The interval spent on digesting food is a significant indicator, but usually no one takes it into account. Nutrients are a source of energy. By correctly arranging the components and calculating the time spent on processing a particular product, you can, without having to endure strict diets, always be in shape and not feel hungry. It is not necessary to keep an infinite number of numbers in your head; for this, a tremendous amount of work has been done by nutritionists and a generally accepted table of food digestion by time has been compiled. You should not layer meals unnecessarily, feelings of hunger, and if the body has not had time to process the product eaten the day before.

When consuming culinary delights, it is important to consider that the benefits, time of absorption by the body and the release of nutrients depend on many factors. Freshness, method of preparing the additive, compatibility - everything is important and requires special attention.

The main stage of digestion of foods is carried out in the stomach and can take from 30 minutes to 6 hours, while the processing period until defecation takes approximately 20 hours.

The speed of digestion is determined by the moment when food enters the intestines; to simplify the task, consumer products must be properly systematized:

Considering the digestion time of food can significantly improve your health. Ignoring this indicator, a person carries an impressive amount of rotting products, which adversely affects health and causes diseases of the digestive system and cardiovascular system. Moreover, poor, unhealthy nutrition negatively affects life expectancy.

In order for recycling to be complete, it is important to follow simple rules:

1. By simultaneously consuming foods that require different intervals for digestion, the body is subjected to excessive stress, which makes no sense. Boiled potatoes eaten on their own could enter the small intestine in an hour, when in combination with pork they are doomed to be digested for a long 6 hours.
2. The best solution for preparing your favorite dishes is a combination of products that require the same amount of time to process. This will allow you to spend a little more time than with mono nutrition, but this approach is most suitable when mixing.
3. When using vegetable oils as a salad dressing, it should be taken into account that the processing time in the stomach will increase several times (2-3). Oil creates a coating on vegetables, which complicates the processing of salad components by gastric juices and enzymes.
4. You should not drink food immediately after eating it with teas, water, or any drinks. After a meal, it is necessary to wait until the food passes from the stomach to the intestines. If the rule is violated, the saturation of gastric juice decreases, digestion worsens and the load on the digestive system increases. Water, diluting food, prevents complete digestion; because of this, whole fragments of food penetrate into the intestines and, as a result of the active action of putrefactive microorganisms, expose undigested food to decomposition and fermentation.
5. By consuming water in its pure form, without additional inclusions, it goes directly into the intestines without delay.
6. Any meal does not tolerate fuss. When consuming any product, you must chew the food carefully and slowly. Thanks to this simple action, you can significantly speed up the digestion process, since the stomach will not need to expend energy on grinding ingredients, and enzyme processing occurs thoroughly in the oral cavity.
7. When eating food of animal origin that is rich in protein, it is important to understand that in a heated state it is digested for 2-3 hours, then goes to the thin section to continue the breakdown of valuable components from food components.
8. Less time is spent on digesting cold dishes; proteins do not have time to be absorbed and enter the small intestine, where they create favorable conditions for the proliferation of bacteria, which subsequently cause discomfort in the digestive system (gas formation, constipation). It is the consumption of cooled or chilled food that leads to the accumulation of excess weight and the acquisition of a diagnosis of obesity.
9. The best time to ferment food is lunchtime. If there is a need to mix incompatible products, it is better to do this during the day. Breakfast and dinner do not fully utilize the body's reserves. In the morning he has not yet woken up, in the evening he is already ready for sleep.
10. Night time is a period of rest. During this period, food lies in the stomach as dead weight until the moment of awakening. Deposits of products undergo decomposition and have a negative effect on the body.

The time it takes for food to be digested in the human stomach can be controlled. It is important to understand how quickly each product undergoes enzymatic processing.

The most popular and frequently used ingredients are presented in the table.

Table - how much food is digested in the human stomach

The conclusion is obvious. The residence time of food in the stomach is ambiguous, the value can change. It can be adjusted and controlled. Maintaining a healthy body is not difficult, just be careful about what you put into your mouth. Food should be wholesome, healthy and not create discomfort. By eating rationally, you can avoid feeling hungry between meals.

