Does Steak and Red Meat Just sit There in your Colon for 3-4 Days?

(Davy) #1

I’ve always had the impression that red meat sits in the large or small intestines for 3-4 days before leaving. (is that just part of the old erroneous belief system, similar to 'red meat and saturated fats cause cardiov. disease?)

Then I read this, that seems to say the opposite: (sorry, I lost the source)

"1. Meat Rots in Your Colon?

Some people claim that meat doesn’t get digested properly and “rots” in your colon.

This is absolute nonsense, probably invented by dishonest vegans in order to scare people away from eating meat.

What happens when we eat meat, is that it gets broken down by stomach acid and digestive enzymes. In the small intestine, the proteins are broken down into amino acids and the fats are broken down into fatty acids.

After that, they get absorbed over the digestive wall and into the bloodstream. There’s nothing left to “rot” in your colon.If you want to know what really “rots” in your colon, it’s indigestible plant matter (fiber)… from vegetables, grains and legumes."

  1. is this right?
  2. makes me wonder, so does the WEIGHT of that meat stay with you for 3-4 days, so that you constantly have 3-5 lbs of ‘un-left’ meat in your colon. (giving that you may eat 1 lb or 1.5 lbs of meat per day)
(bulkbiker) #2

I made an all meat chilli (it was pretty hot)… ate it at 7 pm

then next morning it came out… how do I know… hmm?

(Karen) #3

Ideally the digestive process you describe is what happens. I take some additional acid with meals to help the stomach part.

(John) #4

Some useful reading here:

Digestion happens in the large and small intestines, not the colon. Meat does take longer to digest, which is one reason it is more filling and satisfying, but produces much less residue because your body can fully digest most of it.

(Davy) #5

Good article John, thanks. Course as I understand it, the large intestine IS the colon. In that article, he says the large intestine absorbs final water, etc, then the solid waste left over sits in the rectum until a movement. So it makes me wonder, what causes the bowel movement…is it water or fiber? (since heavy meat eaters don’t have much fiber)
Mark: just what meats did you have in your chili? hamburger and what else? Must have been good chili?

#6

old myths need to leave but not so old in that veg rots in the gut. fiber sits. fat and protein move throw easily.

just google what sits in the colon? it ain’t your meat and fat, it is always the crap your body doesn’t ever need or truly want.

does fiber help those on SAD…yes some can easily say that and remember that the truth of the ‘study’ is in the food eaten. ALL THE FOOD…so don’t be fooled. See past the study and learn the food eaten before it is ‘a fact’ is all I can say.

I hit the bathroom daily in fine form. ALL comes out. Little if that. My body uses all the protein from eat and fat it needs, the little it doesn’t is expelled. Try that good bathroom routine on a SAD menu or a moderation/lcal restricted/low fat or a high plant based menu…won’t happen like it does ever for me I bet LOL

icky chat in a way, yea but so be it cause the path to health is knowing what goes in comes out easily and is used in good form. Hey I know I got good poop on the poop of life register…heehee

(Doug) #7

This is it. Meat is fat, protein and water. In the small intestine, water is absorbed and fat is broken down into fatty acids - which are then absorbed, and protein is broken down into amino acids - they too are then absorbed. There’s really not much left for the large intestine, other than some of the water. It’s mostly indigestible plant matter that makes it into the large intestine.

The Helthline article says “𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠 2 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡.”

I don’t know about that. Perhaps in extreme cases, but I think for the vast majority of us it’s less than 1 day.

(bulkbiker) #8

I used Beef and pork “mince” as we call it here in the UK or maybe veal mince. (ground beef.pork or veal) Used the dietdoctor recipe with some extra heat… part of a 95% carni diet!

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #9

I wonder sometimes, how much they really know about this, and how much of the common wisdom is really just someone’s best-intentioned guess.

