Alton Brown's Latest 'Culinary Truth' Has Twitter Debating This Surprising Topic

To quote J.D. from Scrubs, "Everything comes down to poo! From the top of your head to the sole of your shoe" (via YouTube). Alton Brown reminded us all of that pop culture adage today with a tweet: "#CulinaryTruth It's all poop in about 12 hours" (via Twitter). Yes, we are really talking about poo on a food site – because it seems like everyone is chiming in on this simple and rather unappetizing statement. 

First the facts. Your food's digestive journey from your mouth through your stomach and past your small intestine usually takes somewhere between 6 and 8 hours (via the Mayo Clinic). From there, it goes to your large intestine and hangs around for another 36 or so hours during which the process of water absorption and digestion continues. The transformation from food to feces may last between two and five days and will vary from person to person.

Opinions are a lot like digestion in that what comes out changes across people. This is why Twitter followers have had quite a debate on the subject.

Twitter user Scott Smith commented, "You and I are the same age. We were born within a week of each other. You know damn well that it's all too often 24 or even 48 hours" (via Twitter). Some disagreed from the other end of the spectrum. For instance, Mike Marcellus begged to differ, stating, "When it's taco Tuesday it's about 90 min." Another commenter quipped that Taco Bell would take an hour to complete the process. Yet even if we grant that there's lots of variability in the time suggested, the end result is basically the same.

The tweet provoked a small revelation for follower Blue Dog, who said, "true fact.... with that in the front of my brain, think i'll be spending much less time on presentation now..." But follower Tymothy Henry waxed rather philosophically, writing, "It's not about the destination, it's about the journey. Unless it's really spicy, then it's about both" (via Twitter). This uncomfortable "culinary truth" may have given us food for thought, but only for 12 hours, or maybe an hour if it's from Taco Bell.

So there you have it. Alton Brown can spark a Twitter debate on even the most surprising of food-related topics.