Food– is a source of energy, beneficial microelements, vitamins, and nutrients. However, in order for the body to obtain the required components, pre-processing of food is required, which begins immediately after it enters the oral cavity. The very first stage of processing is soaking food with saliva. After the food bolus enters the stomach, gastric juice comes into play, then the products are transported to the intestines. Next, the liver produces enzymes that help neutralize possible toxins, but retain all the necessary substances. Of particular interest is how long food remains in the human stomach and how long the process of its digestion lasts.

Period of stay of various foods in the stomach

Taking into account what product or drink a person has thrown into the digestive system, the time the food remains in the stomach is determined. The average period of residence of elements in this organ ranges from a couple of minutes to six hours. If we consider simple warm water taken on an empty stomach, it will almost immediately enter the intestines. In general, food is divided into four categories according to digestion:

• The first includes carbohydrates that enter the stomach most quickly - these are vegetables, fruits and squeezed fresh juices, plus berries and kefir.
• The second category includes foods with an average digestion period - these are proteins, that is, dairy products (not cheese or cottage cheese), vegetables, seeds, dried fruits, all kinds of nuts, and herbs.
• The third category is products of long-term absorption, which include fats and fats in combination with proteins. We are talking about cereal porridges, legumes, and mushrooms. This group also includes cottage cheese and hard cheeses.
• The fourth group is food that is practically indigestible, which includes meat, all types of fish, pasta, canned products, teas, coffee with added milk.

Depending on the composition of the food, the time of digestion of food in the human stomach changes:

• Protein foods require the most effort to digest; if it is cow meat, the process will take at least four hours. It will take at least five and a half or six hours to process lamb or pork. As the table on the processing of basic products shows, fish only need an hour to digest, nuts and seeds at least three. Dairy products will remain in the organ for two hours.
• The situation is better with fruits and boiled vegetables; it will take 30–40 minutes to process them, although the rule does not apply to potatoes; they will be processed for at least two hours.
• The shortest digestion time for foods is when it comes to raw vegetables, vegetable or fruit juices - they only need 15 to 20 minutes for processing. The period of residence of vegetable lard, not seasoned with oil, in the stomach is from half an hour to forty minutes, but if there is an oil component, it is at least an hour.

Why does digestion time change?

In addition to the composition, food processing is also of great importance - even during eating. The smaller the pieces and the more thoroughly the chewing, the better the absorption and the faster the movement of the food bolus into the intestines. More thoroughly chewed food is better moistened by enzymes produced by the oral cavity, which facilitates the further functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. Drinking regime is also important - while eating or immediately after, drinking liquids is undesirable, since gastric juice is diluted, and the period of food remaining in the stomach is accordingly prolonged. The digestion period will also depend on:

• Food Processing – The longer the cooking time, the more time it will take to process the food.
• Temperature of the dish - the hotter it is, the longer the digestion process.
• Meal time - during lunch hours the digestive system is more active, while in the morning and evening the processes are slower.
• Mixing food - each product has its own period of processing by the digestive system. If the composition is incorrect when preparing a dish, it will become more difficult to digest.

Digestion time table

The table compiled by nutritionists demonstrates quite clearly how much food is digested in the human stomach. We have already looked at some products above, now let’s talk about those that are used quite often when creating a menu:

• Vegetable broth will be digested in 15 or 20 minutes.
• It will take half an hour for an orange or grapes, about 40 minutes for apples, pears or peaches.
• Zucchini and a variety of cabbage will be processed in 45 minutes.
• All root vegetables, including turnips and carrots, will need about 50 minutes to process.
• It will take 45 minutes to process the eggs.
• The digestion of sunflower and pumpkin seeds will take about three hours.
• The stomach can digest dietary poultry meat in more than two or three hours.
• The body can process a variety of nuts in three hours.

