Stool Transit Time Test

Home Tests

A stool transit time test measures how long it takes for food to travel through the digestive tract. Stool or Bowel transit time depends on what types of food you eat and how much you drink. For example, people who eat lots of fruits, vegetables, healthy fats and whole grains tend to have shorter and faster transit times. People who eat mostly carbohydrate including sugars and starches without fiber have slower transit times.

After you chew and swallow your food, it moves into your stomach, where it is mixed with stomach acid and digestive enzymes. After your food leaves your stomach, it is squeezed through your small intestine, where, vitamins and water are absorbed for use by your body. The food then goes into your large intestine (colon). Whatever hasn’t been digested and absorbed by your intestines combines with water, bacteria, and other waste products and becomes stool (faeces). Stool is expelled from your body through your anus/bum. The time it takes for food to travel from your mouth to pass out via the anus as stool is the bowel transit time.

Because different people have different transit times, the results may not consistent. It can be repeated easily and cheaply to observe if changes occur when foods are removed and reintroduced. It may be useful to help identify if a specific food is influencing the digestive system – either speeding up or slowing down elimination. An example is coffee which can irritate the gut or wheat which can slow down the gut linked with constipation.

Overflow past the solid stools can affect the results but if is possible to have a rough idea of how low it is taking. If it is passed at different times record this also

Track your times over the 15 days and record it.