In most cases, food digestion takes longer than 30 minutes to digest food. In fact, the entire digestive process can take several hours. Only simple carbohydrates, such as plain rice and pasta, take just between 30 to 60 minutes to get digested in the stomach.
It typically takes food more than 40 minutes to pass through the stomach. After that, the food stays in the intestine anywhere from 40 to 120 minutes, or sometimes even longer.
While these are just estimates of the time required to digest food, the actual transit time depends on the density of the food, which pertains to the protein or fat content. For example, peanut butter, avocado and eggs can take two to four hours to leave your stomach.
What is digestion?
The digestion process breaks down food into its components called nutrients that the body can use to function. Food passes through the digestive tract, which is made up of different organs that work together to digest food.
The digestive system is made up of five parts that include:
- Mouth
- Esophagus
- Stomach
- Small intestine
- Large intestine
Digestion typically begins in the mouth when you start chewing the food, which mixes with your saliva and makes it easier to swallow. However, the real digestive process starts in the stomach where the food mixes with water and various digestive enzymes from the pancreas and liver. Then the food passes into the small intestine, where the water and nutrients are absorbed. After that, the large intestine takes care of the remaining waste, which is expelled from the rectum in the form of bowel movements.
What factors determine the transit time food takes to digest?
Not everyone takes the same duration to digest food. Many factors influence the total transit time food takes to pass through the digestive system, such as:
- Your body type
- Your metabolism
- Genetics (some people are naturally born with faster metabolism)
- Age (with aging, metabolism slows down)
- Gender
- Types of foods you eat (liquids leave your stomach quickly while solids take a longer time)
- Medications that you are on, such as
- Your level of physical activity
- Your stress level
- Past surgeries
- Hormonal levels (especially thyroid hormone)
Among liquids too, the duration of leaving the stomach differs. Plain water takes anywhere between 10 and 20 minutes. Clear juices, tea and sodas take 20 to 40 minutes. Smoothies, protein shakes and bone broths typically require 40 to 60 minutes.
How do you know your stomach is full?
Pay attention to the feeling in your stomach when you finish eating the food on your plate. If you have eaten an adequate quantity of food, you should feel a gentle pressure in your stomach that says it is time to stop. If you feel an uncomfortable bloating sensation, it means you are overeating. You can sit for several minutes in front of your plate to understand this reaction.
You should also be aware of certain conditions that may make it feel like your stomach is full. These conditions include heartburn, constipation, diarrhea, bloating and abdominal pain. In many cases, a healthy diet of probiotics can help alleviate the adverse systems of digestive conditions.
Can you know when your stomach is empty?
Usually, your stomach is likely to be empty several hours after you have had a meal. However, it may not always be possible to tell if your stomach is empty.
You may still feel hungry even if your stomach is not empty. This happens when you have high levels of circulating hunger hormones.
Some medications, such as steroids (for example, prednisolone), can increase your appetite and your hunger even when your stomach is not empty.
Medically Reviewed on 9/1/2021
References
Cleveland Clinic. How Long Does It Take to Digest Food. //health.clevelandclinic.org/how-long-does-it-take-to-digest-food/
Why is it after eating certain foods, you can feel full for hours, but after others, you’re looking for a snack within minutes?
It’s all about your body’s digestion of food and several other factors that affect how long the process can take. To get a better sense of those factors and how long it takes for you to digest food, we spoke with gastroenterologist Christine Lee, MD.
What is digestion?
“Digestion is the process of breaking food down into the nutrients your body can use. It starts at your mouth and finishes at the end of the terminal ileum (small intestine),” explains Dr, Lee.
“Seeing and smelling food is what kick-starts the process. In response, your body starts making extra saliva, which contains enzymes that initiate digestion,” she adds. “Once you get the food chewed and swallowed, the real work begins in the stomach.”
In your stomach, the food mixes with those digestive juices, creating a watery concoction that passes into the small bowel. “The small bowel’s walls absorb needed nutrients and water,” says Dr. Lee. “The colon (large bowel) then takes what your body didn’t use and prepares to get rid of it through a bowel movement.”
How long does food take to digest?
Dr. Lee says the entire digestive process can take several hours. Food generally stays in your stomach between 40 and 120-plus minutes. Then add another 40 to 120 minutes for time spent in the small bowel.
