How long to digest various things...

[dogjones]

"Red meat takes 3 days to pass through your system," many people say and believe.

"Red meat also takes 3 days to digest," many people also say and believe.

I think this is vegetarian propaganda. But how the hell should I know? There also must be a difference between digestion and 'passing through'...

So let's focus on 'passing through'. How long does it take red meat to do this, as opposed to lettuce, fish, chicken, cooked vegetables, chewing gum and marbles? If there is any difference at all, is it anything to do with digestion?

I'm probably asking all the wrong questions. Ohhh God why am I such a re-turd?

[Phil]

Doesn't take beer long to "pass through" at all.

[Overman]

Swallow a big piece of pink gum and you will find it in your poop 6-12 hours later.

yumm!

[fls]

"Red meat takes 3 days to pass through your system," many people say and believe.

"Red meat also takes 3 days to digest," many people also say and believe.

I think this is vegetarian propaganda. But how the hell should I know? There also must be a difference between digestion and 'passing through'...

So let's focus on 'passing through'. How long does it take red meat to do this, as opposed to lettuce, fish, chicken, cooked vegetables, chewing gum and marbles? If there is any difference at all, is it anything to do with digestion?

I'm probably asking all the wrong questions. Ohhh God why am I such a re-turd?

There is a lot of mixing of food as it passes through, so some of the food will start to show up in your poop after 12 hours, and most of the rest will come through within 48 hours. There are minor variations in the speed based on the composition of the meal, but it does not take 3 days for red meat.

ETA: I should qualify that last statement. There may be small amounts of what started out as red meat still in your intestines after three days because of the back and forth mixing of food. However, the same things applies to anything else you might eat.

Linda

[noblecaboose]

I have a recurring argument with my boyfriend about flatulence, because he blames me for the meal he just ate giving him gas. He will pass gas, I make a comment and then he says something like, "It's your fault, you just made me eat {insert offending food here}!" I then try to explain to him that food doesn't just shoot through you like a bullet.
I looked up some stuff on digestion and all I found was that most food takes about 12 hours to pass completely through your digestive tract. (I think "pass through" and "digest" are interchangable in the contexts you found them in.)
He still isn't convinced. Next, I'm going to make him eat a huge pile of corn and tell me how long it takes before it shows up again. If citing sources fails, there's always demonstrations.

Yeah, I've heard that thing about meat. People who sell "colonic irrigation" even say that meat and gum never leave your digestive tract and that they form this mysterious hard shell on the inside of your gut that is responsible for all kinds of absurd health conditions. I don't think meat takes any more time to pass through than anything else. I don't see any reason why it would.

[my_wan]

Hmmm, interesting that there's not much on this. Personally I only have a bowel movement about every 3 days maximum. Been like that at least 20 years and I've weighed exactly the same the whole time (68 kg/150 pounds). Yes I pass a lot of gas. It only starts to smell a few hours before a movement :faint:

[SYLVESTER1592]

"Red meat takes 3 days to pass through your system," many people say and believe.

"Red meat also takes 3 days to digest," many people also say and believe.

I think this is vegetarian propaganda. But how the hell should I know? There also must be a difference between digestion and 'passing through'...

So let's focus on 'passing through'. How long does it take red meat to do this, as opposed to lettuce, fish, chicken, cooked vegetables, chewing gum and marbles? If there is any difference at all, is it anything to do with digestion?

I'm probably asking all the wrong questions. Ohhh God why am I such a re-turd?

First of all there are individual differences, mainly depending on the time in the colon.
First there is the mouth and eosophagus which will take about 5 minutes, emptying the stomach takes about 45 min to 2 hours depending on the contents. The small intestines take 4-6 hours and the rest of the time is for the colon. There is a peristalsis (forward moving motion) and retroperistalsis (backward moving motion). This can take a day or more and the colon is not always emptied completely. Often the ascending colon is not fully emptied. The transverse colon is not always emptied either. The descending colon is often emptied as is the rectum.
I would say 3 days is a slight overestimation in most cases, but it is possible. Two (to three) days is closer to the mark. You have to keep in mind that once meat has passed through the small intestines, it is pretty much digested and indiscernible from the rest of the contents. Proteins are easily digested (broken down) to amino acids and fatty acids also take a little more time but are easily absorbed. The total contents is mixed, so if meat takes 3 days, then vegetables do too. There are moving contraction complexes in the peristaltic movement of the gastro-intestinal tract, regularly emptying the tract. Especially vegetables take more time to digest (break down), because your body has some trouble digesting complex sugar polymers from plants (like cellulose), this also means there is a possibility to keep water and digestive fluids in the intestinal lumen. The water that remains in the intestinal lumen can improve the transit through the intestines. The volume of the contents of the intestines also influences contractions and transit. So the three day estimate is just that, a general estimate, maybe a bit high for some and a bit low for others. Fluid intake or laxatives can speed up the transit, also drugs can speed up or slow down the transit. This is why bulk laxatives such as lactulose always come with the recommendation to drink ample amounts of water. If you don’t, they work counterproductive.

