Many years ago, I heard a comedy skit of a woman "from a civilized country" who went to New Zealand. The first native she encountered was an older gentleman who talked about his "balls" in excruciating detail and for an agonizingly length of time.
The young "lady" was mortified to learn that some days the eighty-year-old man exercised his "balls" three, even four times a day. And later in the week, he might go for one...even two days without exercising them, a situation which the senior citizen found to be an incredible hardship!
When asked, the senior citizen allowed how most Kiwis (at least the older, more feeble ones) had similar issues.
It was much later that the "lady" discovered that the senior citizen was talking about his BOWELS.
As a young man, I found great humor in how much "old people" talked about their digestion.
So gentle readers, with that said, I want tap your collective wisdom.
"What is the optimum amount of time between eating your last meal and hitting-the-rack?"
"Do you engage in a postprandial circumambulation (walk after eating)? If so, how long after eating?"
"In your experience, what is the optimal amount (time or distance) of your postprandial circumambulations? Is a ten minute walk enough? Twenty minutes?"
"Does the walk help reduce the positive buoyancy (gas) associated with bolus injection into the ascending regions of the lower bowel or is there some other benefit?" and "Does it contribute to a peaceful night of slumber?"
Inquiring minds want to know.
Half hour.
ReplyDeleteThank-you for volunteering the first data-point.
DeleteI don't walk after dinner, but if I have trisquits for lunch, I shit at 5 AM....
ReplyDeleteOne can only hope that you are awake before 5 AM!
DeleteThanks.
While every person is different and the speed with which a persons plumbing moves is highly variable I can tell you that according to one large study the mean transit time from stomach to cecum for oral liquid contrast is 70 minutes......
ReplyDeleteContrast has stimulants in it to speed the bowel movement. I can assure you from experience that the patient has diarrhea every time from it.
DeleteHydration still seems to be the critical part of the process. Most patients are chronically dehydrated.
Teeth break it up and start mixing digestive enzymes into the food.
Stomach acid goes to town breaking it up and adding fluids to the mix.
Small intestines adsorb the nutrients, I forget but somewhere in there the gall bladder adds bile for fat breakdown.
Very Liquid here, later in the small intestine and into the colon the liquids are adsorbed (unless sick and the bodies doing the flush it out thing).
When I was younger, I could eat a full-sized greasy pizza, drink beer and many jalapenos just before crashing to sleep.
Now I start with a decent breakfast, a larger lunch and end about 3 hours before sleeping with cottage cheese.
I freely add light snacks and sweets as desired. Remembering to ask myself if I am bored, thirsty or really a little hungry before selecting the snack or glass of water.
I've learned to use bottled water as a hydration trick for my beloved wife. While the well water is generally excellent it seems that opening 5 bottles of h2o gets her to reliably drink that plus the couple of mugs of coffee. some tea and often soup along with lunch.
I avoid acid reflux thusly and have more than one stress free bowel movement daily.
A note pad and pen are very useful to log what you eat and drink as to get YOUR Bowel cycle figured out. Beets will give you a realistic timeline from eating to elimination. A month of pen and paper properly done will answer what works for YOU friend.
Michael the anon again
Dehydration seems to be more of an issue with women than with men.
DeleteDehydration seems to be more of an issue as we age. At least with me, my thirst response is much more muted.
Putting three bottles of water (per person) on the counter and having the expectation that one will be gone by noon, one by 3 and the last one by 6 works for some people as a way to continue water intake after breakfast.
I don't walk a lot but I do ride a stationary bike after dinner. Switching to morning rides soon. I can eat before sleep and not be bothered so time isn't a thing. Twice a day squats consistently on the porcelein, of varying volume but always rather odiferous. There, I admitted it.
ReplyDeletemaxx
Thank-you sir. Most of my readers are humble and will admit that their...eliminations stink.
DeleteI wait 10-12 hours. Normally eat between 11am & 1pm, bed around 10pm
ReplyDeleteThank-you sir-or-ma'am.
DeleteThe Queen of the Regions east of Paris is greatly appreciative of the information being shared on this distinguished forum. As am I, her humble jester,
ReplyDeleteA little East of Paris
Thanks for sharing that.
DeleteI was afraid that the racy title would alienate some of my more delicate readers.
I eat two meals a day, the last meal three hours before bedtime
ReplyDeleteThank-you.
DeleteI eat at 10:00 am and 6pm light work s performed after dinner. Elimination is 20-24 after dinner.
ReplyDeletePeople often mistake the New Zealand accent for Australian, but there are significant differences .
ReplyDeletePerhaps best highlighted in this series of commercials :
https://youtu.be/tbazGVrbN-g?si=6ez-FwTAB5y4ZDLP