Even though Hippocrates said more than 2000 years ago that all disease begins in the gut researchers still must prove that it does.

The majority of the informed populace are aware of how important it is for our well-being to have a healthy gut.  The health of which depends on healthy gut microbiota. In actually, it’s at the top of the list of things that disturb our daily routines, social events or even travel experiences as the worry, pain and embarrassment of a malfunctioning intestinal system.

There are many common sayings that describe how the gut can affect us.  We often use our “gut feeling” to make difficult decisions and when we are nervous of an upcoming job interview or a big event we have “butterflies” in our stomachs that may put the fear in us that we’ll need to make a sudden dash to the bathroom.

Researchers are increasingly discovering and recognizing that other organ systems are influenced by the gut environment.  These links are gaining attention as possible factors in a number of diseases, such as depression and lung disease.

This is just the beginning of the discoveries of the many ways in which a healthy or unhealthy gut can impact our lives.  We already know a lot about the important little bacteria and how they impact our immune system.

These Bacteria Teach Our Immune System How to Behave

The immune system is the main link between our gut bacteria and their influence on our health and disease.  We now know that this education begins even before we are born.

Previously, it was assumed that the prenatal environment in the womb was free from bacteria, but thanks to increasingly sophisticated analytical methods, we now know that bacteria are already present in the placenta. We are born with a naïve immune system and are at first protected by antibodies from our mother. However, the immune cells need to be educated further in order to learn how to protect the body from harm when the maternal antibodies are gone. This education is essential for our future health.

Bacteria Educate Our Immune System from the Moment we are Born

We also know how important bacteria are for maintaining a normal immune system from experiments with germ free laboratory mice born without any bacteria at all.

These mice have an immature immune system lacking important types of immune cells. But when they are provided with even a restricted bacterial flora, the immune system matures and develops more diverse cells. These experiments have provided extensive knowledge on the function of the immune system, and of the effects of single bacteria or specific groups of bacteria.

Research conducted in both animals and humans has helped us to understand the early life factors of disease development. For example, we know that children born from caesarean section have a higher risk of developing certain diseases – some studies show as much as 20 percent higher risk of type 1 diabetes, asthma, and an increased risk of obesity, compared to vaginally born children.

This is probably due to the cleaner method of delivery, which delays the colonisation of gut bacteria and the education of the immune system. It is also known that extensive treatment with certain antibiotics at a young age increases the risk of allergy and asthma. The hygiene hypothesis has led the way to this line of thinking, but other factors such as antibiotics use of the mother and pre-term planning of caesarean sections with immature maternal milk may also influence these increased risks of disease.

Gut Bacteria Maintain a Balanced Immune System

Throughout life, we are constantly exposed to new things in our gut, nose and lungs, via our food and environment, such as food additives, pollen in the air or non-pathogenic microorganisms in dust or dirt. But thankfully, most people have healthy immune systems that handle all of these invading objects with ease.

If it didn’t, it would elicit an inflammatory response every time you tried a new food or visited a new country with different types of trees. This would be a highly ineffective and unnecessary use of energy.

The essential task of the immune system is to maintain a balance between reaction and tolerance. It is essential that this tolerance, called oral tolerance, is established. And a diverse gut flora established in early life with many types of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms, is crucial for this, as it teaches the cells of the immune system that not everything is bad.

Since balance of bacteria in our gut influences the balance of our immune system, an unbalanced bacterial flora with for instance too many opportunistic pathogens can shift the immune system to an increased inflammatory state with a so-called “leaky gut”. This inflammatory state may then affect other body systems and increase the risk of obesity, type 1 and type 2 diabetes and even depression.

Bad Gut Bacteria Can Lead to Disease

Most bacteria are beneficial, but some are responsible for the progression of disease.

It is perhaps common sense that gut bacteria play a significant role in diseases directly related to the gut, such as inflammatory bowel diseases. This has been studied for years and today, treatments are available to correct skewed bacterial compositions and aid recovery of beneficial bacteria via faecal transplantation in some colitis patients. Most people are also familiar with the use of over-the-counter probiotics especially during exotic vacations.

