I have been taught somewhere along the line that it takes food approximately 24 hrs to make it’s way through your system. However, if I eat a big Mexican dinner, things very quickly start making their way out the southern border (to paraphrase). So my questions are:
1: Am I expelling what I just ate not less than an hour ago? If so, how can the system work so fast when normal speed is 24 hrs?
2: If what I’m expelling is not what I just ate, what good (biologically speaking) is being done by my body forcing out what I ate yesterday when what I ate today is the real cause of the problem?
WAG: It’s your body reacting to the spices, etc. that you aren’t used to and probably shouldn’t be eating. They’re causing contractions in your intestines that are expelling the stuff closest to the exit as it were. In this case, I don’t believe it’s your body trying to do something for the goods that have just entered, but rather it’s just reacting and since there’s something already in there, out it goes.
A big Mexican meal will also contain its share of fat and fiber (if there are beans). A lot of fat and a lot of fiber can make your intestines work overtime. Or in this case, work faster than normal.
This is a good question, one I’ve always wondered about myself.
I’ll sometimes experience this phenomonon myself, though the type of food can vary. It’s not always spicy or anything, just some meals cause the old intestines to go haywaire and everything has to get going right now. Weird stuff.
Is it really possible that the body is passing the stuff you just ate in less than an hour?
Although this site may take it too far for your particular case, the gastrocolic reflex is a recognized normal function of digestion. All foods will start it but some will trigger a quicker than normal bowel movement. The movement empties you of the remains of foods you have eaten earlier, mixed in with the water that has not yet been properly absorbed into the body from the intestines.
What triggers it is uncertain, although certain cuisines or certain foods do have a regular - though not necessarily inevitable - effect on some people. Thus it is likely that some common element acts as a trigger in individuals.
I don’t think it’s necessarily the spice. I spice the living hell (habaneros etc) out of canned chili and it hangs around for quite some time. A lot of Mexican food fries the veggies and meats in oil and uses lots of beans and similar dense carbs. This combo will often grease the intestinal skids for a lot of people.
McDonald’s food which has many of the same properties (high fat & dense carbs) will often cause a similar effect in many people.
Right. Simply eating food triggers a reflex that causes the bowels to move. It’s not the food you just ate, it’s just that eating a meal will cause stuff to start happening in your gut - it gets the old stuff out, presumably to make room for what you just ate. Eating a meal simply naturally triggers yesterday’s meal to vacate. Since, as has been noted, Mexican food is heavy on beans and spices, I’m guessing that the process just intensifies because the new stuff is forging on ahead into the bowel more quickly than most food you eat does.