What are the constituent elements that make up a bowel movement and why is our body unable to use so much of the food that we put into it?

Question

Seems like a fairly inefficient system tbqh – is it because we’re eating the wrong stuff? or is it because living organisms create a fixed amount of waste no matter what? Poop is weird. I’d like to understand it better.

In: Biology

Answer 1

Evolution isn’t interested in being “efficient,” only in being good enough that the organism can survive long enough to produce baby organisms. As long as that is achieved, clunky and inefficient works fine.