How many intestines do you have

The large intestine , which doctors also call the colon, has a larger diameter than the small intestine. The primary function of the large intestine is to reabsorb fluids, electrolytes, and vitamins and then form and propel feces toward the rectum for elimination. It contains four distinct parts:. As with the small intestine, the total length of the large intestine varies from person to person. Heavier people, younger people, and males generally have longer intestines.

In most people, it is about 5 ft long. The colon is the longest part of the large intestine, while the cecum measures about 2. The rectum is about 7. Some people with certain health conditions may need to undergo a colon resection , or colectomy, to remove part of or the whole large intestine.

People who find it difficult to visualize the length of the intestines may find these comparisons helpful:. The length of the intestines can vary greatly among individuals. Research suggests that the combined length of the small and large intestines is at least 15 ft in length. The small intestine can measure about 9—16 ft, while the large intestine is roughly 5 ft long.

The intestines have the important role of helping break down and absorb nutrients from food and drink. And the gallbladder serves as a warehouse for bile, storing it until the body needs it. Your food may spend as long as 4 hours in the small intestine and will become a very thin, watery mixture.

It's time well spent because, at the end of the journey, the nutrients from your pizza, orange, and milk can pass from the intestine into the blood. Once in the blood, your body is closer to benefiting from the complex carbohydrates in the pizza crust, the vitamin C in your orange, the protein in the chicken, and the calcium in your milk.

Next stop for these nutrients: the liver! And the leftover waste — parts of the food that your body can't use — goes on to the large intestine. The nutrient-rich blood comes directly to the liver for processing.

The liver filters out harmful substances or wastes, turning some of the waste into more bile. The liver even helps figure out how many nutrients will go to the rest of the body, and how many will stay behind in storage. For example, the liver stores certain vitamins and a type of sugar your body uses for energy. At 3 or 4 inches around about 7 to 10 centimeters , the large intestine is fatter than the small intestine and it's almost the last stop on the digestive tract.

Like the small intestine, it is packed into the body, and would measure 5 feet about 1. The large intestine has a tiny tube with a closed end coming off it called the appendix say: uh-PEN-dix. It's part of the digestive tract, but it doesn't seem to do anything, though it can cause big problems because it sometimes gets infected and needs to be removed.

Like we mentioned, after most of the nutrients are removed from the food mixture there is waste left over — stuff your body can't use. This stuff needs to be passed out of the body. Can you guess where it ends up? Well, here's a hint: It goes out with a flush. The small intestine absorbs nutrients and water from digested food. In fact, 90 percent of food absorption happens in the small intestine.

The length of the small intestine can vary between about 10 feet 3 meters to over 16 feet 5 meters. For comparison, a standard basketball hoop is 10 feet tall. The different sections of the small intestine are also different lengths.

The ileum is the longest section while the duodenum is the shortest. This terminology actually refers to the diameter of the small intestine, which is about 1 inch around 2. Despite its small diameter, the small intestine actually has a very high surface area. This increased surface area allows for more absorption of nutrients and water. Additionally, bacteria found in the large intestine can help to further break down any remaining nutrients.

Vitamins such as vitamin K are also produced in the large intestine. There are also some specific health conditions that can affect the large intestine. Some of the most common include:.

The large intestine is about 5 feet 1. If you stretched out your large intestine, it would be about as long as the width of a queen size bed. When you eat, your gallbladder squeezes bile through the bile ducts into your small intestine. Your small intestine makes digestive juice, which mixes with bile and pancreatic juice to complete the breakdown of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.

Bacteria in your small intestine make some of the enzymes you need to digest carbohydrates. Your small intestine moves water from your bloodstream into your GI tract to help break down food. Your small intestine also absorbs water with other nutrients.

In your large intestine, more water moves from your GI tract into your bloodstream. Bacteria in your large intestine help break down remaining nutrients and make vitamin K. Waste products of digestion, including parts of food that are still too large, become stool.

The small intestine absorbs most of the nutrients in your food, and your circulatory system passes them on to other parts of your body to store or use. Special cells help absorbed nutrients cross the intestinal lining into your bloodstream.

Your blood carries simple sugars, amino acids, glycerol, and some vitamins and salts to the liver. Your liver stores, processes, and delivers nutrients to the rest of your body when needed. The lymph system , a network of vessels that carry white blood cells and a fluid called lymph throughout your body to fight infection, absorbs fatty acids and vitamins.

Your body uses sugars, amino acids, fatty acids, and glycerol to build substances you need for energy, growth, and cell repair. Your hormones and nerves work together to help control the digestive process.

Signals flow within your GI tract and back and forth from your GI tract to your brain. Cells lining your stomach and small intestine make and release hormones that control how your digestive system works.

These hormones tell your body when to make digestive juices and send signals to your brain that you are hungry or full. Your pancreas also makes hormones that are important to digestion. You have nerves that connect your central nervous system—your brain and spinal cord—to your digestive system and control some digestive functions.

For example, when you see or smell food, your brain sends a signal that causes your salivary glands to "make your mouth water" to prepare you to eat. When food stretches the walls of your GI tract, the nerves of your ENS release many different substances that speed up or delay the movement of food and the production of digestive juices.

The nerves send signals to control the actions of your gut muscles to contract and relax to push food through your intestines. Griffin P. Rodgers explaining the importance of participating in clinical trials.