme lipase does not like the acidic conditions in the stomach, it tends to stay away from the stomach and rather be in the duodenum (the entrance to the small intestine) and the small intestine. This area is much less acidic and more basic, just the environment the lipase enzyme can thrive in. So after the protein and other stuff are digested, the fat remains in the mashed up sausage when it leaves the stomach and enters the duodenum. As the fat enters the duodenum, the pancreas and the walls of the duodenum and small intestine starts to secrete lipase enzymes, hence begins the proper, true chemical digestion of fats. Lipase enzymes break the ester bonds in fats and releases the molecules that are absorbed by our body. This process takes a bit longer than breaking peptide bonds by protease, that's one reason why our small intestines are quite long, so that they have more time to digest fats. So by the time the sausage leaves the small intestines or half way through it, fat digestion is complete.
voila, that's it! hope it helped!
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