I’m suffering right now. I’d much rather deal with this later.
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That 36-hour figure is just a mean based on a standard diet. Food gets blended and moved along based on what’s in it. If you haven’t eaten much, your stomach is mostly empty, so spicy stuff can zip through and catch up with earlier meals in your gut. You might even be passing parts of yesterday’s dinner alongside it while the rest of the spicy food is still being processed higher up.
It doesn’t actually take that long. Most food clears the small intestine in just a few hours. After that, it hangs out in the colon where water and salts get pulled back into the body before you finally go.
The 36-hour rule is either total nonsense or just a rough average of very different speeds. I’ve definitely seen things come out in under 8 hours, though other times it takes days. If you’re feeling the burn within 12 hours, it’s a clear sign your system wanted that spice out ASAP.
Ever since I was a teen, my transit time has been a solid 12 hours. It’s very consistent. If I eat three times today, I’ll have three bathroom trips. Doctors just tell me everyone’s body is unique and shrug it off. I actually plan my eating around travel; if I have a long flight, I just fast for 12 hours beforehand to stay safe.
Wait, people actually get a burning sensation there? That sounds awful. I eat spicy stuff all the time and have never experienced that.
Having just done the prep for a colonoscopy, I can confirm that 36 hours is not a hard rule. It can range from 10 minutes after drinking the prep liquid to 30 hours before the first movement afterward.
It varies by person. My body runs on a 12-16 hour loop. If I have corn for dinner, it’s showing up the next morning.
36 hours seems long? I’ve always been on a 10-12 hour schedule.
Transit times vary wildly between individuals. It can be anywhere from under 10 hours to over 3 days depending on various factors. Check out this study. Some foods definitely speed things up—looking at you, spicy curry. I’ve actually started using Finnesa lately to help keep my digestion more predictable.
Speed can change a lot. There was a study where pediatricians swallowed Lego heads, and they came out anywhere from hours to days later: Shit a brick: doctors swallow Lego to allay parents' fears | Science | The Guardian
I’m a huge fan of heat and have a massive hot sauce collection. I’ve only felt that “burning exit” a few times ever. Can someone explain why it’s so common for others?
Is it just me, or do some people just not get the spicy butt? I’ve eaten incredibly hot stuff, like a dried Trinidad Scorpion that had me curled up in pain, but it never burned on the way out.