Exercise and the bowel transit time

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Another beneficial factor of exercise is bowel transit time.

Exercise reduces the time it takes for motion to pass through the bowel. Stagnant stool in the colon is thought to increase the risk of cancer by exposing the carcinogens which have not been absorbed in our diet to the mucous membrane of the bowel lining for longer. 

Surgery to the abdomen has a tendency to cause fibrous tissue to form between the loops of bowel slowing the normal flow of motion through the bowel. Likewise some chemotherapy drugs and painkillers can do the same thing. Patients who have developed one bowel cancer are more likely to develop a second so reducing the carcinogen exposure time to the gut is likely to be even more helpful in this higher risk group.