For porridge, including buckwheat, rice, and millet, it will take about two hours.

To lose weight, simply don’t eat while there is food in your stomach. Thus, one class of foods should be consumed only after digestion (assimilation) of another has taken place. To do this, you need to know the digestion time of foods. Eating according to this principle will help not only say goodbye to excess weight, but also maintain a healthy gastrointestinal tract. The stomach will gradually decrease in size, and the habit of overeating will forever remain a thing of the past. Find out in the article how long it takes to digest different foods.

Digestion time in the stomach

• water enters the intestines instantly, and fruit juices are digested in 15-20 minutes;
• digestion of food such as mixed salads takes 20-30 minutes;
• watermelon is completely digestible after 20 minutes, and melon after 30;
• citrus fruits and grapes are digested in 30 minutes, but fruits such as apples, cherries, peaches, pears and similar semi-sweet fruits are digested in 40 minutes;
• digestion time for foods such as tomatoes, celery, cucumbers, green and red peppers, as well as other juicy vegetables - 30-40 minutes;
• root vegetables (turnips, carrots) are processed by the body for at least 50 minutes;
• if you eat an avocado on an empty stomach, the digestion time of the product will be from 1 to 2 hours;
• starchy vegetables (potatoes, chestnuts, yams, Jerusalem artichoke, pumpkin) take about an hour to digest;
• digestion time for food such as rice, buckwheat and barley - 60-90 minutes;
• legumes (lentils, beans, etc.) are digested in 90 minutes;
• it will take about 2 hours to digest pumpkin and sunflower seeds, melon pear and sesame seeds;
• peanuts, almonds, hazel, pecans, Brazil nuts and walnuts are digested after 2.5 - 3 hours;
• A little secret: in order for the nuts to be better absorbed, they need to be soaked overnight in water and then crushed.
• It takes from 1 to 2 hours to digest drinks such as cocoa, tea, coffee and milk, as well as soft-boiled eggs, broth, boiled river fish;
• hard-boiled eggs, omelet, boiled sea fish and bread are digested in 2-3 hours;
• in 3-4 hours, boiled beef and chicken, fried potatoes and ham, as well as durum wheat pasta are completely digested;
• digestion time for foods such as beans (peas, beans), fried meat and herring - 4-5 hours;
• mushrooms and bacon take 5 to 6 hours to digest.

You should stop eating 3-4 hours before bedtime. The time it takes to digest food also depends on the individual characteristics of the body and the amount of food that was eaten.

Find out how long it takes to digest food on the website.

Today, balanced separate nutrition is the most scientifically based and medically indicated type of nutrition. The theoretical basis of this dietary regime is widely presented in the press, on television and on the Internet. But when a person who decides to try this system moves on to practical application, an important technical problem arises - the question of the speed of assimilation of certain products.

Unfortunately, too little attention is paid to this issue, although it is fundamental in this food system. After all, separate intake does not mean sequential consumption of food separated in time, but the intake of one group of foods after complete digestion (assimilation) of another. At the same time, the speed and time of absorption of different products can vary significantly.

Digestion and absorption of food

Food is vital for our body; from it it receives nutrients and biologically valuable substances necessary for life. But in order to get them, you first need to digest the food, breaking it down into chemical components, and then assimilate it. This is a long process that begins with the enzymatic and mechanical processing of food in the oral cavity and ends in the distant parts of the intestine. In terms of time, the “journey of food” in our body, schematically, looks like this: from half an hour to 6 hours, food is digested in the stomach, then up to 7-8 hours it continues to travel in the small intestine, simultaneously continuing to be broken down and absorbed, and only then, everything that not digested, it enters the large intestine, where it can remain for up to 20 hours.

