intestines

[mr.stinky]

i don't know quite where to put this one.....

my girlfriend tells me that the chinese have on average an 8-meter long small intestine,

whereas those of laowei origin have only 5-meter long intestines. this, she claims,

explains why the chinese like to/need to/are able to eat and digest larger amounts

of veggies. the poor laowei, with the shorter intestines, cannot digest vegetable matter,

and are forced to eat meat, and lots of it! poor laowei!!

anybody know if there is, in fact, any difference in intestine length? somebody must

know, after all, this is the place to learn about the differences in ear wax.

thank you.

[HashiriKata]

anybody know if there is, in fact, any difference in intestine length? somebody must

know, after all, this is the place to learn about the differences in ear wax.

You can find out actually. For the sake of scientific advancement, you could try digging some graves...

Ok, the complimentary bit: your name "stinky" and the heading "intestines" seems to go together very well!

[geraldc]

My inherent Chinese ability to digest veggies is all well and good, but I still get destroyed by one small glass of milk.

I remember reading about how the Chinese only used rhubarb as an aid in regulating the movement of their bowels, and when the west suddenly started importing large amounts of rhubarb, the Chinese assumed all westerners were constipated.

Even more strange is the fact that most Chinese babies are born with a big blue circle on their bums.

Mother nature is strange.

[FSO]

Really, just about the only thing that would allow someone to digest more vegetable matter than the average person would be if he or she somehow had an extra enzyme that allowed for the breakdown of vegetable fibre.

The Chinese custom of eating a mostly vegetarian diet is the result of centuries of food shortages and abject poverty (for most of the population, at least).

To their credit, the Chinese have succeeded in making their non-meat dishes almost universally delicious, ensuring their popularity even when meat is abundant (like it is these days).

[roddy]

And the Japanese too . . .

At last, something to bring East Asia together in peace and harmony!

[liuzhou]

My wife told me size doesn't matter!

[mr.stinky]

well, from what i've been reading on the interwang (besides the porn...but only for

the articles, of course!!) is that herbivores have much more in the way of intestines and

guts in order to process vegetable matter. pure carnivores much less. us omnivores

are somewheres in the middle.

from my perspective, we in the west have more money, and are thus more able to

afford meat. no money = eat veggies. nothing to do with intestine length.

hashi: 'stinky' comes from long ago at geology field camp. six weeks in the field with

few showers. everybody answered to 'stinky.'

liuzhou: i assume you drive a corvette?

[imron]

Doing a quick google search for 小肠, the top result states:

成人小肠长约5～6米，相当于身高的4倍。

or in English, "The length of an adult's small intestine is approximately 5-6 metres, or about 4 times their height."

I'm not sure about the authenticity of the information on that site, but the Chinese wikipedia entry for 小肠 puts the avg length at about the same value (5-7 metres). Being in Chinese, presumably these sites take into account Asian physiology, though the possibility always exists that they are just materials translated from English sites.

However, if, as the first article implies, the small intestine is roughly proportional to 4 times a person's height (symmetry of man and all that), then to me, it would seem that caucasians would on average have a longer small intestine, as on average they are taller.

Edit: Reading the link Roddy provided above, a study seems to suggest that small intestine length is related to body-weight, and not height. Again on average this would tend to give caucasians a longer small intestine, as on average they have higher body weights (sumo wrestlers excluded )

[roddy]

Thing is, if Chinese people are fitting longer intestines into roughly the same amount of space, their intestines must be thinner than westerners'. Therefore, we can enjoy wider food such as apples, while Chinese people can only eat grapes. Simple.

Anyway, we get that enzyme for metabolizing alcohol, so I think we're still winning

Can any ethnically Asian people living in the west confirm they have better fruit digesting abilities than average?

[liuzhou]

Excuse me! Isn't the food digested in the stomach before it hits the intestines?

Having longer intestines just means you take longer to ... erm, evacuate.

This explains why people spend so long in the toilet on trains when you are waiting to use the facilities.

[mr.stinky]

"Having longer intestines just means you take longer to ... erm, evacuate."

in other words, the chinese are full of.............????????

[DrinkDrankDrunk]

the poor laowei, with the shorter intestines, cannot digest vegetable matter,

and are forced to eat meat, and lots of it! poor laowei!!

liuzhou: i assume you drive a corvette?

(sumo wrestlers excluded )

Therefore, we can enjoy wider food such as apples, while Chinese people can only eat grapes. Simple.

Can any ethnically Asian people living in the west confirm they have better fruit digesting abilities than average?

Having longer intestines just means you take longer to ... erm, evacuate.

n other words, the chinese are full of.............????????