Bacteria are survivors in the best Darwinian style, and they will to some extent adjust to the environment they are in. This is, for instance why resistance to antibiotics occurs. This also means that if good bacteria are removed due to for example diet or medication, some of the opportunistic commensals, or pathogens, will immediately move in and try to fill the gap.

A Diverse Gut Flora is the Healthiest

It is not so easy to permanently change an established gut flora, good or bad. Once disturbed, the flora will return to normal within a short time frame, just like when you return home after a vacation and eat your usual diet.

But an imbalanced gut is able to loop in a bad cycle, whereby harmful functions are reinforced. In laboratory mice, researchers have shown that a certain bacterial composition is associated with type 1 diabetes and obesity – in fact, researchers were able to transfer obesity to lean mice by transplantation of the gut microbiota.

Such skewed microbiotas all have one thing in common: a lack of diversity. A diverse microbiota is more likely to bounce back from unhealthy fluctuations in diet and withstand outside intruders, and this means a much more tolerant and well-regulated immune system.  The colon contains more than 10,000,000,000,000 cells per gram of intestinal content and between 300 to 1000 different bacterial species.

Gut Bacteria Could Lead to Personalized Microbiota Transfer Therapy

So how can we use all of this knowledge in the future?

We know that presence or absence of bacteria is important in the development of several diseases. We also know that it is rarely just one or two bacterial strains that make a difference, but more likely a whole group of certain bacteria influencing other bacteria.

This is all very challenging to study in humans—especially in complicated scenarios, where these skewed bacterial communities cause trouble elsewhere in the body.

Until now, scientists have focused on understanding the presence or absence of certain bacteria, but what really interests us today, is what these bacteria produce and what signals they send to the rest of the body. Luckily we now have advanced tools at our fingertips to figure this out.

Systems biology with whole genomic, whole proteomic, and whole metabolomics analyses are revealing new details about these bacteria and might even lead to personalised diagnosis and treatment. For instance, it is likely that in the near future, the examination of patients will include a full assessment of the microbiota or its products just like a routine blood sample, leading to precise interventions in diet or administration of bacteria.

Let Your Kids get Dirty

In addition, these methods help explain other mechanisms in the body related to bacteria. For example, a 2017 Nature paper showed that some of the beneficial effects of the type 2-diabetes medicine “Metformin” that enhance insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetic patients, are due to its effect on gut microbiota and their products. In particular due to the promotion of the good bacteria Akkermansia Muciniphila.

Using these methods, we can establish clearer cause and effect relationships between bacteria and outcomes, which have previously been difficult. In other words, we are a step closer to tracking down exactly which part of the gut microbiome is different in a disease state, improve it with diet, medicine or bacterial transplants, and follow the change in bacterial products and messengers.

Researchers will probably soon be able to buy their laboratory mice with a “diabetes – or obesity” inducing gut microbiota or even with a humanized microbiota. This could improve our disease models and make them more effective. It might even help us understand what circumstances are necessary to really permanently change a person’s gut microbiota to the better.

Research in nanotechnology is producing new ways of delivering medicine, vaccinations, and bacteria to the body. Imagine a nano-sized container with a specific bacterial mix meant for the distant part of the gut,designed to protect the bacteria and only open when they meet the appropriate “key” at the right location, for instance an enzyme or a specific pH value.

Clinical studies of microbiota transfer therapy in humans are already taking place and probiotic use is increasing (autism spectrum disorder improved with faecal therapy) and there is no doubt that new and more specialized probiotics will be presented in the near future (for example, the NxtGenProbio project is expected to yield interesting results).

Personalised bacterial “diagnosis” and treatment would certainly be a valuable tool for health professionals, but it is unlikely to become a commonly used tool any time soon since there are still many unknown factors and risks. For instance, should a faecal “donation” come from your own gut, or from a different part of the intestines? How do we prevent transfer of bad bacteria along with the good ones? Are family members more compatible donors compared to a standard foreign donor?

Until then: Let your kids get dirty with a good conscience… you are priming their gut flora into being balanced and healthy.

The Many Axes of Gut Bacteria

Signals run along axes from the gut to other parts of our bodies via neurons, hormones, and perhaps most importantly via the immune system. We call these “axes” and they help describe the connection between gut bacteria and disease else-where in the body.

