Digestion & Energy Storage in the Body

Flashcards covering key concepts regarding digestion, energy storage, and theories of hunger from lecture notes.

Digestion

The gastrointestinal process of breaking down food and absorbing its constituents into the body.

Gut microbiome

Microorganisms in the digestive tract that help break down food.

Pyloric sphincter

The valve that controls the passage of food from the stomach to the duodenum.

Duodenum

The upper portion of the small intestine where most absorption takes place.

Emulsification

The process of breaking down fats into smaller droplets to aid in digestion.

Glycogen

A form of energy storage in the body, primarily found in the liver and muscles.

Insulin

A pancreatic hormone that promotes the use of glucose as a primary energy source and its storage.

Glucagon

A pancreatic hormone that promotes the release of glucose into the bloodstream.

Set point theory

The assumption that hunger is triggered by a decline in the body's energy reserves below their designated set point.

Positive Incentive Perspective

Theory that behaviors, such as eating, are motivated by anticipated pleasurable effects.

Conditioned taste preference

The learned preference for tastes that are associated with positive outcomes, such as calorie infusion.

Conditioned taste aversion

The learned avoidance of tastes that are associated with negative outcomes, such as illness.

Sensory Specific Satiety

The phenomenon where the pleasure derived from consuming a specific food decreases after an individual has eaten it.