Different foods are broken down (digested ) differently and cause gas production. Vegetables often cause more flatulence, because your body has some problems digesting it, so there is more for the bacteria to feast on, same for lactose intolerance. The gas is passed through faster because the backward movement in your colon is less effective on gasses which are pressurized by the contractions. This can also speed up the total transit through the colon (volume)

In short:
1. meat has little to do with transit, water and volume does.
2. There is no separation in your colon for separate ingredients, all of it is moved and mixed

This is not complete, and only the general things. This is just a rough description, I might be off on some smaller details, but I think the general idea is there. I hope it helps.

SYL :)

[Phil]

First of all there are individual differences, mainly depending on the time in the colon.
First there is the mouth and eosophagus which will take about 5 minutes, emptying the stomach takes about 45 min to 2 hours depending on the contents. The small intestines take 4-6 hours and the rest of the time is for the colon. There is a peristalsis (forward moving motion) and retroperistalsis (backward moving motion). This can take a day or more and the colon is normally not emptied completely. Often the ascending colon is not fully emptied. The transverse colon is not always emptied either. The descending colon is often emptied as is the rectum.
I would say 3 days is a slight overestimation in most cases, but it is possible. Two (to three) days is closer to the mark. You have to keep in mind that once meat has passed through the small intestines, it is pretty much digested and indiscernible from the rest of the contents. Proteins are easily digested (broken down) to amino acids and fatty acids also take a little more time but are easily absorbed. The total contents is mixed, so if meat takes 3 days, then vegetables do too. There are moving contraction complexes in the peristaltic movement of the gastro-intestinal tract, regularly emptying the tract. Especially vegetables take more time to digest (break down), because your body has some trouble digesting complex sugar polymers from plants (like cellulose), this also means there is a possibility to keep water and digestive fluids in the intestinal lumen. The water that remains in the intestinal lumen can improve the transit through the intestines. The volume of the contents of the intestines also influences contractions and transit. So the three day estimate is just that, a general estimate, maybe a bit high for some and a bit low for others. Fluid intake or laxatives can speed up the transit, also drugs can speed up or slow down the transit. This is why bulk laxatives such as lactulose always come with the recommendation to drink ample amounts of water. If you don’t, they work counterproductive.

Different foods are broken down (digested ) differently and cause gas production. Vegetables often cause more flatulence, because your bady has some problems digesting it, so there is more for the bacteria to feast on, same for lactose intolerance. The gas is passed through faster because the backward movement in your colon is less effective on gasses which are pressurized by the contractions. This can also speed up the total transit through the colon (volume)

In short:
1. meat has little to do with transit, water and volume does.
2. There is no separation in your colon for separate ingredients, all of it is moved and mixed

This is not complete, and only the general things. This is just a rough description, I might be off on some smaller details, but I think the general idea is there. I hope it helps.

SYL :)


You know a lot about this crap.

[SYLVESTER1592]

:D

[Michael C]

I remember being told that meat was digested faster than vegetables.

[Soapy Sam]

Large insects take about a day. Personal experience.

[SYLVESTER1592]

You know a lot about this crap.
:D
I have a recurring argument with my boyfriend about flatulence, because he blames me for the meal he just ate giving him gas. He will pass gas, I make a comment and then he says something like, "It's your fault, you just made me eat {insert offending food here}!" I then try to explain to him that food doesn't just shoot through you like a bullet.


It’s called the gastro-colic reflex. It’s independent of the food you eat. When the stomach is full, you body sends a signal to your colon to empty. Eating less, more frequent, smaller meals often solves this, but seeing your doctor if you're unsure is always a smart thing to do.
On the colonic irrigation thing: watch Penn and Teller
h8uZUDuSWxI

SYL :)

[dogjones]

You know a lot about this crap.

It's cos he's a colon-ial.

Sylvester thanks mate.

[strathmeyer]

Nobody Googled "digestion time" and got Dr Stanley Bass's wonderful page?

http://drbass.com/sequential.html