(Bob M) #10

Must…prevent…head…from…exploding…

This just shows how gullible some people can be. And I mean no offense, as I’ve had close friends tell me that meat rots in your gut. And these were people with engineering degrees. Does no one have common sense anymore? Are we so tied to our own beliefs that we blind ourselves to common sense?

(John) #11

So a few months ago I had a colonoscopy. If you are familiar with the prep process, you will know that you are completely cleaned out when you have that done. Empty digestive tract, top to bottom.

I chose to extend the fasting aftwards, finishing up at about 62 hours. I had my first food after that on a Thursday for lunch. I ate a full meal, consisting of grilled fish, a lettuce/tomato salad topped with bacon and dressing, and some broccoli with butter and cheese. It was a good-sized meal, and had proteins, fats, carbs, and fiber. I continued to eat normal meals after that.

First BM was the following Monday morning. So a good 3.5 days after first in, to first out.

Take that for what you will. Perhaps the rectum does store your output until there is enough to make an actual stool, rather than produce small amounts of output as soon as there is anything there.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #12

Before keto I suffered almost continuous flatulence my entire life. Within less than 2 weeks of starting keto it was gone. Nothing left to ferment so the fermentation stopped. I don’t really care exactly how long protein and fat take to ‘fully digest’. They do. It’s carbs that don’t, much of which ends up fermenting.:sunglasses:

(Bob M) #13

It’s even worse than that. Here’s a graph of what happens when you eat oysters alone, oysters with black beans, and oysters with corn tortillas. If you eat a plant, you have no idea what you’re actually absorbing. Whereas, if you eat meat, you’re getting near to or at 100% of everything:

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(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #14

Thanks, Bob. Which immediately begs the question: were the studies that report long digestion times for protein based on SAD that included meals containing carbs along with the protein? Probably. That means they’re skewed. My n=1 is that fat and protein do not take 3-4 days to process completely - in the absence of carbs or with minimal, incidental carbs.

(Bob M) #15

You know, I’ve never tried to test that. I’ve tested tons of other things, but not that. I think, like you, I experienced such a benefit from removing grains (and other fibers) from my diet, and even more of a benefit by limiting vegetables (and fruits, but I rarely eat those anyway), that I really don’t care how long it takes me to defecate something.

And to think I used to take fiber pills, because I thought they were “healthy”. What an idiot I was. Now, I’ve reached the opposite conclusion: fiber is unhealthy except in small, infrequent quantities.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #16

When I started keto for the first couple of months my bowel regularity went haywire so I ate a fair amount of psyllium daily for a while. That didn’t accomplish much of anything so I stopped. Eventually things settled down. I’ve just come to accept that nutrient dense food takes a bit longer to accumulate enough bulk to stimulate a movement. I think the nutrients are fully extracted long before the remaining bulk stimulates the movement. So I don’t think transit times on keto mean much.

(Davy) #17

Interesting discussion…so what does everyone think, does drinking extra amounts of water move things along on Keto or Carnivore?

#18

No. drink to thirst. ‘real hardcore’ hydration in our bodies is vital with ebbs and flows to it as in high heat, hardcore exercise, etc.

but to think it moves things along as in a ‘drink more, better you are’ no I can’t go there. Does it help the body, yes real good hydration will do just that. Water is required in the body for good function but to make it an ‘overdo’ thing, no, doesn’t mean that much in the end of it all to me.

there truly is no great in extra amts of anyting in our lives…real balance!

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #19

@DavyKOTWF Based on my own experience, days when I drink lots of water versus days when I drink a lot less, it doesn’t seem to make any noticeable difference. When I drink lots of water I just pee more during the day. I think what makes a difference is different foods and that probably varies per individual. I can go along with a very firm, dry dump every other day, then have 2-3 days in a row where I dump 3-4 times each day, with a lot of water each time.

(Davy) #20

Really?!? 3-4 times each day?! Most of us, myself included, only get a small amount ONE time a day. What’s going on there??