Re: So....what is the ideal case?

Eating stimulates the peristalic action of the digestive system. This is a wave-like motion that moves food-chyme-waste through the GI tract. If you're consuming food on a regular basis the body recognizes that when a new supply of nourishment is coming in it will expel the waste. If you have a pet or pay attention to animals you will see that they will eliminate shortly after they have eaten. There are close to 30 feet of intestines twisting and turning in an average adult...not to mention the mouth, throat, esophagus and stomach. It takes time for food to go through the various digestive processes and make its way through the digestive system.

I guess I'm confused why you're confused...

Let's say your body was free of any solids...you've been fasting and you've flushed out your system. You eat meal 1 and then 6 hours later you eat meal 2. Meal 1 is still in the process of being digested, but has a way to go. 6 hours later you eat meal 3. Meals 1 and 2 are making there way through the digestive system...still in your body since it takes longer than 12 hours for meal 1 to be processed and eliminated. Then you eat your next meal...4...he next morning...meal 1 gets eliminated (sometimes before you even eat...since plenty of time has passed)...and on and on. That makes 2-3 meals in your digestive system at once. If you don't eat as much or have erratic eating patterns you wouldn't be as regular, and if you eat more meals a day you may go more frequently...but it still takes a certain amount of time for food to process...which is called the transit time. You can test this for yourself by eating a lot of beets and determining how long it takes until you pass them. Tweet