Question: They say that the average human has 4-5 miles of intestines, can someone live with half of that?

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  1. Hi bennymoff2012,

    The average length of the human intestine is 7 meters but it can vary (4.5m-10m).

    Certain regions of your digestive tract (your small intestine) are folded to help increase the area of space in which nutrients can be absorbed. If we were to measure the total surface area of the small intestine then it would reach about 250 square meters (almost the size of a tennis court!)

    People who suffer from Crohn’s disease or have had bowel cancer may have part of the small or large intestine removed because it is damaged. The can live with a smaller intestine but the shorter the length of intestine, the shorter the time it takes for food to be passed through the digestive system.

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