“The denser the food, meaning the more protein or fat it has, the longer it takes to digest,” notes Dr. Lee.
“Simple carbohydrates, such as plain rice, pasta or simple sugars, average between 30 and 60 minutes in the stomach,” she adds. “But if you put a thick layer of peanut butter on toast, or layer avocado and eggs, it can take upwards of between two to four hours to leave your stomach. Throw in a piece of bacon and it’s even longer.”
How long does it take water to digest?
Liquids leave the stomach faster because there is less to break down:
- Plain water: 10 to 20 minutes.
- Simple liquids (clear juices, tea, sodas): 20 to 40 minutes.
- Complex liquids (smoothies, protein shakes, bone broths): 40 to 60 minutes.
Factors that affect how long digestion takes
Dr. Lee cautions, though, that these times are estimates. How long it takes to digest food varies depending on:
- Your body type.
- Your metabolism.
- Medications you take.
- Types of food you eat.
- Level of physical activity overall exercise fitness.
- Living a sedentary versus physically active lifestyle.
- Past surgeries you’ve endured.
- Stress level.
“Genetics and age matter, too. Some people are born with faster metabolisms,” says Dr. Lee. “And as we get older, our metabolism and motility slow down. People also start developing medical conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and atherosclerosis. Medications for these conditions can delay digestion.”
Medications and supplements that may affect how long digestion takes include:
- Arthritis medications.
- Anticholinergics.
- Antidepressants.
- Antispasmodic medications.
- Diabetes medications.
- Oral contraceptives.
- Parkinson’s disease medications.
Is it possible to tell when your stomach is empty?
Just because you feel hungry doesn’t mean your stomach is on “E,” says Dr. Lee.
“Our hunger cues can be hormonally regulated, so if you have a high level of hunger hormones floating around, you may feel hungry — even if your stomach is full,” she says.
“Some medications, like prednisone, increase your appetite by increasing the appetite-stimulating hormones. That means you may feel hungrier more often when taking these medications, even if you had enough to eat.”
Your perception of these sensations is also highly individual. “The classic example is a heart attack,” Dr. Lee adds. “Many people have bonafide heart attacks but didn’t notice any chest pain. Likewise, some people experience chest pains without having had a heart attack. Similarly, some patients feel hunger, but their stomach is not empty.”
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Medically reviewed by Saurabh Sethi, M.D., MPH — Written by Jill Seladi-Schulman, PhD on August 10, 2020
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Your digestive system is vital for helping to fuel your body with the nutrients it extracts from the foods you eat.
During digestion, food that you’ve eaten moves through your gastrointestinal (GI) tract, where it’s gradually broken down, allowing nutrients to be absorbed.
Each part of your GI tract is specialized for a different aspect of digestion. For example, your stomach uses both mechanical and chemical methods to break down your food. It then empties its contents into your small intestine, where nutrient absorption takes place.
Although it can vary, there are estimates regarding the average time it takes for food to move through your stomach and other parts of your GI tract.
Let’s get into the details of how this works and how long it takes.
Generally speaking, it takes about 2 to 4 hours for food to move from your stomach to your small intestine.
The exact amount of time can depend on several factors, such as the composition and size of your meal, your hormones, and your sex. Women tend to digest food more slowly than men.
The following happens when food enters your stomach:
- Relaxation. The upper portion of your stomach relaxes in order to accommodate the food you’ve eaten. This is why your abdomen can look slightly distended after a meal.
- Digestion. Your stomach uses rhythmic churning and grinding motions (mechanical digestion) as well as stomach acid and enzymes (chemical digestion) to break down your meal.
- Emptying. The pyloric sphincter allows small amounts of food to gradually leave your stomach and move into your small intestine.
After leaving your stomach, food then moves through your intestines:
- Small intestine. In your small intestine, food mixes with additional digestive fluids. This is where most of the nutrient absorption takes place. Food can spend between 2 to 6 hours in your small intestine.
- Large intestine. In your large intestine (colon), water is absorbed, and what’s left over from digestion is turned into stool. The waste products from your food spend around 36 hours in your large intestine.
In total, it can take between 2 to 5 days for food to move through your entire GI tract.
Food composition can play a big role in how long it takes for your food to leave your stomach.
Let’s examine some important food-related factors that can influence how long it takes for your stomach to empty.
