Food and digestion vocabulary

Any substance that speeds up the rate of a chemical reaction, without being changed itself.

• catalyst

• rickets

• absorption

A deficiency disease resulting from a shortage of vitamin D in the diet.

• scurvy

• absorption

• rickets

The movement of small molecules of nutrients through the walls of the alimentary canal, into the body.

• absorption

• digestion

• digestive system

A nutrient found in meat, fish, dairy products, beans and eggs, used in the body to make new cells.

• protein

• carbohydrates

• fibre

The hard, outer layer of a tooth.

• dentine

• enamel

• fibre

Breaking down large food molecules into small ones.

(a)  

The smallest particle of a substance that can exist.

(a)  

A biological catalyst.

• enzyme

• molecule

A type of carbohydrate with molecules made up of many sugar molecules linked in a long chain.

• starch

• protein

• amylase

A long tube through which food travels after swallowing; part of the digestive system.

• small intestine

• alimentary canal