How fast can food pass through the body?

Question

I have read somewhere that it is normal to defecate about once a day. This leads me to think that it takes about 24h for food to pass through the body under normal circumstances.

Now lets say you eat some bad sushi that triggers “the runs” within an hour.
When you then defecate, is it the actual sushi that comes out or is it just the food you ate before the sushi?

Also, how fast could food theoretically go from mouth to anus?

In: 935

Answer 1

It *usually* takes between 24 and 72 hours for food to go through your body. When you eat something bad and your body decides ‘everything must go’ it can be a whole lot quicker.

But it will still be “first in, first out” so the food you ate before the sushi will be expelled first, and then the sushi.

For the fastest time I can find references for 10 hours but no hard sources so take that with a grain of salt.

Edit:
After reading some of the comments below I have a small LPT. People; PLEASE eat more fiber. Food is not supposed to just fall through you :’)