How long is our intestines? Detailed answer

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How long is our intestines? Detailed answer

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How long is our intestines?

Most of us have a vague idea that somewhere inside us, the intestines are coiled up - the passage through which food moves through the process of digestion. But only a few really understand how it works. The length of the intestines in animals depends on the type of food they take. Carnivores have shorter intestines because they need fewer digestive aids to process food.

People who prefer to eat meat products have a shorter intestine than people who eat more vegetables. The length of the human intestine is about 3 m. But after the death of a person, due to post-mortem relaxation of the muscles, the intestine stretches up to 8,5 m. Basically, the intestinal walls consist of muscle fibers. This is necessary so that the intestines can process the food passing through it. In the intestines, food is mixed with certain secretions and passed on.

In order to do this, the small intestine forms a series of loop-like bends. Each loop holds food particles and recycles them. Mixing and digestion of food lasts about 30 minutes. Then the food moves into the next loop. Digestion is facilitated by the fact that the walls of the small intestine contain 20 million small glands. These glands produce 5 to 10 liters of digestive juice! Juices moisten and soften the food so that after a while it enters the large intestine in a semi-liquid state.

If you look at the walls of the intestine in a magnifying glass, you can see that they are not smooth, but similar to velveteen. The walls are covered with millions of small tentacle-like intestinal villi. The villi signal the glands when to pour out the digestive juices, and also carry out the function of absorbing nutrients.

Food that is not digested by juices is digested by bacteria living in the large intestine. This process is called decomposition. Billions of bacteria grind up the rough parts of the food we eat (such as the skins of fruits) and squeeze out essential nutrients. This is only a schematic description of how our intestines work. The intestine is a large organ that is extremely necessary for the body.

Author: Likum A.

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