Path Food Essay

1514 Words7 Pages
Describe the path food follows as it travels through the digestive system. Summarize the major structures and functions of those structures along the way. Any time you take a bite of food it begins its journey through the body, specifically the gastrointestinal tract, and it is fully digested and ready for elimination. If you were to begin with a piece of pizza, the moment you smell your wonderful slice of cheese pizza it begins to stir gastric juices in your stomach. Your stomach may “growl” alerting you that it is hungry and ready to be fed. The GI tract begins with the mouth, down the esophagus, into the stomach, leading to the small intestine, large intestine, and then to the rectum where it begins elimination through the anus. This…show more content…
Tell what happens when there is too much or too little of each major regulatory hormone. The body maintains homeostasis in regulating glucose metabolism in the body by either moving it (glucose) into the cells to be stored by the hormone insulin, or out of the cells for utilization by the hormone glucagon. The body needs glucose for energy and to allow cells to nourish themselves to operate appropriately. If there is too little and blood glucose is not maintained a person can feel very weak which can be extremely dangerous if homeostasis is not restored (coma). If blood levels rise and the balance is not maintained in this sense then a person can become extremely tired and fatigued. When you eat your blood glucose will rise naturally. Insulin is a regulatory hormone that will be secreted by the pancreas in order to reach homeostasis. Insulin will correspond with the amount of glucose that begins to rise and work to maintain a normal balance by aiding glucose from the blood and into the cells. The blood glucose level will begin to fall as a result in order to maintain normal range. The cells will only take the amount of glucose they need and the rest will go to liver and muscle cells that create chains of glycogen for storage at a later time (Whitney & Rolfes, 2011). Patients with Type I Diabetes are not able to secrete enough insulin to maintain homeostasis. As a result, these…show more content…
I can use what I have learned about blood glucose metabolism in my personal life because I have a mother who has Type II diabetes. In my family diabetes runs in my genes so it is very important to stay fit, active, and healthy in our diets so we do not fall into bad habits which lead to Type II diabetes. It is important to stay educated on the disruption of homeostasis in the body. I can educate my daughters and even my mom on the importance of maintaining a healthy diet with not a lot of added sugars. Our bodies can only store and utilize so much sugar so we need to be aware if we are overloading our bodies with it. If our blood glucose levels begin to fall we will feel dizzy or lightheaded signaling that we need to eat to maintain this balance. It also important to recognize in my family’s case that eating too much sugar can also make us feel tired because our cells are not getting the proper nourishment from glucose. By using the knowledge I have learned from the importance of maintaining a good blood glucose balance I can teach myself, my mother, and my daughters on the importance of a proper

More about Path Food Essay

Open Document