Digestion and absorption time of foods

Of course, although it is customary to call this the time or speed of digestion (absorption) of food, in fact it is the time of processing of food directly in the stomach. Which is actually important for separate nutrition, which, unlike some other systems, does not strictly refer to the separation of complete cycles of digestion and assimilation. However, enough words, let's move on to the technical side:

Liquids

1. Water is absorbed almost instantly if there is no other food in the stomach. (To be more precise, it goes into the intestines)

3. Broths, depending on richness, 20-40 minutes

4. Milk up to 2 hours

Vegetables

1. Cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, greens - 30-40 minutes (the same vegetables seasoned with oil for up to an hour and a half)

2. Green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, corn - cooked ones are digested in 40 minutes, and seasoned with oil in 50.

3. Carrots, parsnips, beets, turnips - will be digested in 50-60 minutes

4. Sweet potatoes, potatoes, Jerusalem artichoke, pumpkin, chestnuts, yams - in 1 hour

Fruits and berries

1. Watermelon and berries are digested in 20 minutes

2. Citrus fruits, melon, grapes and other juicy fruits in 30 minutes

3. Pears - apples, apricots - peaches, cherries - cherries and other fruits will be digested in 40 minutes

4. Fruit and fruit and vegetable salads up to 30 - 50 minutes

Cereals, cereals and legumes

1. Buckwheat, polished rice, millet will be digested in 1 hour to 80 minutes.

2. Oatmeal, pearl barley, corn flour - 1 - 1.5 hours

3. Regular peas and chickpeas, lentils, beans (white, red, black) - are digested in an hour and a half.

4. Soy - 2 hours

Nuts and seeds

1. Pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, and melon pear seeds are digested in up to 120 minutes.

2. Peanuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pecans, walnuts - are digested in 150 - 180 minutes.

Eggs

1. The yolk is digested in 30 minutes

2. Protein over 45

Milk products

1. Fermented milk drinks - 1 hour

2. Cheese cheese, low-fat cottage cheese and homemade cheese - 1.5 hours

3. Milk and full-fat cottage cheese - 2 hours

4. Fatty hard cheeses, such as Dutch and Swiss, will require 4 to 5 hours to digest.

Fish and seafood

1. Small and lean fish are digested in 30 minutes

2. Oily - from 50 to 80 minutes

3. Protein from seafood will be absorbed in 2-3 hours

Bird

1. Chicken and skinless chicken - 90 to 120 minutes

2. Turkey with skin removed, a little over 2 hours

Meat

1. Lamb is digested in 3 hours

2. Beef in 3-4 hours

3. Pork takes up to 5 hours to digest

Külmkapp Photo: Sven Arbet

If you suffer from an unhealthy habit - overeating, think about it: maybe you start eating while your stomach has not yet coped with the previous dose of food?

Different foods require different “attention” from our digestive system. What happens to food after we swallow it? In order for food to benefit a person and provide the necessary energy, it must turn into chemical elements, which the body then absorbs.

This process begins in the mouth, when saliva dissolves and teeth grind food. Later, in the stomach, it is attacked by acid and gastric juices. After leaving the stomach, food enters the intestines, where it continues to interact with gastric juice. Then it is absorbed through the capillaries into the blood passing through the liver - thousands of enzymes located there neutralize any poison (such as alcohol, for example), while preserving useful iron, vitamins and glucose.

More specifically, all food can be divided into 4 categories according to the time it is digested in our stomach:

Foods that pass quickly (mostly carbohydrate foods)
- average digestion time (this is mainly protein food)
- long-term digestion food (this includes fatty foods and a combination of fatty and protein foods)
- food takes too long to digest and is practically indigestible.

The first category includes: almost all fruits (with the exception of bananas, avocados and the like), vegetable and fruit juices (not mixed), berries, kefir. All of the above products do not stay in our stomach for more than 1 hour. For example, fruits pass into the intestines from the stomach within 40–45 minutes. In some situations, it can take 35–40 minutes.

The second category includes: vegetables, herbs, dairy products with the exception of cottage cheese and hard cheese, sprouts, soaked nuts and seeds, and all dried fruits. All of them enter our intestines in approximately 1.5–2 hours.

