Macronutrients Summary

Macronutrients are all broken down in different ways. Our bodies are so fine tuned to absorb all
the nutrients we need utilizing the least amount of energy and it gets rid of all the waste products that
our bodies do not need. Each organ plays a different role in digestion, but most absorption of nutrients
is in the small intestine. Digestion is made possible with enzymes that speed up the rate of reactions and
breakdown of macronutrients that are mainly released by the pancreas into the small intestine.
Carbohydrates are broken down from polysaccharides and disaccharides into monosaccharaides
which is later converted into glucose which our cells need to make ATP. The digestion of carbohydrates
begins in the mouth with mastication, and the release of salivary amylase that is part of our saliva.
Salivary amylase breaks down starch which eventually becomes maltose. The ball of food is called a
bolus which travels from the mouth into the stomach. The stomach is extremely acidic because of
hydrochloric acid that is a defense of the body to destroy bacteria and pathogens, but it also destroys
salivary amylase. The bolus moves through the stomach into the small intestine because there is no
digestion of carbohydrates in the stomach.
The bolus enters the small intestine where most of the digestion and absorption occurs. The
pancreas secretes pancreatic amylase into the small intestine which digests the remaining starch into
maltose. The microvilli of the mucosal cells secrete maltase, sucrose and lactase to break down
disaccharides into monosaccharides. This is the final step of enzymatic digestion through absorptive
enterocytes also known as brush border hydrolases to release the monosaccharides. Maltose is broken
down into glucose, sucrose is broken down into glucose and fructose, and lactose is broken down into
glucose and galactose. The monosaccharides are then absorbed into the bloodstream through the
epithelial cells of the small intestine. All monosaccharides leave the epithelial cells via facilitated
diffusion to enter the blood stream.
From the bloodstream, the monosaccharides travel to the liver via the hepatic portal vein.
Fructose and galactose are converted into glucose in the liver, and any excess glucose is stored as
glycogen in the liver and in our muscles. Glucose is released into the bloodstream to meet the needs of
the bodys cells as needed to support the cells of the body.Glucose is a very important simple sugar
because it is needed in our cells to make ATP through glycolysis a step in aerobic respiration. Without
glucose, our bodies would not be able to make ATP which is the energy that allows the cells of our body
to function. Any excess carbohydrates that are not digested move into the large intestine. Some of the
excess carbohydrates are fermented by bacteria, and whatever is left undigested is excreted from the
body in the form of feces.
Protein digestion also begins in the mouth with the physical breakdown by mastication although
there is no enzymatic digestion. The bolus moves from the mouth into the stomach where the acidic
conditions of the stomach denature the protein strands. Pepsinogen is also converted into pepsin, its
active from, which breaks down proteins into single amino acids and shorter polypeptides which works
optimally in the acidic environment of the stomach.
The polypeptides then move into the small intestine. The pancreas releases trypsin,
chymotrypsin and carboxypeptidase into the small intestine which are also called proteases. The
polypeptides are digested into oligopeptides, tripeptides, dipeptides and single amino acids. The brush
border enzymes, or enterocytes release aminopepetidase, carboxypeptidase and dipeptidase which
break down from small polypeptides into single amino acids. The amino acids are then absorbed by the
cell wall of the small intestine. Amino acids leave the epithelial cells of the small intestine by facilitated
diffusion entering the capillary blood in the villi, and is transported to the liver via the hepatic portal
vein. In the liver, amino acids can be converted to glucose or fat which can be used to build new
proteins, used for energy, or transported to other cells as needed through the bloodstream. Anything
that is left undigested enters the large intestine where not a lot of absorption occurs and is excreted
from the body through feces.
Lipids are essential macronutrients that provide stores of energy, double that of both carbon
and protein, as well as provide nutrients to make cell walls and support delivery of fat soluble vitamins
like vitamins A, D, E, and K. However, it requires a great deal of process to digest and absorb the fatty
lipids in a watery environment of our bodies.

Not only do fats help with the aforementioned processes, insulate our bodies, and protect our
internal organs, they also make eating more pleasurable by providing a delightful mouth feel and
making our foods taste delicious. Despite all the efforts of the mouth and teeth, little absorption of
nutrients and fatty acids is done here. Chewing stimulates the release of an enzyme called lingual lipase
that helps to break down some, but not all, fats. In fact a very minimal amount of triglycerides is
absorbed here. The same goes for the stomach, very little absorption occurs. Once here gastric lipase is
released into the stomach to absorb minimal amounts of triglycerides and fat droplets are further
broken down.

In the small intestine, much of the work is done to make these fats accessible to the body. Here
the gallbladder releases bile (made from cholesterol) into the small intestine to emulsify the fat,
breaking the droplets into smaller droplets. After this, pancreatic lipases (produced in the pancreas) are
dispensed into the small intestines that are now able to be broken down into free fatty acids and
monoglycerides. Once this is complete spherical micelle cells transport the fatty acids for absorption.
Here chylomicron on created by adding a protein making a lipoprotein that travels more easily in the
body because of its hydrophilic properties. This allows the chylomicron to deliver dietary lipid and fat
soluble vitamins to some areas of the body like muscle cells.

The chylomicron then travels to the lymph system because they are still too fatty to enter the
bloodstream. Some triglycerides and phospholipids are removed and they become less rich allowing
them to travel to the liver to be repackaged. Fourteen hours is required to remove triglycerides until it is
considered a chylomicron remnant. Some short and medium fatty acid chains are able to transfer
directly to the bloodstream by albumen. Lipoprotein lipase is then introduced into the system to
disassemble triglycerides into components that can pass through the cell, two free fatty acids and one
monoglyceride. Upon entering, they reform into triglycerides that can be used for energy or make lipid-
containing compounds that can be stored in the liver or muscle cells or adipose tissue. Lipoprotein lipase
sits outside of adipose cells to break them down for energy use.