1. The gut-brain axis

The most studied axis so far is the connection between gut and brain, since it is documented and well-known among health professionals that patients suffering from inflammatory bowel diseases often also suffer from depression.

The gut is able to alter the brain chemistry via neuronal pathways and through messengers of the immune system, called cytokines – and these messengers depend on the state of the gut microbiota.

Stress is a good example: stress changes the gut microbiota, and the signals running to the brain may impact how we behave. For instance, early life stress changes the gut microbiota of monkeys, and rat pups which are stressed by separating them from their mothers prematurely. Their gut microbiota is disturbed as a result, and they have increased levels of stress hormone and a different immune response.

2. The gut-liver axis

Another axis is the gut-liver axis, which is studied widely in liver research, since 70% of the blood flow to the liver is directly flowing from the gut.

Gut bacteria are a vital source of fat components and of circulating antigens, and may impact the risk of fatty liver disease.

3. The gut-lung and gut-kidney axes

The gut-lung axis is of interest in respiratory disease research, where the gut microbiota influences both asthma, COPD, pneumonia and even development of cancer.

Scientists have also proposed a gut-kidney axis where the bad toxic products of a diseased kidney affect the microbiota and a bad microbiota increase the amount of toxins released as a disease mechanism in chronic kidney disease.

So, can an Unhealthy Gut Have a Negative Effect on a Person?

What do you think?

Thank you Medical Express and ScienceNordic for your contribution to the Eat Healthy Everyday mission

Share this...

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Linkedin

So, the question is – is my poop normal?

It’s a subject that is probably not the best dinner conversation but it IS a subject that almost every person dealing with constant constipation, Irritable Bowel issues, or the myriad of other digestive ailments as asked themselves.

When you’re not having normal bowel movements on a daily basis, or when you do your feces is an unusual color and/or consistency, this can definitely indicate that something isn’t quite right.  . Maybe you ate too many dessert, didn’t drink enough water or are sick with a virus, or you possibly have a underlying digestive disease or illness, you’re not aware of, Jillian Levy, CHHC has information that you need to read!

If you’re curious about whether your pooping habits are considered healthy or not, then you are already thinking along the right path. The frequency, color, shape, size and consistency of your poop can actually tell you a lot about the health of your entire body.

For example, green poop — a common health problem among children and some adults who struggle with diarrhea — can indicate that something you ate isn’t agreeing with you. Constipation may be due to a poor diet that lacks fiber, high amounts of stress, or something hormone-related like your menstrual cycle or pregnancy.

Below we’ll cover in much more detail what a normal poop should look like, about how often you should be pooping, as well as what the smell and color of your stool can tell you.

What Is a Normal Poop?

Poop (feces) is defined as waste matter that is discharged/excreted from the bowels after food has been digested. In simplest terms, poop is the body’s natural way of expelling the leftover waste and toxins that it doesn’t need once it’s absorbed all of the usable nutrients you consume from the foods you eat. Defecation is another term for pooping, which means the discharge of feces from the body.

The process of digestion — eating a food, the food traveling through your stomach and intestines, it making its way down to your colon and anal canal, and then you pooping the digested waste out — involves many different aspects of your body. For example, digestive enzymes, hormones, blood flow, muscle contractions and more are all involved in the pooping process. So when just one of these is off, your digestion really suffers — and that shows up in your poop.

How many times per day should I poop?

Going too often or not often enough is not considered normal. Having trouble going to the bathroom more than a few times a week, or going too many times per day (more than three), is considered by most experts to be a sign of abnormal bowel movements.

The amount of bowel movements a day that someone should have varies from person to person, so there is not one specific number that is considered completely “normal”; however, most experts agree that it’s important to go to the bathroom at least three or more times per week at a minimum. Any less than this indicates that you are constipated. (1)

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. It may be normal for one person to poop two times per day, and for another person to poop just once every other day. Above all else, you want to make sure things are pretty consistent from day to day; this shows you what is “normal” poop for your own body and clues you in to when something internally is off.

What should my poop look like?

