When it comes to guts, it turns out women have men beat — literally by an entire foot! A new study reveals that women have longer small intestines than their male counterparts. Interestingly, researchers believe this could help women deal with stress better.
Despite being, on average, five inches shorter, women have approximately a foot more (30cm) of the winding muscular tube extending from the stomach to the colon. This longer intestine is believed to help women better absorb nutrients if needed for pregnancy and breastfeeding, according to a team from North Carolina State University.
“The small intestine is all about absorption, absorption, absorption. It’s where you get the vast majority of your nutrients,” says study lead author Amanda Hale, a Ph.D. candidate at NC State.
Surprisingly, there have been few investigations into the anatomical variations that can exist between different people’s organs. Thus, the researchers measured the digestive tracts of 21 female and 24 male adult cadavers that had been donated to Duke University, also in North Carolina.
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