Ever wonder why some meals leave you feeling sluggish for hours? Your digestive system works to digest food, yet some foods linger a lot longer than you'd ever imagine. The food we consume plays a very important role in our general health and well-being, that is, whether we feel healthy and comfortable or battle with distress and disease.

But not all foods are digested at the same rate. Some stay in the body much longer than others, leading to bloating, indigestion, and even long-term health issues. While some slow-digesting foods deliver sustained energy and nutrition, others will do more harm than benefit when eaten excessively.

Before delving into the foods that stay in your gut for days, it’s essential to understand how digestion works. The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is a complex system responsible for breaking down food and extracting vital nutrients. It consists of multiple stages:

Mouth: Digestion begins here, where enzymes in saliva start breaking down food.

Stomach: Acids and enzymes further process food into a semi-liquid state.

Small Intestine: Where most of the nutrient absorption into the bloodstream occurs.

Colon: Where water is absorbed and waste is ultimately eliminated.

List of Foods that Take Longer To Digest

Let's take a look at the typical foods that can hang around in your gut much longer than you may realize.

1. Red Meat

Red meat is widely held to be a nutritional staple, high in protein, iron, and essential vitamins. Its digestion process, though, is slow by any measure. Because red meat is so fatty and has a complex protein structure, it can take as much as 72 hours to completely digest and be out of your system.

Though red meat is rich in many health benefits, too much of it can slow down digestion and cause discomfort, bloating. Also, a low level of digestive enzymes or stomach acid can prolong its duration in your gut. In order to facilitate digestion, serving red meat with fiber-rich vegetables can ease the process and ensure gut balance.

2. Complex Carbohydrates and Fatty Foods

Not everything that digests slowly is bad. Complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, legumes, and leafy vegetables are slow to digest, but they stabilize blood sugar levels and deliver sustained energy. But high-fat foods, especially processed and fried foods, sit in the stomach for a long time, causing discomfort.

Fast foods rich in fatty foods like burgers, fried chicken, and pizzas are packed with saturated fats and refined sugars that inhibit the digestion process and cause bloating and indigestion. Gradually, they can interfere with gut bacteria, causing digestive discomfort and inflammation. To balance this effect, the addition of healthy fat from avocados, nuts, and olive oil can help to ease digestion.

3. Fizzy and Sweetened Beverages

As opposed to the above foods, sweets, soft drinks, and processed cakes can pass through the gut fairly quickly, but their effects persist. Refined sugar in doughnuts, cakes, and fizzy drinks feed the wrong bacteria in the gut, upsetting the digestive system and risking long-term issues such as obesity and metabolic disease.

Although they don't exactly "remain" in your gut for days, their by-products can persist and wreak havoc. Excessive sugar intake has been connected with gut dysbiosis, where the normal flora of helpful bacteria is imbalanced. Reach for herbal teas, infused water, or kombucha instead, which can ease digestion without hurting gut health.

What to Eat Instead

A balanced diet can enhance digestion and avoid common digestive problems. Some food items that can enhance digestion and maintain a good gut are as follows:

• Ginger: Ginger has natural digestive properties and can help prevent bloating and ensure easy digestion.
• Kefir: Kefir is a probiotic beverage that promotes gut bacteria, enhancing digestion and the absorption of nutrients.
• High-Fiber Vegetables: Broccoli, sweet potatoes, and leafy vegetables can enhance frequent bowel movements.
• Healthy Fats: Avocados, nuts, and olive oil give you the nutrients you need without slowing down digestion.

How to Improve Digestion After Eating Heavy Foods

Even when eating foods that digest slowly, there are some ways to help your gut and make digestion easier:

• Stay Hydrated: Water softens stool and makes bowel movements regular. Having warm lemon water can also aid in digestion.
• Move Your Body: Light physical activity, like walking, can stimulate digestion and avoid bloating.
• Eat Mindfully: Properly chewing food before swallowing can ease the load on your digestive system.
• Add Probiotics: Foods that are fermented and probiotic supplements can aid in gut bacteria and enhance digestion.

Tiktok fibremaxxing wellness trend: There is no shortage of wellness trends online that claim to transform your health, but a new one has taken over social media with a focus on gut health. It’s called “fibremaxxing,” and its premise is simple: eat more fibre to improve digestion, metabolism, immunity, and lower the risk of disease. On TikTok and Instagram, the trend often appears as colourful lentil bowls, chia puddings, and smoothies loaded with leafy greens and flaxseeds. But how much of this viral trend is actually backed by science?