When you do go to the bathroom, it’s ideal to have a poop that is all connected in one long, smooth “S” shape. Poops like this develop when you’re eating enough fiber and drinking plenty of water or other hydrating liquids which lubricates your bowels.

However, a smooth poop that is thin or broken up into a few smaller poops is not something to be concerned about according to digestive experts, as long as this is “normal” for you and does not cause you any discomfort.

In terms of color, the color of a normal poop should be a medium to dark brown. Sometimes you may have green poop if you consume green foods, such as lots of leafy green vegetables, and this is considered normal.

You may have heard of the The Bristol Stool Chart in the past, which was designed in the 1990s 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 chart 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).

According to The Bristol Stool Chart, the seven types of stool are: (2)

• 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: Indicates constipation. (3)

Types 3–5: Considered to be ideal (especially 4), normal poops.

Type 6–7: Considered abnormal and indicates diarrhea.

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 feel pretty easy to produce a poop, and you should feel like you’ve emptied your intestines once you’re done going. The whole process should not take more than several minutes for most people, or ideally even shorter. In fact, one recent study found evidence that most mammals, regardless of their size, produce bowel movements in about 12 seconds (give or take about 7 seconds)! (4)

It’s not normal to experience lots of straining, pressure and pain while passing a bowel movement. Poop should not cause too much pressure or burning, 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.

You also shouldn’t experience too many changes in your poop’s consistency and how long it takes you to go. 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. It might also cause your poop to be green.

What does it mean when your stomach hurts and your poop is green? The causes of diarrhea and green poop vary, but often the reasons are dehydration, a viral stomach flu or infection, as a result of eating something with harmful parasites or bacteria, or even nerves (more on green poop can be found below).

Diarrhea and the sudden urge to poop can also be caused by certain medications or medical conditions, such as:

• gluten sensitivity or celiac disease (a gluten allergy)
• lactose intolerance (a dairy food allergy)
• inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis
• leaky gut syndrome

This is why its 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. (6) Many people experience ongoing chronic constipation — in fact, this is one of the most reported problems at doctor’s visits every year.

Constipation can also be accompanied by other digestive symptoms like flatulence (gas), abdominal pain, stomach bloating and loss of appetite. It can be caused by many different factors depending on the individual, which we will go over in more detail in the next section.

How bad is it to hold in your poop?

Because you might not have access to a bathroom 24/7, or feel comfortable pooping in certain places, you might need to hold in your poop from time to time. Doing this occasionally isn’t a big deal, but you don’t want to make a habit of it.

Holding in your poop can put added pressure on your bowels and colon, potentially even leading them to change shape slightly if you do this often enough. It may also contribute to constipation and straining when you do finally poop because it causes your stools to further bulk up.

Over time, if you regularly ignore your urge to poop, you might stop responding to the urge as well. The muscles that control your bowels may stop working properly, leading to more constipation. Try to honor your body and poop when you need to, avoiding holding it in for more then several minutes if possible.

Dr. Axe made a great chart for recognizing what your poop is telling you.

Poop Color, Poop Smell & What It Means for Your Health

Facts About Poop Color:

Stool color is determined by what you eat and the amount of bile enzymes you produce. Bile is a yellow-green fluid that mostly helps you digest fats in your diet. It can change the color of your poop during the digestive process due to how enzymes impact pigments in your stool. (7)

As mentioned above, the color of a normal poop should usually be a medium to dark brown. However, occasionally having green poop is also common and not a problem. Experiencing poops that are black, gray, yellow, white or red in color can be a sign that something deeper is wrong. If you have green poop along with other symptoms like stomach aches and diarrhea, this is also problematic.

• Green poop can sometimes be a common problem among both children and, to a lesser extent, adults. Why is your poop green, and what health problems can cause green poop? If you haven’t recently eaten anything green, green-colored poops might mean 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.
• What foods can give you green poop? These include green leafy vegetables like spinach or kale, vegetables juices, blueberries, pistachios, green food powders, foods that contain green food coloring, and also sometimes iron supplements.
• In infants, the color and consistency of stool in differs according to the type of formula they are given, or if they are breast-fed. Babies fed formula may also deal with harder stools/more constipation compared to breast-fed babies. (8) When babies start eating solid foods, certain veggies or fruits might cause green poop in babies.

