How Long Does It Take To Digest Food? - Healthline

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Nutrition

How Long Does It Take to Digest Food?

Medically reviewed by Kelsey Trull, PA-C — Written by Stephanie Watson — Updated on March 27, 2025

Digestion timeline
Process
Impact of foods
Digestive conditions
Digestion health tips
FAQ
Takeaway

Key takeaways

Food generally takes 14 to 58 hours to move through your digestive tract, with the average time being 28 hours. Some foods are digested more quickly, while foods high in protein, fiber, and fat generally take longer.
Some health conditions, including gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and diverticulitis, may affect the time it takes to digest foods.
To help promote digestion, consider eating at least 30 grams of fiber daily, staying hydrated, exercising, eating smaller but more frequent meals, and avoiding ultra-processed, high fat foods.

Digestion is how your body breaks down food and extracts the nutrients it needs. Anything left is a waste product, which your body removes.

This process is sometimes known as whole gut transit time (WGTT), which refers to the time it takes for food to move through your gastrointestinal (GI) tract from the mouth to your anus.

Food generally takes 14 to 58 hours to move through the digestive tract, with the average time being 28 hours.

However, some research suggests it may take up to 5.5 days for food to fully digest.

How long it takes for food to digest will vary widely from person to person and depends on several factors, such as:

dietary and lifestyle habits
gut microbiome
genetics
sex assigned at birth
stress
underlying health conditions
taking certain medications

Keep reading to learn more about how long it takes to digest food, how digestion works, and how to improve digestive health.

How long it takes to digest food

On average, WGTT takes 28 hours.

However, the range for digestive transit time is also broken down into smaller segments:

Gastric emptying: This is how long it takes for food to move through your stomach into the small intestine.
Small intestinal transit time: The time it takes for food to move through the small intestine.
Colonic transit time: The time it takes for food to move through your large intestine, including the proximal, distal, and rectosigmoid colon. This part of the digestive process takes the longest.

Here are the average ranges for GI transmit times by segment:

Digestive segment	Time
Gastric emptying	0 to 6 hours
Small intestinal transit time	2 to 8 hours
Colonic transit time	• proximal: 6 minutes to 46 hours• distal: 18 minutes to 80 hours• rectosigmoid: 1 to 134 hours
Whole gut transit time	10 to 73 hours

What happens during digestion

Your digestive system is made up of four main parts:

GI tract, which includes your:
- mouth
- esophagus
- stomach
- small intestine
- large intestine
- anus
pancreas
liver
gallbladder

This is what happens when you digest food:

As you chew, glands in your mouth release saliva. This digestive liquid contains enzymes that break down the starches in your food. The result is a mushy mass called a bolus that’s easier to swallow.

When you swallow, the food moves down your esophagus — the pipe that connects your mouth to your stomach. A muscular gate called the lower esophageal sphincter opens to let the food move into your stomach.

Acids in your stomach break down the food even more. This produces a mushy mixture of gastric juices and partially digested food called chyme, which moves on to your small intestine.

In your small intestine, your pancreas and liver contribute their own digestive juices to the mix.

Pancreatic juices break down carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Bile from your gallbladder dissolves fat. Vitamins, other nutrients, and water move through the walls of your small intestine into your bloodstream. The undigested part that remains moves on to your large intestine.

The large intestine absorbs any remaining water and leftover nutrients from the food. The rest becomes solid waste, called stool.

Your rectum stores stool until you’re ready to have a bowel movement.

How does food affect digestion?

Some foods may impact the rate at which your body can digest nutrients.

For instance, high fiber fruits and vegetables are rapidly digested. In fact, high fiber foods can help your digestive tract run more efficiently in general.

On the other hand, high protein sources like meat and fish contain more complex molecules that take longer for your body to break down.

Processed, sugary junk foods like candy bars are the quickest to digest. Your body tears through them in hours, quickly leaving you hungry again.

Possible digestive problems

Certain conditions can disrupt digestion and leave you with some unpleasant side effects like heartburn, gas, constipation, or diarrhea. Some of these conditions include:

acid reflux and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
constipation
diarrhea
diverticulitis
inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease
irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
food intolerances, such as to lactose and gluten
fecal incontinence

Tips for better digestion

To help keep food moving smoothly through your digestive system and prevent issues like diarrhea and constipation, the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) recommends the following tips:

eat at least 30 grams of fiber per day
eat high fiber foods, such as greens, whole grains, and oats
eat four or five smaller meals per day instead of three large meals
drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration
add probiotics to your diet, such as by eating yogurt, kefir, and kimchi
eat lean protein, such as chicken, fish, turkey, and tofu
exercise daily
avoid high fat, greasy, and ultra-processed foods
limit the amount of spice you eat
try stress-reducing activities, such as yoga and meditation
quit smoking, if you smoke
maintain a moderate body weight

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take for the stomach to empty after a meal?

How quickly your stomach empties after eating depends on the type and amount of food you eat. The average time of gastric emptying is 0 to 6 hours.

Does it take 30 minutes to digest food?

It usually takes longer than 30 minutes to digest food.

What foods take the longest to digest?

High protein foods like meat and fish take the longest time to digest, while processed, sugary foods like candy are the quickest to digest.

Is 2 hours enough to digest food?

Foods may leave your stomach and pass into the small intestine within 2 hours. However, it takes 28 hours on average for food to fully digest.

Takeaway

You might not think much about your digestive system on a daily basis.

However, you’ll know when it’s not working optimally by uncomfortable symptoms like gas, bloating, constipation, and diarrhea.

Watch what you eat and stay active to keep your digestive tract moving smoothly and feel your best.

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How we reviewed this article:

SourcesHistoryHealthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We only use quality, credible sources to ensure content accuracy and integrity. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

Asnicar F, et al. (2021). Blue poo: Impact of gut transit time on the gut microbiome using a novel marker.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8349893/
Digestive diseases. (n.d.).https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases
Digestive health. (n.d.).https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/digestive-health/
Lee YY, et al. (2014). How to assess regional and whole gut transit time with wireless motility capsule.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4015195/
Patricia JJ, et al. (2022). Physiology. digestion.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK544242/
Procházková N, et al. (2023). Advancing human gut microbiota research by considering gut transit time.https://gut.bmj.com/content/72/1/180

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Medically reviewed by Kelsey Trull, PA-C — Written by Stephanie Watson — Updated on March 27, 2025

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