It’s time for food! That’s always the most exciting part of the day, isn’t it? Food was surely something that fueled me up, both physically and mentally, while I was preparing for the DAT. But it is thanks to a healthy digestive system that we are able survive, obtain energy to work, and most importantly of course, enjoy eating and feel satiated.
What is digestion? Digestion refers to the process of breaking down large food (e.g. fries) into smaller substances (e.g. fries → glucose + fat) that can be absorbed and used by the body.
Digestion can be divided into intracellular and extracellular digestion.
As the name suggests, intracellular digestion happens within cells, whereas extracellular digestion happens outside of cells.
Humans mainly use extracellular digestion. This is because macromolecules are mainly broken down within our digestive tract, outside of cells. It is only after most digestion has taken place that our cells absorb the nutrients inside (which then can be further digested within the cell).