Other than green poops, there are also other reasons you might develop abnormal stool colors. For example, you may have blood in your stool or mucus in your poop.

• Black poops usually a sign that you may be internally bleeding, so if this persists for more than 2–3 poops, you will want to consult a physician.
• Red or purple poop can be somewhat common 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.
• Blood in stool can result in black poop or bright red blood in poop, which may be a symptom of bleeding from the anus (also called rectal bleeding). Blood in stool is also referred to medically as hematochezia, which can be caused by: bleeding stomach ulcers, blood supply being cut off to part of the intestines, gastritis, anal fissures, bowel ischemia, diverticulosis, hemorrhoids (often the cause of bright red blood), infection in the intestines, inflammatory bowel diseases, and polyps or cancer in the colon or small intestine. (9)
• 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.
• Mucous in your stools can cause you to pass “stringy poops” that appear to contain a jelly-like substance, which is made by the body to keep the lining of your colon moist and lubricated. (10) What are some causes of mucus in poop? These can include: Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and even colorectal cancer. A small amount of mucus in your poop is not a big deal or a sign of a problem, but a lot is not normal. If you notice mucus in your poop, blood, abdominal pain, and diarrhea happening at the same time, head to your doctor for an evaluation.

Facts About Poop Smell:

Although it may sound unpleasant, your poop smelling is actually not a bad thing or an indication of poor health. Poop smells because of the toxins it is helping to draw out of your body and because of the bacteria involved in the gut lining. There is not any specific poop smell that is considered “normal”; again, it’s just important to keep an eye on things being consistent and comfortable.

If you do notice a sudden change in the smell of your poop — 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, who may recommend a colonoscopy if needed.

5 Common Causes of Abnormal Poop

1. High levels of stress

According to a report published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology,

Psychological stress is an important factor for the development of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) … psychological stresses have marked impact on intestinal sensitivity, motility, secretion and permeability, and the underlying mechanism has a close correlation with mucosal immune activation, alterations in central nervous system, peripheral neurons and gastrointestinal microbiota. (11)

Chronic stress makes it difficult for many people to relax their body and go to the bathroom properly. Your brain and our 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, making it very common for the gut wall to either constrict and tense up (causing constipation) or to work overtime and cramp up (causing 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 prioritize reducing your stress by making sure you get good sleep each night and by regularly exercising, both of which help to bring down stress hormones levels.

2. Diet Low in Fiber

Fiber is extremely important when it comes to healthy poops; 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 (you’ll find a list of these foods below).

3. Inflammatory and Autoimmune foods

Unfortunately, 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 poops, in addition to creating more serious conditions like leaky gut syndrome and autoimmune disease. If you’re struggling to go to the bathroom normally, try avoiding these inflammatory digestive “common culprits” that may be to blame:

• 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) that makes any digestive disorders worse
• processed soy (used in foods like soy milk, soy meat replacements, packaged veggie burgers and many processed foods) that is a high allergen and autoimmune-causing food
• high amounts of sugar, which unhealthy bacteria feeds off of in your gut
• also keep an eye on different types of nuts, grains and shellfish since these are also high allergens and difficult for some people to digest

4. Alcohol & Caffeine

Stress and caffeine can create a range of negative reactions in the digestive tract that depend on the individual person. For example, some people experience an increased need and ability to poop after having caffeine, while others have the opposite problem.

Caffeine and alcohol can also both dehydrate the colon, and as you learned, a well hydrated digestive tract is crucial for creating healthy, normal poops.

5. Hormonal Changes

Women typically report dealing with more constipation, IBS and digestive issues than men do. Experts believe there are a number of reasons that contribute to women’s digestive issues, some of which include: changes in hormones throughout the menstrual cycle (period a woman menstruates she may be more constipated due to higher progesterone levels), pregnancy, hormonal medications, feeling more stressed, and rushing or leaving too little time for a healthy bathroom routine. (13)

Anther possible contributor is societal pressure and embarrassment that prevents women from going to the bathroom in public bathrooms or at friend’s houses.

