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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Which cells produce HCl produced in stomach? Don't these cells get destroyed by HCl?
Which cells produce HCl produced in the stomach? Or is HCl produced due to the translation of proteins. Don't these cells get destroyed by HCl?
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Bicarbonate concentration in saliva
From the picture it can be seen that Bicarbonate is secreted into lumen of duct of salivary glands by exchanging Cl- ions.
So if flow rate of saliva is increased then its obvious that less Cl- is ...
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In which organs is water that we drink absorbed into the blood?
From biology classes I remember that water from food we eat is mostly 'sucked in' (absorbed into blood) in the colon. I guess the same is true for water we drink. But if I eat something, it will reach ...
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How are micelles formed from the byproducts of emulsification in fat digestion?
It is known that fat droplets are made into emulsion droplets via the addition of bile salts. It is then said that the emulsion droplets are made into micelles through some sort of lipase, which can ...
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Carbohydrates in acidic stomach
How does the acidic environment in the stomach affect carbohydrate and fast digestion? Does it aid, impede or remain neutral in their digestive process?
Or do the carbohydrates, fats and proteins ...
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Does the pyloric sphincter contract after ingesting only liquid?
At university, I was told by one of my fellow students that the reason why eating before going on an alcohol laden night out was a good idea, was because the pyloric sphincter contracted once food was ...
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Does posture matter while drinking water?
I have heard a lot of people (where I am from, India) say that one must drink water sitting, not standing. Recently, I also came across a video that said the same thing (link). The reason given is ...
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Betaine HCl stomach pH
It seems betaine HCL is often recommended for those suffering from "low stomach acid" -- which, as I understand, is having too high stomach pH for proper digestion (especially for proteolysis via ...
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What inactivates pepsin in infants?
In infants, rennin helps in digestion of milk. Pepsin is also present in their stomach.
Why do infants need rennin for milk digestion, at the first place? Why does pepsin not act on the milk ...
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What happens to the enzymes produced by the digestive system?
Our digestive system produces a lot of enzymes and they help to catabolize the food, and after completing their work are they excreted out or as they are also made up of proteins are they catabolized ...
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Why are there not effective pharmaceutical treatments to prevent weight gain?
Hunger is caused by signals from the brain, so is there a way to suppress the signal of hunger in the same way we suppress the signal of pain with painkillers?
If people felt less hungry, they would ...
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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 is chewing gum processed?
There is the common belief that
Chewing gum takes 7 years to digest
But is this actually true? Does it really stick to your intestines for 7 years, or is it processed like all foods, except it isn'...
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Why does a stomach come before the gizzard in birds?
Since the gizzard is for mechanical digestion, shouldn't that happen before the stomach digests the food with acids? (to make the morsels smaller)
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How does horse extract the energy to needs from a relatively small digestive system?
Recently I saw Inside nature's gaints episode on horse, and was fascinated about its internal organisation. And my question is that they have a very large lungs to accommodate, but a relatively ...
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Absorption of pentoses in intestine
Why pentoses are absorbed by facilitated diffusion in intestine? Wouldn't it be futile because , when the pentose concentration is lower in intestine, the pentoses would diffuse back to the intestinal ...
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Movement in microvilli
My textbook( COMPREHENSIVE TEXTBOOK OF PHYSIOLOGY VOL-1 by GK PAL) says:
Microfilaments project into microvilli present on the epithelial surface such as on the intestinal mucosa, and extend up to ...
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How would a herbivore's digestive tract differ from a human's? [closed]
How would a herbivore's digestive tract differ from a human's? What are parts (organs, tissues, etc.) or enzymes that can't be found in one but is in the other? Also, is it correct to say that a ...
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What are the sites of nutrient digestion and absorption in the human GI tract? [closed]
Where does nutrient digestion and then absorption take place for different nutrients along the alimentary tract?
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How are nutrients absorbed by a pitcher plant?
I've read that pitcher plants thrive in nitrogen-poor soil, which is solved by dissolving insects and absorbing nitrogen that way.
I have a few plants, and when a pitcher start to rot, I cut it off ...
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What are the obstacles to "refitting" the human body's metabolism?
As a layman, I understand the problem of rising obesity like this:
In the old times, humans could never get enough food, thus they would eat whatever they could get. This "program" is encoded in our ...
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Shape of feces in herbivores
Why do some herbivores like sheep, cow, and others excrete feces in a pellet (or biscuit or other) shape, while other species including humans do not do so? What is the reason for such an adaptation ...
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Special bacteria in infants
This question is similar to a previous question, but is not the same.
I was told, you are born with a bacteria in your digestive track that are made by the body. Can a body in development create it'...
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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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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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What are the consequences of drinking water with food?
Does drinking water with a meal release lesser energy/glucose into the blood stream due to a diluted digestive mixture ?
