Tag: Plant digestion

Over 70% of a plant's cell wall is made of cellulose, a complex carbohydrate that the human body cannot break down. So, can we fully digest plants? The reality is more nuanced than a simple yes or no, involving a surprising partnership with our gut's microbial inhabitants.

According to nutritional research, animal proteins typically have a digestibility of 90-95%, significantly higher than the 75-80% for many plant proteins. This key difference in how our bodies process food is central to understanding why is meat easier to digest than plants.

According to research from the Mayo Clinic, the average bowel transit time for food to pass through the digestive system is 33 hours for men and 47 hours for women. This duration varies significantly between foods, sparking a common debate: is meat harder to digest than plants? The answer is more complex than a simple yes or no, depending on what aspect of digestion is considered.

Over 90% of animal protein is digestible by humans, whereas plant protein digestibility averages 75–80%. The primary reason why are plants harder to digest than meat lies in fundamental differences between plant and animal cell structures and the types of molecules each contains.