Different steps in the process of nutrition in animals...!!!

There are five steps in the process of nutrition in animals. These are : Ingestion, digestion, absorption, assimilation and egestion.

1.  Ingestion

In order to provide the energy necessary for growth and carry on life’s activities, we must take food into the body. The process of taking food into the body is called ingestion.

2.   digestion

The food of most animals consists of large insoluble molecules which cannot be absorbed by the animal’s bogy in this form. so, it must be broken down into small, water soluble molecules which can be absorbed by the body. The process in which the food containing large, insoluble molecules is broken down into small, water soluble molecules is called digestion.

3.  Absorption

After digestion, the food molecules become small and soluble. The soluble food molecules can pass through the walls of our intestine and go into blood. The process in which the digested food passes through the intestinal wall into blood stream is called absorption.

4.   Assimilation

Blood carries the absorbed food to all the parts of the body. The food then enters each and every cell of the body where it is used for producing energy and for making materials for the growth and repair of the body. The process in which the absorbed food is taken in by body cells and used for energy, growth and repair, is called assimilation.

5.   Egestion

The whole food which we eat is not digested by our body. This undigested food is then removed from the body . The process in which the undigested food is removed from the body is called egestion.