13 Things Every Woman Doesn't Know About Her Own Body

You have a lot of guts.

While women and men have the same basic digestive plumbing (stomach, liver, gallbladder, colon), the lower portion of the colon, called the sigmoid, tends to be longer in women. And of course, women's lower bodies are practically bulging with reproductive organs. All of this means that women have more stuff squeezed into a smaller space, says Cynthia M. Yoshida, MD, a gastroenterologist and the author of No More Digestive Problems. Our digestive systems don't have as much room to expand when troubled by excess gas, air or food, says Yoshida, which is why we are likely to experience distress in our midsections. (It's also another justification for why women deserve more bathrooms, with more privacy.)