# A medical question **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 11, 2021, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-medical-question/954195 "2021-11-11T17:18:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nightfall1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@Nightfall1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightfall1)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-medical-question/954195/1 "2021-11-11T17:18:49Z")
Hi teeming millions. I have a question. You eat food, your body uses what it needs and gets rid of what it doesn’t need, be that five hours down the road, ten hours, fifteen hours, whatever time your body is set up for. You eat a type of food where your body says "Oh oh, something is different about this food.” It doesn’t make you sick, you don’t have to rush to the bathroom but your body says “Yep, got to get rid of this” What alerts the body to rush the food through your intestines in double quick time? Thanks for everyone who answers ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-medical-question/954195/2 "2021-11-11T20:34:48Z")
> [@Nightfall1](#): > > You eat a type of food where your body says "Oh oh, something is different about this food.” It doesn’t make you sick, you don’t have to rush to the bathroom but your body says “Yep, got to get rid of this” > What alerts the body to rush the food through your intestines in double quick time? > Thanks for everyone who answers I think the answer is, we don’t really know. Which is why a syndrome like IBS, which turns out to be fairly common and seems to involve that apparatus, still has multiple competing hypotheses. Part of it might be the taste dubs we have there though, which fortunately don’t transmit to your brain, but to the whole complex system down there: [Taste receptors of the gut: emerging roles in health and disease - PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24131638/) ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-medical-question/954195/3 "2021-11-12T00:51:58Z")
[Checks forum] Could be when you ingest a pathogen (or something your body thinks is a pathogen) your immune systems starts to fight it at the point of entry (your stomach) and in doing so moves a bunch of water to that area as part of the battle. GI tract overloaded with water and everything gets moved along to the exit, in a hurry. Anyone who has experienced explosive-projectile diarreah can attest. Which would also explain why persistent diarreah can be deadly via dehydration. I am not a clinical person, but just a guess. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-medical-question/954195/4 "2021-11-12T10:37:33Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Which would also explain why persistent diarreah can be deadly via dehydration I can attest to how dangerous dehydration via the runs is - I ended up hospitalized when the radiation and chemo stripped out my gut lining soo not only was I not absorbing liquids, my body was seeping out liquid [think of a 36 foot road rash that will not scab up] When I was rolled into the ER, I was within a day of organ shutdown. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-medical-question/954195/5 "2021-11-12T14:21:40Z")
I would have thought this could have stayed in FQ, as it’s not seeking medical advice. > [@Medical Q's vs. Medical Advice Q's](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-qs-vs-medical-advice-qs/814180/4): > > Any question where you’re seeking opinions should go in IMHO. Questions about an actual medical condition that you or someone you know has would also go in IMHO. Strictly factual questions about physiology, anatomy, etc., where general information not related to a specific case is sought can go in General Questions. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-medical-question/954195/6 "2021-11-12T17:40:53Z")
> [@naita](#): > > Part of it might be the taste dubs we have there though, which fortunately don’t transmit to your brain, but to the whole complex system down there: [Taste receptors of the gut: emerging roles in health and disease - PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24131638/) We have about 100 million neurons down there in our “2nd brain” which is about how many rat brains have. I really hope there is no level of consciousness down there. 😬 ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-medical-question/954195/7 "2021-11-12T19:45:11Z")
> [@naita](#): > > I think the answer is, we don’t really know. Which is why a syndrome like IBS, which turns out to be fairly common and seems to involve that apparatus, still has multiple competing hypotheses. As someone with IBS this quire definitely happens. Sometimes I think it can jump ahead of something I ate 12 hours early and come out ahead of it.