# Is stomach digestible? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 3, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stomach-digestible/315431 "2005-08-03T16:16:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stomach-digestible/315431/1 "2005-08-03T16:16:05Z")
My stomach, and I suppose yours too, has this lining inside that keeps the yumyum from leaking out and digesting my innards. Pretty nifty arrangment, I think. So I hear tell that there are some people out there who have incorporated the stomachs of sundry of God’s creatures into their diet. Which leads me to wonder, “How do you digest something that is made to not be digested?” Would a human have a different level of success in this effort depending on the origin of the stomach? Sheep stomachs digest quite well…but how about tiger stomach? Pony stomach? Human stomach? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stomach-digestible/315431/2 "2005-08-03T16:20:32Z")
The stomach tissue itself is perfectly digestible. What keeps it from being digested is that it secretes a layer of mucus that protects it from stomach acid and digestive enzymes. Dead stomach tissue with the mucus removed can be digested fine. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stomach-digestible/315431/3 "2005-08-03T16:21:19Z")
Your own stomach, without the protective barrier it creates constantly, would autodigest. That is what happens more or less with a gastric ulcer. Mmmmmm…Campbells Pepper pot soup. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stomach-digestible/315431/4 "2005-08-03T19:02:06Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > … > > Mmmmmm…Campbells Pepper pot soup. In Mexico it’s Menudo. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stomach-digestible/315431/5 "2005-08-03T19:29:26Z")
In Scotland it’s freekin’ Haggis. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stomach-digestible/315431/6 "2005-08-03T19:35:19Z")
Haggis is cooked in a stomach, but the stomach isn’t eaten. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stomach-digestible/315431/7 "2005-08-03T20:57:15Z")
What utterly pointless tripe to devote a thread to… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stomach-digestible/315431/8 "2005-08-03T21:35:38Z")
My gut feeling is that this will be too hard for the mods to swallow and they’ll move the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stomach-digestible/315431/9 "2005-08-03T21:42:56Z")
oh jeez, here we go again. You jerks are just regurgitating the same tired old puns. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stomach-digestible/315431/10 "2005-08-03T21:43:03Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > My gut feeling is that this will be too hard for the mods to swallow and they’ll move the thread. Upon further rumination, they cud well do so – but I hope they’ll have the intestinal fortitude to refrain. As for you flaming gasbags – er, punsters – out there, feel free to chyme in with your two bites’ worth! ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stomach-digestible/315431/11 "2005-08-03T21:46:00Z")
Geez, all these puns are giving me indigestion. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stomach-digestible/315431/12 "2005-08-03T21:47:23Z")
Speak for yourself. I had a good old belly-laugh over this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stomach-digestible/315431/13 "2005-08-03T22:54:55Z")
> [@Argent Towers](#): > > Haggis is cooked in a stomach, but the stomach isn’t eaten. The stomach surely is eaten. When you live in a condition of chronic protein defifiency you don’t waste time cooking animal protein only to leave it to rot. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stomach-digestible/315431/14 "2005-08-04T10:47:40Z")
My ex wife’s grandmother, a wonderful cook from Mexico, served us a dish that tasted fantastic, the white bits in it were a bit chewy but went down easily. Half way through my second helping my now ex asked what we were eating. We were told tripe. Later, I looked up tripe in a dictionary. Tripe: The rubbery lining of the stomach of cattle or other ruminants, used as food. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stomach-digestible/315431/15 "2005-08-04T15:01:38Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > My ex wife’s grandmother, a wonderful cook from Mexico, served us a dish that tasted fantastic, the white bits in it were a bit chewy but went down easily. Half way through my second helping my now ex asked what we were eating. We were told tripe. Later, I looked up tripe in a dictionary. > > Tripe: The rubbery lining of the stomach of cattle or other ruminants, used as food. Yes, _mondongo_ (tripe stew, usually very spicy) is a standard dish in many Latin American countries. I was once working on a project on a cattle ranch where the locals were having a celebration and brought me and my field crew a huge pot of mondongo as a special “treat.” Many, that stuff was chewy. As **vetbridge** mentions, tripe soup isn’t that unusual even in the US; Campbell’s pepperpot soup (made of tripe) can be found in most larger supermarkets. ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stomach-digestible/315431/16 "2005-08-04T15:13:32Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > As **vetbridge** mentions, tripe soup isn’t that unusual even in the US; Campbell’s pepperpot soup (made of tripe) can be found in most larger supermarkets. As can canned menudo; look in the “Mexican” or “Hispanic” section. Juanitas is the best brand, IMHO, and I’ve tried most of them. It’s often next to the canned hominy. I have a can in my car that’ll be dinner. 😛