Our digestive systems contain glands. These glands produce enzymes. Enzymes are catalysts. Catalysts make chemical reactions happen quicker and easier. Digestive enzymes help us to break down food easier. Our bodies make lots of different digestive enzymes. Each enzyme breaks down a particular food. When an enzyme has broken down one food molecule, it can then break down another molecule of the same kind. It can do this over and over again. It makes the reaction happen without being used up.
In the digestive system, enzymes are produced to break down carbohydrates, proteins and fats into smaller soluble molecules from large food molecules. These spread through the tube of the small intestine and into the blood plasma …show more content…
Carbohydrates - Foods rich in carbohydrates include bread, potatoes, dried peas and beans, rice, pasta, fruits, and vegetables. Many of these foods contain both starch and fibre. The digestible carbohydrates such as starch and sugar are broken into simpler molecules by enzymes in the saliva, in juice produced by the pancreas, and in the lining of the small intestine. Starch is digested in two steps. First, an enzyme in the saliva and pancreatic juice breaks the starch into molecules called maltose. Then an enzyme in the lining of the small intestine splits the maltose into glucose molecules that can be absorbed into the blood. Glucose is carried through the bloodstream to the liver, where it is stored or used to provide energy for the work of the …show more content…
An enzyme in the lining of the small intestine digests sucrose, also known as table sugar, into glucose and fructose, which are absorbed through the intestine into the blood. Milk contains another type of sugar, lactose, which is changed into absorbable molecules by another enzyme in the intestinal lining.
2. Protein - Foods such as meat, eggs, and beans consist of giant molecules of protein that must be digested by enzymes before they can be used to build and repair body tissues. An enzyme in the juice of the stomach starts the digestion of swallowed protein. Then in the small intestine, several enzymes from the pancreatic juice and the lining of the intestine complete the breakdown of huge protein molecules into small molecules called amino acids. These small molecules can be absorbed through the small intestine into the blood and then be carried to all parts of the body to build the walls and other parts of