Internal Systems, Nutrition, and Digestion

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering human organ systems, essential nutrients, macromolecules, and metabolic breakdown processes based on lecture notes.

Excretory System

The system that removes liquid wastes from the body.

Immune System

The system that defends the body against infections.

Circulatory System

The system that transports blood, nutrients, gases, and wastes.

Digestive System

The system that takes in food, breaks it down, absorbs nutrients, and removes solid waste from the body.

Respiratory System

The system that controls breathing and exchanges gases in the lungs.

Muscular System

The system that works with the bones to move parts of the body.

Endocrine System

The system that manufactures and releases hormones that act with the nervous system to keep body systems in balance.

Reproductive System

The system that includes reproductive organs for producing offspring.

Integumentary System

The system including skin, hair, and nails that creates a waterproof barrier around the body.

Nervous System

The system that detects changes in the environment and signals responses to the body.

Skeletal System

The system that supports, protects, and works with muscles to move parts of the body.

Nutrient

Any substance that has a useful function when taken up by the body cells.

Macronutrient

Nutrients needed by the body in large amounts daily, including carbohydrates, fats, and proteins (macromolecules).

Micronutrient

Nutrients needed by the body in small quantities daily, specifically vitamins and minerals.

Essential Nutrients

Nutrients that must be obtained from the diet because the body cannot synthesize them, such as certain amino acids.

Water Soluble Vitamins

Vitamins carried to body tissues but not stored in the body; they include vitamins B and C and are excreted through urine.

Fat Soluble Vitamins

Vitamins absorbed with fats in the diet and stored in body fat reserves and the liver, including vitamins A, D, E, and K.

Minerals

Inorganic elements obtained from food that are essential to the functioning of the human body, such as calcium, iron, and phosphorus.

Water

A substance that makes up most of the human body and regulates temperature, but is not an energy source; human daily need is $1-1.5\,L$.

Polymer

A macromolecule made up of repeating units or long chains of smaller subunits called monomers.

Monomer

The smallest subunit of a macromolecule, also known as a "building block."

Monosaccharides

Simple sugars that serve as the building blocks for carbohydrates, including glucose, fructose, and galactose.

Disaccharides

Carbohydrates composed of $2$ monosaccharides, such as maltose, sucrose, and lactose.

Maltose

A disaccharide composed of $glucose + glucose$.

Sucrose

A disaccharide composed of $glucose + fructose$, commonly known as table sugar.

Lactose

A disaccharide composed of $glucose + galactose$, commonly known as milk sugar.

Polysaccharides

Complex carbohydrates made of many monosaccharides, including glycogen, starch, and cellulose.

Glycogen

A highly branched polysaccharide of glucose used as an energy source in animal cells, stored in the liver and muscle.

Starch

A branched polysaccharide of glucose used as an energy source in plant cells.

Cellulose

Chains of glucose that make up plant cell walls and serve as fibre.

Amino acids

The $20$ different monomers of proteins; the human body makes $12$ and must obtain the other $8$ from the diet.

Polypeptide Chains

Chains of amino acids folded into specific shapes to perform functions such as acting as enzymes, hormones, or muscle components.

Triglyceride

A type of fat consisting of $3$ fatty acids and $1$ glycerol.

Phospholipid

A major component of cell membranes consisting of $2$ fatty acids, $1$ glycerol, and $1$ phosphoric acid.

Steroids

Lipids characterized by $17$ carbon atoms arranged in $4$ rings, such as cholesterol and testosterone.

Proteases/peptidases

Enzymes responsible for the breakdown of proteins into amino acids.

Amylases

Enzymes responsible for the breakdown of polysaccharides into disaccharides.

Amylose

A straight chain starch found in plants.

Amylopectin

A branched starch found in plants.

Autotrophs

Organisms like green plants that can make their own food from simple substances.

Heterotrophs

Organisms that must get their food in the form of complex molecules already made by other creatures.

Deficiency diseases

Illnesses resulting from a lack of vitamins and minerals, such as Scurvy (lack of vitamin C).