Question: I was wondering how long the intestine was in adult male? A friend told me it was close to a mile and I figured that couldn’t be right. Do you know?

Answer: How long is the intestine in an adult male is a question that has been overblown to mythical proportions. A good example of this is the fact that your friend believes it is over a mile long.

In fact the small intestine is longer than the large intestine. They are named small and large due to their thickness and not their length obviously.

The small intestine, on average, is about twenty feet. The large interesting is close to five feet. Even if they were stretched to the breaking point we would still be well short of a mile.

Even though they are not a mile long it is impressive that twenty five feet of intestine are coiled up underneath our stomachs.

The small intestine connects the stomach to the large intestine. Most of the digestive process occurs here. The stomach reduces food to a size that will allow it to enter the small intestine where it is further broken down and fed into the large intestine.

The large intestine then absorbs water and nutrients that the small intestine missed. Then comes the colon and out goes the stool. Remarkable when you stop and think about it.

We trust this answers your question regarding how long is the intestine in an adult male, but if you would like more information please don’t hesitate to ask.