Intestines!

June 10th, 2023| Topic: RaMbLeS | 0

There are, I’m sure you know, despite all the hullabaloo in society these days, differences between males and females. Besides the obvious, I want us to acknowledge another difference.

As reported by a group of researchers from North Carolina State University, Duke, and University of Minnesota. “Hidden Diversity: Comparative Functional Morphology of Humans and Other Species,” published in PeerJ.

The long and short of it (pun intended, but you won’t catch it till you finish this sentence) is that females have longer intestines than males. Yup, really!

In humans, females demonstrated consistently and significantly longer small intestines than males. “

As reported in Medscape, the researchers got out their rulers, calipers, and string and took many measurements of the digestive systems of 45 human cadavers (21 female and 24 male), which were compared with data from 10 rats, 10 pigs, and 10 bullfrogs, which had been collected (the measurements, not the animals) by undergraduate students enrolled in a comparative anatomy laboratory course at the university.

Among the other four-legged subjects, there was not much intestinal-length variation between the sexes, but humans were special.

Women’s small intestines, almost 14 feet long on average, were about a foot longer than men’s!

We found that females consistently exhibited greater small intestinal length than did males, suggestive of increased investment in fat absorption in females.“

Added co-author Amanda Hale, doctoral student at NC State:

Because having a longer small intestine helps you extract nutrients from your diet, this finding supports the canalization hypothesis, which posits that women are better able to survive during periods of stress.”

Now we did know that. Women are stress managers par excellence.

All that to say, the way to a man’s heart may be through his stomach, but the way to a woman’s heart is through her duodenum. Though it will take longer to get to her heart via that organ.

And this bit of wisdom from the PeerJ article:

Males also tend to have larger livers than females, possibly to metabolize microbial fermentation products.”

We knew that too. Microbial fermentation, aka, those fluids manufactured by MillerCoors, Heineken International, Anheuser-Busch, etc.

(But what do I know about all that? I’m a good Baptist!)

But this caught my eye, too:

Our results suggest that organs behave independently of one another, both within and across species.”

Wait, what? Organs behaving independently? I’ve no idea what that means. I don’t know much about intestines, anyway.

But the Bible does.

(Well, not exactly. In a commentary on the Psalter I’m working on, I translate the Hebrew word kilyah, that literally means “kidneys,” as “innards.” But still ….)

God knows my intestines!

O may the evil of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the righteous;
for a trier of the hearts and innards [kidneys]
is the righteous God.
Psalm 7:9

No wonder—after all, He made those organs:

For You—You formed my innards;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks to You, because I am awesomely set apart;
wonderful are Your works.
Psalm 139:13–14

My intestines, in fact, teach me about him!

I will bless Yahweh who has counseled me;
yes, by night my innards correct me.
I have set Yahweh before me continually;
because [He is] at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Psalm 16:7–8

And no wonder, for God’s word is deposited there!

To do what is acceptable to You, my God, I have desired;
Your law [is] in the midst of my innards.
Psalm 40:8

And women have a whole 12 inches of guts more than men! Blessed are they!

SOURCES: PeerJ; MedScape