Also Read: Hong Thai Herb Inhaler Recalled: Thai FDA Flags Popular Brand Over Contamination — All You Need To Know

The idea of increasing both soluble and insoluble fibre isn’t new, yet fibremaxxing has made it trendy again—and this time, for good reason. Fibre is vital to everyday health, supporting everything from steady blood sugar to regular bowel movements. Here’s what experts say about this growing movement and why fibre truly matters.

What Is Fibremaxxing?

Fibremaxxing is a social media movement that encourages people to boost their fibre intake by adding more fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains to every meal. The goal is to improve digestion, promote fullness, and support long-term health. According to Dr. Urvi Shah, a board-certified hematologist-oncologist and physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the concept behind fibremaxxing is largely rooted in scientific evidence. Dr. Shah, who is leading multiple studies on high-fibre plant-based diets, notes that the approach aligns well with established nutrition research.

Is ‘Fibremaxxing’ Good Or Bad For Your Gut?

High-fibre diets are consistently linked to a wide range of health benefits, from lowering the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and colon cancer to aiding weight control and gut function. That’s why Dr. Shah believes fibremaxxing gets several aspects right.

She explains that including a wide variety of plant-based, high-fibre foods is essential because “different fibre types feed different microbes.” A diverse diet helps nurture a balanced microbiome. She adds that the trend’s emphasis on whole foods rather than processed or fibre-enriched items is a major plus. “Whole plants provide fibre, polyphenols, and micronutrients that work together to support the gut,” she says. Prebiotic-rich foods also help shape a healthier microbiota and increase the production of beneficial short-chain fatty acids like butyrate, which has “anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects.”

Simply put, upping your fibre intake through natural, unprocessed foods, rather than supplements, can make a real difference to gut health.

What’s The Daily Recommended Amount of Fibre Intake?

Experts suggest that adults should consume between 25 and 30 grams of fibre each day. Men typically require more (around 38 grams), while women need about 25 grams. These numbers can vary depending on age, sex, and calorie intake, but a general guideline is 14 grams of fibre for every 1,000 calories eaten, according to Harvard Health.

How To Add Fibre To Your Diet?

Plant-based foods are the easiest way to increase your fibre intake, this could mean starting your morning with oats or simply adding more vegetables to your meals. Dietitian Laura Tilt notes that several everyday foods are surprisingly high in fibre:

• Rolled porridge oats – 4.5g per 50g (half cup)
• Canned chickpeas – 7g per half can
• Seeded bread – 5g per two slices
• Canned lentils – 6g per half can
• Frozen peas – 4.5g per 80g (3 tbsp)
• Frozen raspberries – 5.5g per 80g (3 tbsp)
• Wholemeal pasta – 6.5g per 75g serving
• Dried apricots – 3g per 3–4 pieces
• Reduced salt/sugar baked beans – 7.5g per half can
• Mixed milled seeds (flax, pumpkin, chia) – 4.5g per 25g

Is Fibremaxxing Helpful?

There’s no doubt fibre plays an essential role in maintaining good health. But like any nutrient, too much of it can cause problems if not balanced properly. A sudden surge in fibre intake without enough water can lead to bloating, gas, constipation, dehydration, or even trigger IBS symptoms. Over-focusing on fibre might also cause you to overlook other nutrients your body needs. The key is moderation, fibre is beneficial, but it works best as part of a balanced, varied diet.

If you landed here, the reason is that you are also someone who cannot tolerate milk, but loves yogurt, and are probably wondering why is that?

The logic is that if you have lactose intolerance, you won't be able to digest any dairy product, but with yogurt, your life is easy. The answer lies in the components of the two various dairy products that come from the same source.

Why Can't You Digest Milk?

The reason is because you are lactose intolerant. This is a condition that makes it hard to digest the sugar in milk and milk products, called lactose. People with lactose intolerance could have diarrhea, gas and bloating after they consume milk. While this condition is usually harmless, it can cause discomfort.

This happens because the enzymes in the small intestine, called lactase is responsible for lactose intolerance. If someone has too low levels of lactase, the person can become lactose intolerant.

The small intestine and colon are parts of the digestive tract, which processes the foods you eat. The intestine pull out nutrients from the food and whatever is not absorbed by the intestines continues along the digestive tract and is expelled as stool during a bowel movement.

