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O-Level Nutrition in Humans

What the O-Level syllabus expects for Nutrition in Humans, and how to practise it.

What the syllabus expects

Set out what the various parts of the digestive system do (mouth, salivary glands, oesophagus, stomach, duodenum, pancreas, gall bladder, liver, ileum, colon, rectum, anus) as they relate, where relevant, to ingestion, digestion, absorption, assimilation and egestion of food.
Set out peristalsis as rhythmic wave-like muscle contractions that mix and push along the contents of the alimentary canal.
Set out what digestive enzymes such as amylase, maltase, protease and lipase do, naming their substrates and end-products.
Account for the way a villus, together with its capillaries and lacteal, is built to carry out absorption.
Give the role of the hepatic portal vein in carrying nutrient-rich blood from the small intestine across to the liver.
Give the liver's part in converting glucose to glycogen and back again, in fat digestion, in metabolising amino acids and making urea, in breaking down alcohol, and in breaking down hormones.
Outline how drinking alcohol affects the brain (for example slower reaction times and weaker self-control), the long-term consequences of heavy drinking (such as liver disease and brain damage) and the wider social implications.

About 18% of the past-paper style questions in Rae's bank for this subject sit in this topic.