Consistency
Liquids typically leave your stomach quickly. For example, after you drink a glass of water, it’s estimated that only 50 percent of it will be left in your stomach after 10 minutes.
Solid foods often need to be broken down and liquified further, which means they usually take longer to leave your stomach. In fact, it usually takes about 20 to 30 minutes before solid foods begin to leave your stomach.
Calorie content
Regardless of consistency, foods and drinks that have a lower calorie content generally leave your stomach at a faster rate. Higher calorie foods and drinks will take longer.
For example, while water leaves your stomach at a fast rate, a higher calorie liquid such as a glass of fruit juice or a milkshake will exit more slowly.
Nutrient content
Foods and beverages rich in carbohydrates and proteins are broken down more easily in your stomach and, as a result, leave your stomach faster.
However, foods high in fat and fiber spend a longer amount of time in your stomach. That’s why you may feel full for longer when you eat foods that are high in fat or fiber.
Volume
The size of your meal can affect the rate at which food leaves your stomach. This seems to be true for both liquids and solids.
It’s important to note that solid meals will often have a lag period before stomach emptying begins. However, larger meals empty at a faster rate than smaller meals once this lag period has passed.
Generally speaking, if it’s been several hours since you’ve had anything to eat, your stomach is likely empty.
However, keep in mind that the rate of stomach-emptying can vary based on what you’ve consumed and other factors. Because of this, time may not always be a very accurate indicator of an empty stomach.
When your stomach is empty, you may experience physical symptoms of hunger. Some examples of these include:
Some medications need to be taken on an empty stomach. There are a couple of reasons for this.
First, oral medications are absorbed into your bloodstream through the lining of your GI tract. Because of this, having food in your stomach can potentially slow a drug’s absorption, making it less effective.
Second, there are some foods that can interfere with the activity of specific types of drugs. This can potentially increase or decrease the level of a drug in your system. This type of interaction is called a food-drug interaction.
Some examples of food-drug interactions include:
- Grapefruit. Grapefruit can increase the levels of certain drugs in your blood. Examples include some statins and blood pressure drugs.
- Vitamin K. Foods high in vitamin K, such as spinach, kale, and Brussels sprouts, can decrease the effectiveness of the blood thinner warfarin.
- High fat meals. Consuming a high fat meal can lower levels of esomeprazole, a proton pump inhibitor, in your bloodstream.
If food consumption has the potential to affect a drug, your prescription will say to take it on an empty stomach.
A good guideline to follow for these types of medications is to take them either 1 hour before eating or 2 hours after eating.
Sometimes you may be prescribed a medication that tells you to take it with food. There are a few reasons for this:
- It reduces side effects. Some drugs, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and corticosteroids, can cause stomach upset when taken on an empty stomach. Having food in your stomach can help lower the likelihood of these side effects.
- It helps with a condition. Some health conditions, like diabetes or heartburn, are affected by food intake. That’s why it’s important to take medication for these kinds of conditions with food.
- It aids in absorption. Sometimes having food in your GI tract can help with drug absorption. This is true for some types of HIV drugs.
If you have a medication that you need to take with food, try to coordinate taking your medication with your mealtime.
Always follow the instructions on the prescription packaging, and contact your doctor or pharmacist with any questions.
Some types of tests or procedures may require you to fast beforehand. When you fast, you’re refraining from eating for a specified amount of time. For example, you may have to fast before:
If you’re fasting, you may not be able to eat anything for 6 to 8 hours before the test or procedure.
For example, if you’re having a procedure in the morning, you’ll have your last full meal the evening before and not eat anything until after your procedure.
There may be additional guidelines related to what types of drinks you can have. This often involves only drinking a small amount of water during your fasting period.
The specific guidelines for food and water intake can depend on the test or procedure that’s being performed. Always carefully follow your doctor’s guidelines, and don’t hesitate to ask questions if something isn’t clear.
After you eat, food typically spends 2 to 4 hours in your stomach. However, this can vary based on the type of food you’ve eaten, how much, and other factors.
Liquids usually leave your stomach quickly, while solid foods typically take longer. Other food-related factors that can lead to a longer stomach retention time include:
- high fat foods
- high fiber foods
- high calorie foods
Whether your stomach is full or empty can impact things like taking medications or fasting before a test or procedure.
In these situations, it’s always important to carefully follow your doctor’s instructions regarding food and drink intake.
Last medically reviewed on August 10, 2020
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