Take Control of Your Digestive Health!

Get the Facts

Knowledge is Power

Digestive health issues are a growing national problem and getting educated is an important step on the road to better digestive health. People with poor digestive health might struggle with their weight, experience irregularity, nausea, bloating, constipation, stomach pain, diarrhea, heartburn or gas on a routine basis. Read through the facts below to learn a bit more about how digestive problems are affecting Americans.

The State of America's Digestive Health

• According to the National Institutes of Health, nearly 60-70 million Americans are affected by digestive diseases each year
  • This results in a cost that exceeds $86 billion in direct medical expenses¹
• About 14 millions hospitalizations and 45 million ambulatory visits each year are attributed to digestive diseases²
• Every year, digestive diseases, including cancer, are named as a primary cause of death for nearly 240,000 Americans³

The Everyday Effects of Digestive Problems

• A recent study reveals that nearly half (46 percent) of Americans say digestive problems affect their day-to-day lives
  • The problems prevent them getting a full night's sleep, going out to eat, exercising, participating in fun activities and even hanging out with friends⁴
• Nearly 1 in 5 Americans has been diagnosed with a serious digestive problem
• Ulcers and Irritable Bowel Syndrome are the most common diagnoses⁵
• When experiencing digestive health problems, 49% of sufferers say they don't feel like themselves⁶
• 40% believe they do not perform at their best and 33% become stressed⁷
• Approximately 20% feel less attractive, anxious and nervous, and 18% report that they become embarrassed⁸
• A full 30% of employed sufferers agree that they would be more productive at work if they did not have to deal with digestive problems⁹
• More than a third of Americans indicate that having digestive problems prevent them from getting a full night's sleep¹⁰
• Almost 60% of people manage their digestive problems by avoiding specific foods¹¹
• Almost 65% of people say their digestive problems are triggered by eating the wrong types of foods¹²
• 24% of employed sufferers reported an average of 6 work days are missed due to digestive problems¹³

Facts About Your Digestive Tract

You've learned a bit about how digestive problems affect people across the country. Keep reading to learn some interesting facts about your digestive tract and see why it's so important to keep it as healthy as possible.

• Food travels a total of 29.5 feet through the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine and large intestine¹⁴
  • The small intestine is approximately 18-25 feet long, but the large intestine is only 5 feet long¹⁵
  • The small intestine has the surface area of a tennis court¹⁶
  • There are between 2 and 3 pounds of bacteria (good and bad) in the average digestive tract¹⁷
  • Within the colon, a typical person has more than 500 species of bacteria¹⁸
• There are about ten times as many bacteria in the intestinal tract as cells in the body (about 100 trillion bacteria cells total)¹⁹
• The average male will eat about 100,000 pounds of food during his lifetime in order to sustain a weight of 150 pounds²⁰
• Because muscles, not gravity, push food through the digestive system, you can still digest food while upside down, or in space²¹
• The rate of digestion can vary between a few hours to a few days, depending on what was ingested²²
  • It does not take seven years to digest gum, contrary to the school yard myth²³
  • Digestion can be triggered by the mere sight, smell or taste of food²⁴
• The stomach has a volume of about 1.7 ounces when empty. After a meal, it expands to hold about 1 liter (33.8 ounces) of food but can hold as much as 4 liters (135.2 ounces)²⁵
• Approximately 30 percent of human waste is comprised of dead bacteria²⁶

1, 2, 3 http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/statistics/statistics.htm
4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 Foundation for Digestive Health and Nutrition Survey, The Everyday Effects of Digestive Problems, May, 2008
14 http://www.denverpost.com/lifestyles/ci_9236533
15 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/330544/large-intestine
16 http://health.howstuffworks.com/digestive-system2.htm
17 Catherine Guthrie, http://www.experiencelifemag.com/issues/july-august-2007/health-wellness/good-bacteria-welcome.html
18 R. Bowen, Colorado State University, http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/digestion/basics/gi_bugs.html
19 First option – Leila Kiani for CSA Discovery Guides, http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/probiotic/review.pdf
20 http://research.yale.edu/ysm/temp/YSM-Article130.pdf
21 http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae484.cfm
22 http://www.oprah.com/health/yourbody/slide/slide_yourbody_embarrassing_101.jhtml
23 http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=fact-or-fiction-chewing-gum-takes-seven-years-to-digest
24 http://www.innerbody.com/image/digeov.html
25 Journal of Nutrition, http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/reprint/117/7/1191.pdf
26 Gastro.net, http://www.gastro.net.au/digesitve_description.html