Digestion is one of the complex processes that occur in the human body, and it is important for survival and benefiting from the food we eat, but what are the types of digestion and how is food broken down and digested in our bodies? Let’s get acquainted now with these details in a simple way.

What is the process of digestion?

Certainly, we all know that our body relies entirely on its stock of nutrients that enter it through food, but these elements are in the form of complex compounds, so it must be divided and broken down into smaller parts, and here comes the importance of the digestion process because it is responsible for breaking down food, breaking it and dividing its nutrients This process is considered one of the most important and prominent vital processes that occur in the intestines of the body, and it is the basic way for survival.

What are the types of digestion?

Speaking of the types of digestion that take place inside our bodies, they can be divided into two types:

1- Mechanical digestion

During this type of digestion, food is broken and divided from its image and its large parts into smaller parts, as happens during the chewing process. Mechanical digestion is a physical process that breaks down food but does not change its chemical nature.

This type of digestion is rumored to include only the first steps of digestion represented by the tongue, chewing, and the mixing of food with saliva. But mechanical digestion extends beyond the food out of the mouth, as it continues in the stomach in order to break down the food further, until it turns into an acidic soup-like substance known as chyme.

2- Chemical digestion

This type is during which the parts of the food are divided and broken into its basic units through enzymes, acids and salts in the body. This process is often completed in the small intestine.

The goal of this type of digestion is to break down the chemical bonds that bind food particles to make them digestible, absorbable, and utilized.

How does the digestion process take place?

Digestion is the process of breaking down, dividing and converting large portions of food into small portions and molecules that are soluble in water, so that they can pass into the blood and other organs of the body. For example, during digestion, carbohydrates are converted into glucose, while fats are broken down into fatty acids and glycerol, and proteins are broken down into amino acids.

Food moves in the body through the digestive system, which includes two types of organs, namely:

• Hollow organs: They are the organs through which food moves first, namely, the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and anus.
• Solid organs: They are the liver, pancreas, gallbladder, and these organs add their characteristics to the food mixture that they have in order to be broken down as required and used.

In addition to the digestive system, the nervous system, the circulatory system, and gut bacteria are also of great importance in the digestion process.

Although food contains all the nutrients we need for good health, they are packed into large, complex compounds. In order for the body to use them, they must first be broken down and broken down into smaller parts through the process of digestion.

Breaking down nutrients

The food components are divided and broken in different forms, as follows:

protein

It is broken down and digested by 3 different enzymes:

• pepsin located in the stomach.
• Trypsin and chymotrypsinThey work in the duodenum, and are secreted by the pancreas.

Fats

The process of digesting fats begins in the mouth via the tongue lipase enzyme, but most of the fats entering the body are broken down and fragmented in the small intestine with the help of the pancreatic lipase enzyme. Bile also plays an active role in breaking down fats.

carbohydrates

and that is through:

• amylase Found in saliva and the pancreas, which breaks down starch into individual glucose units.
• lactase Which breaks down the lactose, the sugar found in milk.
• sucrose Which works to break down sucrose, which is found in sugar or sugar cane.

What is non-destructive digestion?

There are important and essential food elements and molecules, but they are complex and may be damaged if they mix with the juices present in the digestive system inside the stomach, as happens with vitamin B12, for example. This is where non-destructive digestion comes into play. So when vitamin B12 enters the mouth, a chemical known as a haptocorin binds to it, protecting the vitamin’s molecule.