Do different foods take longer for the stomach to digest?

[diggleblop]

I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich the other day and was full just about all day long. This got me thinking, are there certain foods that take longer for the stomach to break down?

Now, I Googled this and also briefly skimmed over the Digestion article in Wikipedia and didn’t see anything on this subject.

I also heard somewhere that foods that include all four food groups (such as pizza with meat on it) are the hardest to digest, any truth to this as well?

[x-ray_vision]

@diggleblop

Now, I Googled this and also briefly skimmed over the Digestion article in Wikipedia and didn’t see anything on this subject.

I’m not suggesting that this is an inappropriate question due to it being easily Googleable, but I thought I’d give you a Google tip:

If you type certain phrases in quotes, you’re more likely to get hits.

I typed - foods “longer to digest” - into Google and I got several hits on the first page.

Protein foods take longer to digest than starch and can lead to increased urine production.
http://www.avifresh.com/nutrisource/nh_athlete.html
Foods that are high in fat or protein take longer to digest than carbohydrate foods.
Avoid high fat proteins.
Peanut butter, red meat, and cheese, for example, take longer to digest and often add to feelings of fatigue.

Search

Foods that are high in fat or protein take longer to digest than carbohydrate foods.
http://www.healthtouch.com/bin/EContent_HT/cnoteShowLfts.asp?fname=02051&title=PRE-COMPETITION+MEALS+FOR+ATHLETES+&cid=HTHLTH
Foods high in dietary fiber also fill up the stomach and take longer to digest, causing us to feel full sooner and for longer.
http://www.annecollins.com/food-portion-size-weight-management.htm

Another very useful tip is to click on “cached” for each hit and you will find your search words highlighted, so you don’t have to sift through large web pages to find the relevant bits.

[x-ray_vision]

I just tried taking your thread title and Googling it.

Sixth hit, first page:

Digestive speed and efficiency vary with individuals and with circumstances. However, in general, foods leave the average stomach about as follows:–fruits, vegetables, bread, eggs, lamb, beef, pork, chicken, nuts, guinea hen. Carbohydrates usually leave the stomach rapidly, proteins remain longer. Foods requiring longer time for gastric digestion are not necessarily harder to digest; it is often merely that the process of digestion is different.

Foods requiring longer time to digest remain in the stomach longest. Beef requires but slightly longer to digest than lamb. Chicken requires longer than pork despite all of the fat of the latter.

Red beets pass through the stomach rapidly. So do asparagus, raw tomatoes, lettuce (unless delayed by the usual dressings), and most vegetables low in protein and starch. Vegetables containing much starch are held up for more thorough digestion. Low protein vegetables leave the stomach with little change. Raw cabbage leaves the stomach more quickly than cooked cabbage, a thing most people know. Baked beans are slow to leave the stomach. Spinach is slow, compared with other vegetables.

Eggs and milk go more slowly than eggs alone. Old eggs require more time in the stomach than fresh, or even cold storage eggs. Boiled eggs remain in the stomach longer than raw ones. Scrambled eggs remain longer still. Raw egg whites leave the stomach rapidly. Egg white does not encourage gastric secretion, unless taken with orange juice, and is poorly digested and badly assimilated.

Raw milk leaves the stomach slowly. Pasteurized milk more slowly and boiled milk still more slowly. Milk rich in fat leaves the stomach more slowly than milk low in fat content. Buttermilk stimulates gastric secretion.

Bacon digests slowly and, perhaps due to its fat, lowers stomach acidity. It is difficult for most people to digest. Fat markedly inhibits gastric secretion and the movements of the stomach and slows down digestion.

Foods are not digested when they have passed out of the stomach. A large part of the work of digestion takes place in the intestine.

We learned in the previous chapter that such things as coffee, tea, bitters, etc., cause an early emptying of the stomach without, in any way, shortening their digestion time. In other words, foods may be sent out of the stomach before gastric digestion is complete.

http://www.soilandhealth.org/02/0201hyglibcat/020126shelton.orthotrophy/020126.ch19.htm

[diggleblop]

see I never ask direct questions in google, I just do keywords, which is why nothing turned up for me.

[Tikki]

I know I’m not the OP but I would like to say thanks to you guys for showing me how to improve my Googling skills. (Hint, hint diggleblop.)

[myrnajean]

Wow, who would have though Guinea Hen stayed in your system the longest! I guess if I want to stay full all day I’ll have to have a guinea hen sandwich on nut bread…