What happens to food you eat? (by Leeds Teaching Hospitals)

Info Source: http://www.leedsth.nhs.uk/sites/diabetes/teenage/Whathappenstothefoodyoueat.php

When you eat or drink it is transported from your mouth down into your stomach, where it is churned up and broken down by acidic juices, this mixture is emptied, bit by bit, into your gut through the lower opening of your stomach (pylorus). (click here to know more about your small and large intestine).

To be able to understand what happens to food you need to understand how food is made up. The food we eat can be split into 3 main groups: carbohydrates (sugar or starch), fat and protein. Foods also contain important components which help your body remain healthy such as fibre, vitamins and minerals. In relation to diabetes, carbohydrates are the most important as they are all formed of different sorts of sugars. Remember that other foods can also affect how your carbohydrates are absorbed from your gut; fat and fibre for example tend to slow the absorption of carbohydrate.

Food comes in very complex forms and needs to be broken down before it can cross into your blood and help your body work efficiently. This is done by certain chemicals called enzymes. An enzyme is a chemical that breaks down large complex things into smaller simpler ones. When you begin chewing food in your mouth, saliva is produced containing a special enzyme called amylase, which starts to digest the starch and break it down into simple sugars (glucose, fructose and galactose). The digestion of carbohydrates continues in the duodenum and small intestine by enzymes produced by the pancreas.

Every cell in your body requires an energy supply in order to live and function efficiently. They get this energy from the food you eat, which reaches all of the cells via the blood. In the small intestine, simple sugars as well as proteins are absorbed directly into the blood by tiny finger-like projections in the walls of the small intestine called villi. Once in the bloodstream, the blood sugar level is carefully controlled by special cells in the pancreas called islet cells.

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Learning Point 1

Carbohydrates are all forms of sugars and are found in many different foods

Carbohydrates may consist of simple sugars which do not need breaking down in the body and are absorbed quickly (glucose)

Carbohydrates may be more complex and need breaking down and are absorbed more slowly (fruit sugars for example)

Carbohydrate absorption from the gut into the blood can be influenced by other foods like fibre and fats

(Click here to see examples of food and their carbohydrate content)

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