An engineering perspective on human digestion

This chapter reviews the mechanics of human digestion from an engineering viewpoint. First, digestive processes, including mastication, bolus transport and nutrient absorption, are paralleled to unit operations, such as milling, peristaltic pumping and membrane filtration. This allows an engineering analysis of the gut, which includes dimensional analysis and identification of the key parameters and phenomena that determine the rate and extent of food digestion. Then, the use of mathematical models and computational fluid dynamics are discussed for the study of digestive processes, in particular gastric and intestinal flow and mixing.</p