As my last post covered the manner in which food should enter the body - I find it only fitting that I give you the low-down on how it should exit the body as well. So in this post, I'm going to give you the Scoop on Poop.
Is my poop normal?
Whether we admit it or not, most of us have probably asked ourselves this question at one time or another. And it’s a good question to ask, considering the appearance of your poop tells a lot about the health of your entire body. When your poop doesn’t look quite right it’s a pretty good indicator that something is amiss. You could have a virus, or possibly a digestive disease or other illness, or maybe you just ate too much spicy food.
What is a Normal Poop?
1. How many times per day should I poop?
The number of bowl movements that someone should have each day varies from person to person, so there is not one specific number that is considered completely “normal”. However, most experts agree that it is important to have a movement at least three or more times per week at a minimum.
Generally, going once or twice a day is considered normal. Going every other day is also somewhat normal, as long as you feel comfortable and are not experiencing pain in your abdomen. What’s most important is consistency. When you are in tune with your own body’s patterns it is easier to discern when something is internally “off”.
2. What should my poop look like?
It is most ideal to have poop that is all connected in one long, smooth “S” shape. This kind of poop develops when you’re eating enough fiber and drinking plenty of hydrating water.
However, according to digestive experts, a smooth poop that is thin or broken up into a few smaller poops is not something to be concerned about, as long as this is “normal” for you and does not cause you any discomfort. The color of a normal poop should be a medium to dark brown.
The Bristol Stool Scale was designed in the 1990’s to be a medical aid that classifies poop into one of seven categories. When physicians meet with patients and discuss their digestive health, they can use the Bristol scale to locate the patient’s typical poop and learn what may be causing a problem.
The idea behind designing the scale was to classify how poop looks depending on the time that it takes for the poop to form in the colon, or the poop’s “transit time”. If a poop is considered abnormal, it usually falls into categories 1-2 (which are signs of constipation and poop being held too long in the body) or categories 6-7 (which are signs of diarrhea and the poop moving too quickly through the body).
BRISTOL STOOL SCALE
According to The Bristol Stool Scale, the seven types of stool are:
Type 1: Separate hard lumps, like nuts (hard to pass)
Type 2: Sausage-shaped, but lumpy
Type 3: Like a sausage but with cracks on its surface
Type 4: Like a sausage or snake, smooth and soft
Type 5: Soft blobs with clear cut edges (passed easily)
Type 6: Fluffy pieces with ragged edges, a mushy stool
Type 7: Watery, no solid pieces, entirely liquid
Types 1–2: indicate constipation
Types 3-5: considered to be ideal, normal poops
Type 6-7: considered abnormal and indicate diarrhea
3. What should my poop smell like?
Although it may sound unpleasant, the fact that your poop stinks is actually not a bad thing. Poop stinks because of the toxins that are drawn out of your body and the bacteria in the gut lining. There is not any specific odor that is considered “normal”; again, it’s just important to keep an eye on things being consistent and comfortable for you.
If you do notice a change in how your poop smells - from “not so great” to “very, very bad”- this could be a sign that something more serious is taking place within your gut. If the smell continues for several days, you may want to consult your doctor.
4. How long should a normal poop take?
A healthy poop doesn’t cause pain, break up into multiple little pieces, or take a very long time and lots of pushing to come out. It should not take much effort to produce a poop and you should feel like you’ve emptied your intestines completely.
What’s NOT Normal?
1. Going too often or not often enough
Having trouble going to the bathroom more than a few times a week, or going too many times per day (more than 3) is considered by most experts to be abnormal. Poop should not be painful, cause you to bleed, or require a lot of pushing and effort on your part. If you have to push very hard to poop and notice blood, you are likely experiencing hemorrhoids. While these are usually not very serious and do not require medical attention, they can be painful.
2. Experiencing changes in your poop’s consistency
If your poop is either overly watery or very hard and difficult to push out, this is a sign that things are not going well in your digestive tract. Diarrhea produces overly soft or watery poops and can be dangerous if it persists because it dehydrates and weakens the body. The causes of diarrhea vary, but often the reasons are dehydration, a viral infection, or even nerves.