For simplification : If a person eats 100 grams of cooked jasmine rice with no ...
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Product of reaction between HCl and bile [closed]
In the mammalian digestive system HCl is the main acid and bile is the main alkali. What is the product of the reaction between these two chemicals?
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Is it safe to feed an adult fire salamander with slime maggots? [closed]
As a reminder, maggots feed of a flesh, while fire salamander consumes his prey alive, without killing it.
Can it happen that the maggot will start eating the salamander from the inside?
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How does the human stomach handle a mix of digested and undigested food?
As I understand it, the stomach digests the bolus into chyme and then passes the latter on to the small intestine. This process takes between 40 minutes and a few hours.
However, what happens when ...
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Do I have to chew for digestion to kick in?
Liquid nutrient-rich products (such as Soylent) are consumed without chewing. But if I have to chew to initiate digestion, are those nutrients really "processed"?
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Is there a difference in how Gas is produced which determines if it becomes a burp or flatulence?
I know that some gases are heavier than air and in the case of a gas leak it's best to escape to higher ground, while some gases are lighter than air such as Helium. However unlike Helium I haven't ...
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How does consumption of vinegar affect food chemistry?
For example: does consumption of vinegar somehow change digestion of flour (bread, cakes, pasta, puffs) ? May be there are some benefits to eat flour meal with vinegar ?
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does life make or break?
Ok, this question seems like it may be impossible to answer, but would be interesting to see if anyone has an idea.
Throughout the course of a human life, do we make more molecular bonds than we ...
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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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When you have your gallbladder removed, how does it affect bile flow into your small intestine?
Cholecystectomy, or surgical removal of the gallbladder, is an extremely common operation around the world. The gallbladder is typically viewed as a storage organ for bile produced by the liver, but ...
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Enzymes and Digestion
If biological enzymes (protease,amylase,lipase etc.) just speed up the reaction (in the digestion process), then what actually digests the food?? (I'm a secondary student)
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What is a lethal dose of THC?
With the oil form of THC being stronger then ever. What would happen if one was to take a stomach full of THC oil?
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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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Anatomical differences between herbivores and omnivores [closed]
What are differences of herbivores vs omnivores? I do not mean dietary differences (obviously), but physical ones.
E.g., afaik herbivores have a much longer digestive tract than carnivores; then ...
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Is there evidence to suggest that nutrients in vitamin capsules are not as readily absorbed as the same nutrients in whole foods?
I recently fell ill with a cold, and began to take a vitamin C capsule each day to help my immune system. When I noticed no change in my condition, I began to incorporate an abundance of citrus into ...
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Does food continue to stay sequential once it is inside my body?
I may be very off on many scientific details here, but I'm always all ears.
As far as I understand, any food that is eaten goes to the stomach, gets broken down even further into smaller food ...
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How does protein enter bloodstream?
If a hemophiliac patient injects his factor 8 through the veins directly into the bloodstream to provide the body with clotting factor... Why don't they just make the drug as a pill and have the liver ...
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Is there any mechanical digestion that occurs once food/chyme enters the small intestine?
Does mechanical digestion occur in small intestines and, if so, how does it occur? I found some sources that say digestion happens mechanically and chemically in the small bowel, and others that say ...
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Do intestinal flora have the same DNA as their host?
Please bear with me, this is not my professional field and I might be mixing things up. In an explanation why seeds won't start growing in one's intestines, the explanation given was that foreign ...
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Do adult humans exchange beneficial bacteria? If so, how?
Recently there has been increasing interest and research into symbiotic bacteria present in humans and human gut. I'm aware of two new discoveries:
humans are surrounded by a unique cloud of ...
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How protein denaturation affects digestion?
Which one of these is a) easier to digest, b) more nutritious (in whatever sense):
1. scrambled egg,
2. raw egg.
Bascially is "denatured protein are worse than not denatured" a myth, or not?
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Is there nutrient absorption in the large intestine of hindgut fermenters?
In hindgut fermenters, plants are digested in the caecum by microbes. I want to know whether hindgut fermenters can absorb the nutrients obtained from the digestion in the large intestine because the ...
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Why would a venus fly traps mouth that's still "chewing" die?
A venus fly trap produces leaves that act like traps for insects. A trapped insect is digested over several days. The trap then opens again to catch another insect.
These traps regularly die off. ...
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Are gizzard muscles voluntary or involuntary?
I started raising chickens this year. They have amazing appetites, and I often wonder what eating is like for them. They have no teeth, so they don't chew their food as they eat it. They do seem to ...
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Will a 0.2g/mL sugar concentration cause vomiting in humans? [closed]
This infographic claims that the sugar content in a can of Coca Cola would cause vomiting if not for the phosphoric acid.
In The First 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (...
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