Questions tagged [digestive-system]
Organs that play a role in digestion and/or absorption of nutrients: breaking down of food into smaller components that can be absorbed and used as for sources of energy, cellular/tissue building blocks, or cofactors for vital biochemical reactions.
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Does variation in human gut length vary predictably with diet of ancestors?
Background: Numerous online searches, textbooks and other sources seem to pin the average length of the human gut from mouth to anus (oroanal) between about 5-10m in length. To pick a reputable ...
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Is there a link between digestion and nightmares?
A common belief is that eating too much before going to sleep can cause to have nightmares. In fact, I often experience it: I systematically have nightmares after eating too much in the evening.
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Can the human gut work with other type of gut bacteria?
I was wondering if the human body would be capable of functioning with, say, cellulolytic bacteria in their gut (instead of or in addition of their current bacteria), like that of ruminants and if ...
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Can gut flora affect what we can eat and what we cannot?
Back many years ago, I've read a mushroom guidebook, which I don't have anymore. I was unable to find the name of a particular mushroom. The book comprises listing of edible and poisonous mushroom ...
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Eating possibly spoiled food in the fasted state - is it considered protective against the potential harm?
It is a known fact that the acidic environment in the stomach serves several purposes, such as providing suitable conditions for primary chemical digestion of food molecules and protection from ...
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How can we usually "trust a fart" not to be liquid or solid?
Jack Nicholson's character Edward Cole in the movie The Bucket List said ...and never trust a fart, and a search for Al Roker leakage White House will clear up any doubts what that's all about.
How ...
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Parasympathetic effects on digestive tract - motility versus absorption
The parasympathetic nervous system's purpose is often referred to as "rest and digest." As part of this purpose, parasympathetic innervation increases motility in the digestive tract to move ...
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Diarrhea / constipation: why are they associated with failure of the large intestine (and not the small intestine) to reabsorb water?
When I see reference to diarrhea or constipation, it's almost always in reference to the under- or over-reabsorption of water, respectively, in the large intestine. However, if the large intestine ...
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Why do vertebrates have an oesophagus?
As far as I know, the oesophagus in vertebrates has no digestive or absorptive function. It is simply a conduit from the mouth to more distal parts of the gastrointestinal tract. Why have it at all, ...
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How does the symbiotic bacteria reaches a human caecum
My thought on this matter is that we have got a very high pH of about 1.8 in our stomach.So,most of bacteria who came in through food or just open mouth should be killed by it.So,how does a bacterial ...
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Muscle layers of pharynx and gi tract
Why does pharynx have an internal longitudinal muscle layer and external circular muscle layer, while oesophagus and the rest of gastrointestinal tract have inner circular and outer longitudinal ...
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If chylomicrons can not get into the capillaries, how do they supply to tissues?
The transport of chylomicrons is into the lacteals mainly because they are too big to get into the capillaries and yet they later supply triglycerides in the extra hepatic tissue by traversing in the ...
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Hepatic lobules and hepatocytes
"The hepatic lobules are the structural and functional units of the liver containing hepatic cells arranged in the form of cords. "
My textbook says that the hepatic lobule is the ...
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Is raw meat or raw vegetables easier for humans to digest?
Which one is easier for a human digestive system to digest, raw meat or raw vegetables?
I have heard some of my friends who say that raw (or uncooked) meat is easier to digest than raw (or uncooked) ...
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What are the possible causes of Lactase persistence?
Lactase enzyme which is responsible for the digestion lactose (a disaccharide milk sugar) normally its production decreases when a young mammal is weaned but mostly Humens continue to produce this ...
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Is the "first pass effect" diminished more by some foods than others?
This effect and its considerations are fairly well known but it's never been clear to me whether it's a greater consideration with some types of food than others.
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What percentage of human excrement is toxic if ingested?
I have been considering food production, waste management and 3D food printing, particularly during space exploration. This led me to wonder if human excrement could be processed into raw materials ...
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