Diarrhea can also be caused by certain medications or medical conditions like Gluten Sensitivity or Celiac Disease (a gluten allergy), lactose intolerance (a dairy food allergy), and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases like Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis, or Leaky Gut. This is why it’s very important to see a physician if you experience diarrhea on an ongoing basis.
Constipation, on the other hand, is categorized by infrequent, usually painful poops that are caused by slow colonic transit or dysfunction in the pelvic floor. Many people experience ongoing chronic constipation- in fact this is one of the most reported problems at doctor’s visits every year. Constipation can be caused by many different factors depending on the individual.
3. If your poop’s color is off
If your poop is black, green, gray, yellow or red in color this can be a sign that something is wrong. For example, black poop can be a sign of internal bleeding, so if this persists for more than 2-3 poops, you will want to consult a physician.
Green colored poop usually means that food is making its way through your digestive tract very quickly, which can be a sign that you are starting to experience diarrhea or have not been consuming enough fiber to slow the transition down within your digestive tract.
Red or purple poop may occur if you eat a lot of deeply colored vegetables like beets, but if you experience colors like this that you cannot associate with any food you recently ate, you will want to keep an eye on how many days it lasts and possibly see a doctor.
Finally, poop that is grayish or yellow in color is normally a sign that mucus is making its way into your stool. This shows that likely there is a problem with the liver or gallbladder, since the liver is responsible for producing bile that gives stool a grayish/yellow tint.
4 Common Causes of Abnormal Poop
1. High levels of stress
Ongoing stress makes it difficult for many people to relax their body and go to the bathroom properly. The brain and the gut actually have a very close relationship; they communicate how you are feeling back and forth to each other, working to increase and decrease “stress hormones” depending on your moods, which play a big part in healthy digestion.
In fact, common digestive disorders like Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) are closely correlated with high levels of stress. When we are feeling stressed our brain communicates these uneasy feelings to our digestive tract, causing the gut wall to either constrict and tense up (creating constipation) or to work overtime and cramp up (creating diarrhea).
Stress can sometimes be a huge digestive obstacle to overcome, so much so that you may already eat a healthy diet and drink plenty of water, but without also addressing high stress levels, you still can’t experience some digestive relief. While you may not be able to control things like a busy schedule, you can reduce stress through simple measures such as making sure to get a good night’s sleep and exercising regularly, both of which help to bring down stress hormones levels.
2. Diet Low in Fiber
Fiber is extremely important when it comes to healthy poop. Fiber is the binding substance that gives poop its form and helps it to move through the digestive tract. There are two kinds of fiber, both of which play a role in creating healthy poops: insoluble and soluble fiber. The difference between the two is their ability to dissolve in water; soluble fiber is able to dissolve in water while insoluble fiber is not.
If you struggle with ongoing constipation, pay close attention to how much fiber you are consuming daily. Consider swapping some of the foods in your diet that lack fiber - like meat, cheese, refined carbohydrates, and hydrogenated oils - for much healthier, whole foods that provide your body with a lot more benefits.
3. Inflammatory and Autoimmune foods Many people consume common inflammatory and allergen foods on a frequent basis and these can really mess with the digestive system’s ability to produce normal poop. Some of these foods are:
conventional dairy foods (like cows’ milk, cheeses, and yogurts that are not organic or pasteurized)
gluten (found in all wheat products, nearly all processed foods, and anything containing rye and barley) which makes any digestive disorders worse
processed soy (used in foods like soy milk, soy meat replacements, packaged veggie burgers, and many processed foods) which is a high allergen and autoimmune causing food
different types of nuts, grains, and shellfish since these are also high allergens and difficult for some people to digest
Try avoiding these for a while and see how it effects the flow, and consistency, of your bowel movements; as well as the overall health of your gut, in general. An “elimination diet” is a very effective tool for discovering foods that may be causing issues for you.
