How Carbohydrates Goes Through The Body

The digestion process from the mouth to the small intestine is to break down the dissacharides, polyssacharides, and monossacharides. The break down of carbohydrates is only possible by the secretion of digestive enzymes into the gastrointestinal tract and then converted into sugars so they can be absorbed into the blood stream and used for energy.

Digestion begins in the mouth, in the mouth the saliva. Saliva has an enzyme called amylase which breaks down the carbohydrate into more complex carbs into simpler types. In the stomach enzymes still are breaking down the carbohydrates, the digesgtion though begins to slow down as the stomach acids are released from the glands in the stomach.

Digestion moves on to the small intestine and liver. In the small intestine another version of amylase is released by the pancreas into the first part of small intestine called the duodenum. The amylase like enzyme cuts down the carbohydrates making them into simple sugars like maltose, lactose and sucrose. The carbohydrate continues its path through the small intestine and uses enzymes called maltase, lactase and sucrase. These enzymes breakdown the sugars the first part of the intestine started to make and then eventually are made into to glucose and absorbed through the intestinal walls into the bloodstream.

Digestion of the liver begins after the carbohydrates are fully broken down into sugars and is absorbed through the walls of the small intestine and into the blood stream. After it is absorbed into the bloodstream it is carried to the liver where it is stored or distributed to cells throughout the body for energy.