From Edward Williams
Rick Jefferys writes that “individuals can have significantly different gut flora and other digestive capacities” (15 August, p 22). A doctor told me of a patient aged about 50 who ate enormously and yet remained exceedingly thin. When he had his appendix removed, the surgeon had a routine look around inside the abdomen, and discovered that his small intestine was only 1.5 metres long instead of the normal 7 metres.
This would indeed have a significant effect on the proportion of calories absorbed.
Malvern, Worcestershire, UK
