Digestion of different states of food

I am not sure about the raw/cooked question (although in France they swear that toast or toasted crackers are more 'digestible' than fresh bread, raw eggs and raw beef too won't catch most Americans eating either) and that soft, ripe cheeses (brie, camenbert) are easier to digest than hard ones (Swiss or cheddar).

I do know that different foods have different digestive times and that those times can be double or compromised if you eat them with certain other foods.

Examples:

Soft cheeses and cream cheese: 2-3hrs

Hard cheeses: 5-6

Fresh fruits: 20-40mins

Fresh vegetables: up to 1hr

Starches (potatoes, rice, bread etc): 2-3hrs

Fresh white fish (filets, baked or steamed): 3hrs

Red meats: 6hrs

fats (oil, butter...) 2-3hrs

But if you eat meat with rice or chicken & potatoes you lengthen the digestive time by 2 or more...Add fresh fruit on top of it for dessert and you get a digestive all-nighter.

It has something to do with gastric juices/acids and which foods require to digest and which acidity (PH+ or PH-)...if they requrie a PH+ for one and a PH- for the other  then they cancel eachother out and take longer to digest.

I am sure you are right that certain foods digest better raw (milk products...Better raw than cooked but digest even better as yoghurt).

There is a book called 'Fit for Life' that changed the way that I eat and seriously improved my digestion and my ability to control certain aspects of it (gas).

Take a peek and see if they have a website these days...you may be able to pick up the info that way.

Sharon

I wonder if we all even have a shared definition of "digestion." Some use it to mean how long a particular food sits in the stomach (where only a fraction of true digestion goes on), but others use it as a synonym of transit time. Plenty of folks with UC and/or J-pouches also have Irritable Bowel Syndrome and other common sources of dyspepsia, which will have much more impact that UC or a J-pouch on how your stomach and small intestine behave.

In general, cooked food digests easier and faster than raw food. That is because the process of cooking (and preserving) begins the process of breaking down the food.

 

That said, easier to digest does not mean it is better for you. I eat a wide variety of foods, both cooked and raw. Apparently, enough digests because I have no problem gaining weight.

 

Adequate digestion is that which maintains weight or causes weight gain. It has little to do with transit time, consistency of stools or number of bowel movements. As long as you have enough small bowel left, it only takes about 30-60 minutes to digest a meal. 

 

And yes, it is normal for a meal to stimulate peristasis and a bowel movement.

 

Jan

For me, digestion time means the time that the food stays in the stomach being malaxed and broken down...while transit time is the time that the food takes to make it through the body from entry to exit...

I agree that some of us seem to be able to pull the calories out of a high speed train...I used to have a transit time for fruits or under 30mins...carbs 2hrs and the rest a bit longer...no problem gaining weight...now it is double that (I suspect that a healthy run of probiotics slowed things down nicely)...now I gain even faster.

Certain foods can only be eaten cooked (try eating a raw potato...not a good idea) others are either/or...but like Jan says, you get better nutrition from raw (apples vs. applesauce) whenever possible.

If raw hurts your guts then don't bother insisting...no matter how good for you it is, if it makes you sick then it is pointless.

I have found a middleroad compromise with some foods...juicing of some fruits or veggies works great and for others I steam slightly and then blend into a purée.

I even make mixed veggie salads for hubby and then blend them for myself the next day into soups...

Our condition requires a bit of imagination sometimes if we want to eat right.

Sharon

 

I'm very interested in the 'transit time' topic.
I've had the 2nd surgery getting the pouch constructed.  I'm going to have the takedown sometime next month.
Anyway, I have a loop Illiostomy and still have the bag and I noticed that from mouth to bag takes a maximum of 3 hours, regardless of what I eat.  If I don't chew completely, you can see the foods in the bag.  Cottage cheese will go thru within an hour.  And there's no thickness, it's just liquid.
First off, is this normal and am I not getting any absorption from what I ingest?
Secondly, will this be how it'll be once I have the takedown and have my pouch functioning?  I'm losing weight and am unable to put any on, I just keep losing.  You are such an informative group, any ideas?
Thanks!!!!!!

Hi,

I tend to think that our transit time to an outside bag (or just post op) is much quicker)...things go through you like a high speed train...your body is getting used to your new plumbing and is going to take some time to get acustomed to it.

Once you are hooked up things should slow down after a while and the output should be a  thicker than just water...

I've had my k pouch for 36yrs (yikes!) and my problem is that things are too thick now...(probiotics helped with that too)...

I would say that the 1st year is not inidicative of the rest of your life...it is truely an adaptation period...give your body time.

That said...yes, certian foods will be more pouch-friendly than others and easier on the digestion...And there are no real rules...it is person to person and pouch to pouch.

Keep a food journal, write it all down, food, drink, meds and what with what...it is a real life saver.

My trick since 1990 has been separating food groups...not eating proteins with carbs (meat with salad or veggies is fine but no potatoes or rice etc and carbs with veggies but no meats like a veggie stir-fry with rice and no chicken)...I do cheat but not that often...I pay if I do (undigested food, long digestion time, gas, bloating & cramps etc).

This is what works for me but it does not mean that it will for you...you will learn what your body likes and go from there...

I have a reasonably quick transit time...but that does not mean that I am not absorbing (I gain weight just fine!) what it does mean is that my body does its job and moves on...

Good or bad, it is how it is.

I have been getting up 2-3xs/night lately because I have been 'off the wagon' and mixing my foods...end result is more gas and a wacky transit time.

Take it slow and don't panic.

Sharon 

 

 

When thinking about transit time, remember that with a bag the stool exits pretty much as soon as it arrives. When there's a reservoir (a J-pouch or a K-pouch) the stool can spend quite a while waiting upon your convenience. The recto-sigmoid colon is a much bigger reservoir, of course.