The third category includes: porridges and cereals, nuts and seeds that are not pre-soaked in water, cottage cheese and hard cheese, all types of mushrooms, legumes (if they are boiled), baked goods made from premium flour. Their residence time in the stomach is 2–3 hours from the moment they arrive.

And finally, group 4 includes: tea with milk, coffee with milk, meat (including poultry, as well as fish), pasta (except for those made from whole grain flour or durum wheat flour), all types of canned food. All products from group 4 are very difficult to digest, or are practically not digested at all.

What conclusion can we draw now, guided by information about how long food is digested in the stomach? Everything is very simple:

If you want to be healthy, you don’t have to stick to a diet; you just need to eat as many foods as possible that are digestible in a short period of time. Thus, you protect your digestive system, and the body spends less energy on its processing.
- Avoid or eat to a minimum those foods that belong to category 4.
- It is not recommended to combine foods and foods that have different digestion times in the stomach.
- If you have problems with your stomach or intestines, eat only food from categories 1 and 2.
- In the evening you can only eat foods from categories 1 and 2.

Digestion time in the stomach

After lunch, food is digested in the stomach for two to four hours, after which it enters the small intestine, where the digestion process lasts another four to six hours, after which the food passes into the large intestine, where it can remain for about another fifteen hours.

The figures below show how long the products spend in the stomach and apply to people with a healthy digestive system when only one of the specified products is consumed at a time.

Water
If you drink water on an empty stomach, the water immediately passes into the intestines.

Juices and salads
- Fruit juices, vegetable juices and broths are digested in 15-20 minutes
- Semi-liquid (mashed salad, vegetables or fruits) 20-30 minutes

Fruits
- Watermelon is digestible in 20 minutes
- Melons - 30 minutes
- Oranges, grapefruits, grapes - 30 minutes
- Apples, pears, peaches, cherries and other semi-sweet fruits - 40 minutes

Read more

Vegetables
- Mixed salads (vegetables and fruits) are digested within 20-30 minutes
- Raw mixed vegetable salads - tomatoes, lettuce (Romaine, Boston, red, lettuce, garden), cucumber, celery, green or red pepper, other juicy vegetables are digested within 30-40 minutes
- If vegetable oil is added to the salad, the time increases to more than an hour
- Steamed or boiled vegetables, as well as leafy vegetables - spinach, endive, kale - 40 minutes
- Zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, pumpkin, corn on the cob - 45 minutes
- Root vegetables - turnips, carrots, beets, parsnips, turnips, etc. - 50 minutes

Semi-concentrated carbohydrates - starches
- Artichoke, acorns, corn, potatoes, Jerusalem artichoke, yams, chestnuts - 60 minutes
- Starchy foods, such as cracked rice, buckwheat, millet, corn flour, oatmeal, quinoa, Abyssinian broom, pearl barley, are digested on average in 60-90 minutes

Concentrated carbohydrates - cereals
- Brown rice, millet, buckwheat, corn flakes, oats (the first 3 are best) - 90 minutes

Beans and legumes (Concentrated carbohydrates and protein, starches and proteins)
- Lentils, lima beans, chickpeas, peas, beans and beans - 90 minutes
- Soybeans - 120 minutes

Nuts and seeds
- Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, pepita, sesame seeds - about 2 hours
- Nuts - almonds, filberts, peanuts (raw), cashews, Brazil nuts, walnuts, pecans - 2.5-3 hours

Dairy
- Skim milk, low-fat cottage cheese, ricotta, low-fat cottage cheese or cream cheese about 90 minutes
- Whole milk cottage cheese - 120 minutes
- Hard cheese made from whole milk - 4-5 hours

Animal proteins
- Egg yolk - 30 minutes
- Egg (completely) - 45 minutes
- Fish - cod, scrod, flounder, sole seafood - 30 minutes
- Fish - salmon, trout, herring, fattier fish - 45-60 minutes
- Chicken - 1-2 hours (without skin)
- Turkey - 2 hours (without skin)
- Beef, lamb - 3-4 hours
- Pork - 4-5 hours