*Laughing my ass off!* The innuendos and hyperboles are killing my sides! This is the funniest thread I've read to date. You all should be proud of yourselves, and owe me a metromint peppermint water because most of it now belongs on my monitor!

BTW, this smilie cannot express how much I laughed, plus it looks as if it is suffering from some recurring upper-lip seizures.

My inherent Chinese ability to digest veggies is all well and good, but I still get destroyed by one small glass of milk.

I used to have that issue as well, until one day I sat down and ate an entire tub of ice cream. Now I drink about half a gallon of whole milk everyday with no issues. On a side note, milk in China taste suspiciously "grassy" and "cow-like".

[geraldc]

While we're on the subject of internal plumbing...

In the west there are loads of adverts for toilet aids for the infirm, devices to lift old people on and off the toilet, however in China such devices don't exist, and non contact toilets are still bountiful. Does this mean that use of a non contact toilet over the years extends the hip mobility and agility of the user?

[horas]

*

Even more strange is the fact that most Chinese babies are born with a big blue circle on their bums.

Mother nature is strange.

@geraldc:

AFAIK that blue dot is specific for the Mongols, so logically most Chinese nowadays must have Mongolian blood/DNA in their veins/genes.

PS

I'll take a look at wikipedia as soon as I have time.

Most blue dots on the baby bums disappear afterwards, mine lasts forever.

-

[horas]

*

liuzhou:

My wife told me size doesn't matter!

*

????? Of what relevance/irrelevance is her husband's intestines size to his wife? (I assume the intestines don't peek out from his anus).

Err, I must confess I'm ....... a bit, a bit .... 'conservative'

So tell me please, have I 'missed' something 'technical' in this more and more complicated world?

-

[liuzhou]

Does this mean that use of a non contact toilet over the years extends the hip mobility and agility of the user?

The opposite.

According to a study published in the April 2004 issue of the journal 'Arthritis and Rheumatism', squatting puts tremendous stress on the knees, and doing it habitually appears to contribute to arthritis later in life.

In the study, done by researchers at Boston University, experts studied more than 1,800 senior citizens in China.

Based upon interviews and X-ray images, researchers found that the study participants with a history of squatting at age 25 had an increased chance of developing a breakdown of the knee joint. The more time they had spent squatting, the greater the prevalence of the condition, known as tibiofemoral osteoarthritis.

[ocpaul20]

According to a study published in the April 2004 issue of the journal 'Arthritis and Rheumatism', squatting puts tremendous stress on the knees, and doing it habitually appears to contribute to arthritis later in life.

I cannot say what the statistics in china say about the incidence of arthritis but I have not seen as many people here with arthritis as in the UK - at least on the streets anyway. This suggests to me that the study described in the journal 'Arthritis and Rheumatism' has some rich sponsor, but this is only a suspicion and nothing I can prove!!

The pedestal loo has only been available for about 150 years. People here and in other asian countries have been squatting for centuries - dont you think they would have linked the two (squatting and tibiofemoral osteoarthritis) by now if it was an unhealthy practice. I suspect some other cause for tibiofemoral osteoarthritis.

Animals squat - they dont get an abundance of arthritic joints. When you squat, your weight does not rest on your knees anyway, it rests on your calves, so finally I think this study is even more likely bunkum. Sorry, this study has not convinced me.

In the west there are loads of adverts for toilet aids for the infirm, devices to lift old people on and off the toilet, however in China such devices don't exist, and non contact toilets are still bountiful. Does this mean that use of a non contact toilet over the years extends the hip mobility and agility of the user?

http://healthrewardsyou.com/goodelimination.htm

[liuzhou]

I have not seen as many people here with arthritis as in the UK - at least on the streets anyway.

Well, if their arthritis is that bad they probably can't get to the street!

In the west there are loads of adverts for toilet aids for the infirm, devices to lift old people on and off the toilet, however in China such devices don't exist

Yes, they do! My Mother-in-Law has one.

[ocpaul20]

Well, if their arthritis is that bad they probably can't get to the street!

Yes, of course if it is that advanced, but if it is in the beginning stages, then these people are likely to be on the streets, aren't they.

Yes, they do! My Mother-in-Law has one.

So where did she buy it then? I dont mean that there are none here, but that they are not generally available. I am sure you can get most things here in china and this device was probably made for export. I said that I had not seen as many adverts here as in the UK for this kind of device.

Maybe you can address some of the other points I made - to do with the research. Since you quoted it, I assume you agree it has validity.

[liuzhou]

So where did she buy it then?

The local department store.