Dr. Robynne Chutkan explains that it all boils down to differences in the digestive tract

Oct 10, 2013 17:51 GMT  ·  By

According to Dr. Robynne Chutkan with the Digestive Center for Women in Washington, D.C. women get more bloated and suffer from constipation more often than men do. Apparently, this is because a woman's digestive tract is different from that of a man.

The doctor explains that, first off, a woman's colon is about 10 centimeters (4 inches) longer than that of a man. What's more, it has more twists and turns.

“Think of the male colon as kind of a gentle horseshoe, and the female colon as being a tangled-up Slinky,” Dr. Robynne Chutkan explains, as cited by Daily Mail.

Apparently, these adaptations are supposed to make it easier for a woman's body to absorb water and nutrients during pregnancy. The only downside is that they also make women more vulnerable to getting bloated and/or constipated.

The doctor also says that said conditions are more common among women due to the fact that a woman's colon drops down into the pelvis more than it does in the case of men.

This happens because a woman's body must also make room for her uterus, her ovaries and her fallopian tubes.

Lastly, it looks like hormones also have a say in the matter. Thus, men have lots of testosterone, which helps them have a stronger abdominal wall that keeps their bowels in place. A woman's bowels, on the other hand, aren't kept in place all that tightly.