Question

What happens to the food in the small intestine?

Answer 1

The semi-digested food that leaves the stomach enters the small intestine, where the food is digested completely. The food in the small intestine is mixed with the bile and pancreatic juices secreted by the liver and the pancreas, respectively.
a. Bile juice helps in the digestion of fats; it breaks down the fats into fatty acids and glycerol.
b. Pancreatic juice helps in the breakdown of carbohydrates into sugars, proteins into amino acids and fats into fatty acids.

The inner walls of the small intestines contain finger-like projects, known as villi, which help in the absorption of food. These absorbed nutrients are then transported to various parts of the body through the blood stream for assimilation. The food that remains undigested is passed into the large intestine.