Anyone who has even once enjoyed a morning run with a sudden urge to use the bathroom knows that exercise plays a major role in our bowel schedule.

But how influential is it? Researchers examined the physical activity and bowel movements of 50 adults to identify any potential relationship between their level of exercise and the time it takes food to pass through their digestive system. Their results were recently published in Journal of nutrition.

They found that more time spent in light activity was associated with an increase in total intestinal transit time (the time it takes for food to move completely through your body, from swallowing to emptying) and colonic transit time (the time it takes for passage of food through the large intestine). ). Food spends the most time in the colon during the digestion process, usually between 10 and 59 hours.

The time it takes to fully digest food varies greatly from person to person. In general, taking food is considered normal 10 hours to 73 hours1 to pass through your body.

What you eat also plays a huge role in the digestive process. Simple carbs like white bread move through your system much faster than fiber-rich complex carbs like those found in vegetables and oats. That’s why fiber-filled foods keep you full longer than sugary snacks. Fats and proteins also take longer to digest.