But Why Can You Digest Yogurt, If You Cannot Digest Milk?

The answer to this lies in the fermentation process that turns milk into curd and breaks down much of the lactose, which is the sugar, that is often difficult to digest. The probiotic bacteria used to make curd contain their own lactase, which helps in the breakdown of lactose, and this can further help with digestion even for those who do not produce enough lactase on their own.

Furthermore, during fermentation, the bacteria in curd, called the Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus convert lactose into lactic acid, which is easier for the body to process. This helps your body to digest curd easily over milk. Since the bacteria contains lactase, which the milk lacks, some people may find it easier to digest curd or yogurt over milk.

The bacterial cells also physically protect their lactase, and it can work to break down the lactose from the curd as it passes through the digestive system.

Why Is Curd Gut-Friendly?

The key to a healthy gut health is lactobacillus, a kind of probiotic, which helps in digestion, suppression of disease-causing bacteria and treats constipation. It also is beneficial in treating irritable bowel syndrome. It breaks down sugar into lactic acid.

A study by a Bhubaneswar-based professor Balamurugan Ramdas also revealed that Bengal or Odisha's popular breakfast Panta Bhaat, which includes fermented cooked rice, also releases the same bacteria, that fermented milk releases and so it contains short-chain fatty acids, which are responsible for improving gut health and boosting immunity.

Furthermore, curd is known to balance the gut flora, probiotics improve digestion, and the absorption of nutrition. They also help in the breakdown of food, reducing issues like bloating, gas, and constipation. The probiotics in curd can help restore the natural balance in your gut, which can soothe an upset stomach and alleviate discomfort from indigestion. A healthy gut is closely linked to a strong immune system, and the probiotics in curd help to boost gut health, which in turn can enhance immunity.

Bread is a staple across most diets, but not all loaves are made the same. In recent years, sourdough has gained a reputation for being the “healthier” bread—praised for its tangy flavour, natural fermentation, and supposed benefits for digestion. But how much of this is true? Here’s what experts and studies reveal about how sourdough compares to regular bread in terms of health and nutrition.

What Makes Sourdough Different

Unlike most commercial breads that rely on baker’s yeast for quick rising, sourdough is made using a natural starter—a mixture of flour and water that ferments over several days. This starter contains wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria, which break down carbohydrates and gluten during fermentation.

According to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, this slow fermentation process increases the bioavailability of nutrients like folate and magnesium while producing organic acids that give sourdough its characteristic tang. In contrast, regular white or whole wheat bread undergoes a much faster process, often with added yeast, sugar, and preservatives to speed up production.

Easier on Digestion

One of sourdough’s biggest advantages lies in how it affects the gut. The fermentation process partially breaks down gluten, making it easier for some people to digest compared to conventional bread.

A 2021 review published in the journal Food Microbiology found that lactic acid bacteria in sourdough can help reduce compounds called FODMAPs—a group of carbohydrates known to trigger bloating and discomfort in people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). This makes sourdough a potentially gentler option for sensitive stomachs, though it’s not suitable for those with celiac disease.

Better Blood Sugar Control

Another reason nutritionists often recommend sourdough is its effect on blood sugar levels. The acids produced during fermentation slow down the rate at which glucose is released into the bloodstream.

Research published in the Journal of Cereal Science noted that sourdough bread has a lower glycemic index (GI) than regular white or whole wheat bread. This means it causes a slower, more stable rise in blood sugar, something especially beneficial for people with diabetes or insulin resistance.

Nutrient Profile and Shelf Life

While both sourdough and regular bread contain similar calories and macronutrients, sourdough tends to have slightly higher levels of antioxidants and minerals because of the fermentation process. It also naturally resists mould growth, allowing it to stay fresh longer without artificial preservatives.

As per Cleveland Clinic dietitians, choosing whole-grain sourdough offers the best nutritional value, combining the fibre of whole wheat with the gut-friendly benefits of fermentation. On the other hand, refined white breads offer little fibre and are often fortified artificially.

The Bottom Line

Sourdough is not a miracle food, but it does stand out as a healthier and more digestible alternative to most commercial breads. Its fermentation process not only enhances flavour and texture but also supports gut health and stable blood sugar levels.

If you enjoy bread and want to make a more wholesome choice, opt for an artisanal or homemade sourdough made with whole grains and minimal additives. As nutrition experts often say, the real key is balance, pair your bread with fibre, protein, and healthy fats for a meal your gut (and taste buds) will thank you for.