NUTRIENT ABSORPTION

Digestion is completed in the small intestine.

• The complex organic molecules that you eat (proteins, starches, fats, and carbohydrates), are now broken down into much smaller, simpler, molecules

• Proteins are digested into amino acids

• Carbohydrates (like starch) are broken down into simple sugars (like glucose)

• Fats are broken into smaller monomers.

The small intestine is connected to the circulatory system. The small products of digestion are permeable and diffuse from the small intestine into capillaries of the circulatory system. The nutrients are then transported to the cells of the body.

Any food that is not fully digested (i.e. too big to diffuse out of the digestive system) will move on to the large intestine and will be excreted as waste.