4. Caffeine
Caffeine acts as a natural diuretic. Caffeine also blocks the absorption of magnesium, a key mineral that is essential to the colon’s regulation of normal, healthy bowel movements.
Coffee is one of the biggest contributors to dehydration. Dehydrated cells have difficulty absorbing nutrients, and they also have problems eliminating waste. Coffee itself compounds the problem by acting as a laxative, causing the bowels to move prior to the absorption of water and mineral nutrients. This reinforces body dehydration and malnourishment. Coffee also increases stomach acid levels, and higher acid levels can cause permanent damage to the intestinal lining.
How to Get Your Poop Back to Normal
1. Increase Your Fiber Intake
Adults want to make sure they consume fiber from whole food sources as often as possible (as opposed to artificially created fibers that are found in things like “high fiber” diet products and pre-made, commercially sold shakes).
Vegetables, fruits, and beans are some of the best sources of both soluble and insoluble fiber. It’s important to keep in mind that each person reacts to these foods differently, and some individuals have trouble digesting certain kinds, which may worsen the problem. Always be mindful about how you react to foods and cut out any that cause you digestive distress.
Assuming they do not cause you any known problems, add these types of fiber-rich foods to your diet as often as possible:
· Beans (legumes)
· Berries
· Whole grains
· Brown Rice
· Baked potato (eat the skin!)
· Oatmeal
· Nuts and seeds (Almonds, Pecans, Walnuts/Sesame, Chia Flax and Hemp)
· Vegetables (the crunchier the better)
2. Drink Plenty of Water
Consume as much water as you are able. Keeping yourself hydrated throughout the day sets you up for a healthier poop the following morning.
Whenever you are eating a lot of fiber, you want to also make sure to drink plenty of water. A high amount of fiber, without enough hydrating liquids, can create negative results. Remember that fiber swells and expands in the digestive tract, so if it doesn’t have enough water to absorb and to move it through the gut lining, you can experience uncomfortable bloating, gas, pains, and constipation.
3. Probiotics
Probiotics help to create a healthy environment in your gut’s “microflora”. Essentially this means that the amount of “good bacteria” in your gut is able to balance the amount of “bad bacteria”, helping you to stay free of digestive problems including constipation or diarrhea.
Probiotic-rich foods include things like kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi and high-quality yogurts. Make sure that when buying dairy products, you always choose organic products that are easier on digestion, including goat milk products, organic kefir, raw dairy products, or dairy that doesn’t contain A1 casein which can cause inflammation. You can also try supplementing with a good-quality probiotic as well.
4. Supplement with Magnesium
If you frequently deal with constipation, magnesium has the natural ability to safely soften poop. It works to draw water from your gut into the poop and helps it to easily move through your system. Magnesium is also a natural muscle relaxer which can help to stop cramping in the gut and abdomen.
Since magnesium is one of the most common nutrient deficiencies in adults, there are really no downsides to trying magnesium, as long as you stick within the recommended daily dosage.
5. Support your Liver!
Did you know that your liver is responsible for producing the bile that digests fat? Without enough bile, your fats become something like soap in your gut! This backs up and can lead to constipation and difficulty ridding the body of toxins. One of the best ways to support your liver is with diet and exercise! You can also try a liver cleanse to clean everything out and get your body back to feeling its best!
6. Get Your Body Moving! Being active is a great way to keep a more consistent poop schedule. Exercise stimulates the bowels and lymphatic system, which helps to push waste down to your colon, making it easier for you to go. Exercise also relaxes your mind and reduces stress. Cop A Squat! On a more personal note, I want to share a technique that I have found very helpful. Potty squatting. There’s been a lot of research that proves how squatting (with the knees above the butt/the legs at a 35 degree angle) is much more conducive to a stress-free bowel movement. It’s just a more natural position for the muscles used to expel fecal matter. Below are illustrations proving this theory. But don’t just take the “experts” word for it – try it for yourself. I believe you will feel the difference the first time you do.
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