How long does it take for food to work its way through your body?!
Question:
How long does it take for food to work its way through your body?
How long does it take for the food you eat to be digested and end up in the toilet??
Answers:
This is called 'gut transit'.
The easiest way to time your gut transit is to eat a 'baby' beetroot (the marble-sized ones), or several at one time.
If you avoid eating any more beetroot for the next few days, you will notice the beetroot's dye changing the colour of your faeces.
'Normal' gut transit varies, and is normally listed as between 24 and 56 hours. Slow gut transit (over 48 hours) is statistically linked with some medical problems. Fast gut transit is also linked with health issues, but this is more complicated.Good 'core' strength (strong abs and back) will reduce gut transit by increasing 'intra-abdominal' pressure, so healthier (more active) people will statistically tend to have shorter gut transit times.
Very short gut transit (less than 24 hours) can be dangerous, because there is less time for the gut to absorb nutrients. Rapid gut transit also causes dehydration, because water is only absorbed from the 'chyme' (digested food) at the final stage of alimentary progress (the colon), so a shortage of time will affect this process even more.