Question

How do bile salts help food digest? How does water help digestion?

Answer 1

Hint: Bile salts are found in the bile juice. The Bile juice is formed by the Liver. It works in the duodenum of the small intestine. Moreover, digestion is the process of the breakdown of the complex molecules into simpler, absorbable forms.

Complete answer:
Two different types of juices work in the duodenum. These two juices are bile juice and pancreatic juice. The bile juice is carried by the Liver through the common bile duct. The duct coming from the Liver is known as the Hepatic duct.
The bile juice does not have any enzymes. It consists of bile salts that perform digestion. The bile salts help in the emulsification of fats. This means that it breaks the large pieces of fats into smaller pieces known as the micelles. The bile salts make the medium of the duodenum alkaline. This is necessary because the pancreatic juice works only in the alkaline medium. This is because the enzymes of the pancreatic juice are activated in the alkaline medium. They also impart the antiseptic nature to the bile juice.
The water helps in diluting the food so that it can be swallowed easily and it flows easily through the alimentary canal along with the mucus. The cells require water for the various metabolic processes. Apart from that, the water acts as a solvent for the different digestive juices. It also aids enzymes in performing their catalytic activity.

Note:
The small intestine is a long-folded tube about seven to eight meters long. It has three parts that are duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. The duodenum is a twenty-five to thirty centimeters long C-shaped part. The jejunum is two to three meters long. The ileum is the longest part which is three to four meters long.