Food is digested and nutrition absorbed in the 20 feet of small intestine. This is the long, thin segment of bowel that begins at the stomach and ends in the right lower abdomen. After the digestive process is complete, the liquid waste enters the 5 feet of large intestine, or colon, which ends in the rectum. About two gallons of liquid stool enters the right colon each day where excess water is purified and recycled back into the blood stream. The remaining solid waste, or stool, eventually enters the rectum where the waste is stored until it is convenient to have a bowel movement.
Diverticulosis is a condition, rather than a disease.
It affects the large intestine, or colon. A normal colon is strong and relatively smooth. A colon affected by diverticulosis has weak spots in the walls. A single pouch is called a diverticula. The presence of these pouches on the colon is called diverticulosis.