Digestion and Absorption of Proteins (Term Paper Sample)

Digestion and Absorption of Proteins
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Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Introduction PAGEREF _Toc427137191 \h 3Protein Digestion PAGEREF _Toc427137192 \h 3Protein Absorption PAGEREF _Toc427137193 \h 3Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc427137194 \h 4Reference PAGEREF _Toc427137195 \h 4
Introduction
The conversion of food proteins into body proteins involves a series of refinements. This process is comparable to the learning process in human beings. First, the protein is taken through baby class where the breakdown of the long polypeptides into slightly finer molecules occurs. The finer molecules are like students in high school where they are then taught even finer details herein referred to as tripeptides and dipeptides. Eventually, a more refined knowledgeable university graduate – amino acids – is churned out at the university level. It is these graduates that utilize the knowledge they acquired to better their own life i.e. body proteins.
Protein Digestion
The mouth acts as the baby class where the food protein is first introduced into the education system, digestive system in this case. Ideally, this is the entry point. Here food is chewed and moisturized. The actual digestion begins in the stomach which is comparable to high school where the curriculum (the hydrochloric acid and pepsin enzyme) is used in the breakdown of large polypeptides into finer polypeptides and a few amino acids. These smaller polypeptides and the few amino acids are like high school graduates.
The smaller polypeptides and a few amino acids then enter the small intestine which essentially serves as the university. At this point, these smaller particles are taken through the university curriculum – the pancreatic and intestinal proteases – which hydrolyse them into even finer peptides, dipeptides, and amino acids. The end products here are comparable...