NFS284H1 Chapter Pg. 92-93, 102-103 : Week 2 Readings
Document Summary
Serves as a temporary storage place for food: when held in stomach, bolus is mixed with highly acidic stomach secretions to form a semiliquid food mass called chyme. Some digestion takes place in the stomach: exception: some water, alcohol, and a few drugs (aspirin, acetaminophen-tylenol) Stomach walls are thicker and have stronger muscles than other segments of the gi tract: 2 layer of muscle surround most of gi tract, one running longitudinally down the tract, one running around it. Stomach has an additional layer that circles it diagonally: allows powerful contractions that thoroughly churn and mix the stomach contents. Surface of the stomach mucosa is covered with cells that produce large amounts of protective mucus. Functions best in acidic environment of the stomach. In children, stomach glands also produce the enzyme rennin: acts on the milk protein casein to convert it into a curdy substance resembling sour milk. Acidic environment stops the function of salivary amylase.
