Nothing looks more inviting to our eyes than a great meal that tastes delectable and whose aroma is enchanting. The majority of times we end up indulging in gluttony and eating more than what our body can process easily.
Though while digesting such a hearty meal did you ever wonder as to how long does it take to digest food? What is the normal food digestion process really like? And most importantly how you can help your body digest food easily.
Normal Food Digestion Time
Usually, it takes roughly anywhere between 24 to 72 hours for the food to move through the digestive tract. The time varies depending upon the amount of food eaten by you and also the kind of food that you have eaten. Food that is processed or contains a lot of fat takes longer to move through the digestive tract as compared to food that is lighter. Your gender and metabolism also play a crucial step in this process and surprisingly so does your gender. The food initially moves quite fast through your digestive system and within just 6 to 8 hours the food moves through the stomach, the small intestine, and the large intestine. The digestion time that takes place at a rapid pace considerably slows down when the food is finally in the large intestine.
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When the food is in the large intestine, it is broken down further. Tthe partially digested content can actually sit in the large intestine for a day or more. According to a study that was conducted by the Mayo Clinic, this time to is interlinked with certain factors ranging from metabolism to gender. The food sits in the large intestine for approximately 33 hours in men and 47 hours for women.
Again this time duration is also subjective to the kind of food that you have eaten, meat products like chicken and mutton can take about 2 days whereas fruits and vegetables take less than a day. This is because meat is rich in proteins and contains complex molecules that the body cannot pull apart easily.
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Food Digestion Process
The entire process of digestion involves your body to break down the food and pull out the required nutrients that it requires. The waste is eliminated out of the body. The five five parts that are involved in the process of digestion are:
#1. Mouth
#2. Esophagus
#3. Stomach
#4. Small intestine
#5. large intestine
When you chew your food, the glands in your mouth produce saliva which helps in breaking down the food. The starch is broken down and what is left is called 'bolus' that is easy to digest. The food moves down to the lower esophageal sphincter and opens up to let the food into the stomach. The acids present in your stomach break it down even more and the resultant is chyme, which is a mixture of gastric juices and partially digested food. This mixture moves into your small intestine where the pancreas and liver add their digestive juices to break down protein, fat, and carbohydrates. The undigested part moves into the large intestine where it is further broken down and the waste gets eliminated from the body.
(Featured Image Courtesy: Healthline)
