Do liquids get digested at the same rate as solid food, or do they flow through the digestive tract quicker?
In: Biology
The purpose of the stomach, in part, is to turn everything into a liquid. Once they leave the stomach to enter the intestines, there’s no way for one liquid to pass another.
[removed]
Liquids do get through the digestive system quicker. Liquids don’t rely on the valve in your stomach that empties into your small intestine. As such, when people have disorders that slow down that valve (gastroparesis), they find that liquids are much more digestible. In particularly bad cases, they may go on an all-liquid diet.
I also note that digesting means breaking down substance so they can be absorbed. So water doesn’t really get digested at all–it’s just absorbed unchanged. And sugars are either already in their simplest form or easily broken down. So the most common liquids we consume are already digested before they get very far into the digestive system.
[removed]
You have 2 questions there.
1. Liquids flow faster than solids no matter where they are. The muscle that controls the exit from stomach to intestine doesn’t slow liquids down much. Liquids exits your stomach fast but food can take several hours. Your body can’t absorb a piece of pizza without breaking it down into tiny pieces and that takes time.
Latest Answers