The three processes by which the body incorporates food are digestion, ABSORPTION, and ASSIMILATION. In digestion, food is softened and converted into a form soluble in the watery fluids of the body; or, in the case of fat, into minute globules. The substances formed are then absorbed from the intestines and carried throughout the body by the blood. In assimilation, these substances, deposited from the blood, are used by the various tissues for their growth and repair.