6. Underlying Illnesses

As explained above, there are many health conditions that affect stool color and cause abnormal bowel movements. While you don’t want to jump to any conclusions right away and assume the worst when your poop changes color or you’re constipated, this is definitely something to see a doctor about and not wait out for too long.

Certain changes in your bowel habits can be pointing to possible serious conditions like gallbladder or liver disease, bleeding, gut parasites and so on. Other health conditions to rule out with your doctor include: inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, food allergies, or reactions from medications/supplements.

7 Steps to Get Your Poop Back to Normal

1. Increase Your Fiber Intake

A common cause of constipation is not eating enough dietary fiber. Fiber acts like a natural laxative in many ways because it add bulks to your stool and helps sweep your intestines clean.

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).

It’s best to aim to get between 25–40 grams of fiber per day, with bigger individuals and men usually need an amount on the higher end of the scale. Getting this much fiber shouldn’t be too difficult if your diet is made up of real, whole foods — including plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Vegetables, fruits and beans are some of the best sources of both soluble and insoluble fiber, which will increase your ability to properly poop. However, each person reacts to these foods differently, and some have trouble digesting certain kinds of beans and fibrous vegetables that can actually worsen the problem. So always be mindful about how you react to foods and try to zero-in on any that specifically may cause you digestive distress so you can avoid them.

Assuming these foods do not cause you to experience digestive problems, work towards adding various types of high-fiber foods to your diet as often as you can. This helps ensure you’re eating plenty of gut-loving fiber, plus getting other important nutrients for your digestive system like vitamins, minerals, electrolytes and antioxidants.

• eat all types of leafy greens (but don’t be alarmed if they wind up causing green poop)
• cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cabbage (try steaming these to make digestion easier)
• artichokes
• peas and other types of beans (which you can also pre-soak and sprout)
• squash and potatoes
• berries, apples and pears (which can be blended as well), figs and dates
• chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds and various other nuts/seeds

2. Drink Plenty of Water

Aim to consume water every two hours at a minimum; drinking roughly eight ounces of water every couple of hours will prevent dehydration and set 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 actually result in even more trouble going to the bathroom, unfortunately. 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. Consume Probiotics

Probiotics help to create a healthy environment in your gut “micoflora.” 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 includes kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi and high-quality yogurts. Make sure that when buying dairy products, you always choose organic products as they are easier on digestion, such as goat milk products, organic kefir, raw dairy products or dairy that doesn’t contain A1 casein that 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 tying magnesium, as long as you stick within the recommended daily dosage carefully; if you start experiencing stools that are too loose and watery, you can adjust your intake until its comfortable and back to normal.

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 detoxing the body of toxins. One of the best ways to support your liver is with diet and exercise. You can also do 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 get your poop cycle on a more regular schedule. Exercise stimulates the bowels and lymphatic system, which helps to push waste down to your colon, making it easier for you to go. On top of this, exercise also relaxes your mind and reduces stress, which as you now know is one of the biggest reasons for digestive troubles.

7. Manage Stress

Try natural stress relievers like meditation, prayer, exercise, using relaxing essential oils, deep breathing exercises, yoga and spending time in nature.

Final Thoughts

• Every person is different when it comes to their bathroom habits. It’s considered “normal” to poop one to three times daily, or just once every other day. Ideally poop should be one long, smooth “S” shape and not require straining or painful pushing.
• Poop color depends on what you eat, supplements you take and your production of bile. Poop should ideally be medium to dark brown, but you might have green poop occasionally if you eat green veggies, green juices or take iron supplements.
• Some reasons that you might not be pooping normally include: stress, infection, autoimmune diseases, other underlying illnesses, lack of fiber, dehydration, alcohol and caffeine.
• Ways that you can improve your pooping habits include: eating more fiber, drinking enough water, consuming probiotics, exercising, supporting your liver and managing stress.

Thank you Jillian Levy for your valuable information!!

Share this...

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Linkedin

The evidence is mounting that  the health of your gut microbiome is directly impacting your health, well-being, and risk for developing many serious and potentially debilitating chronic medical conditions and it is in our control if that is a negative or positive impact.

Kevin Devoto, has identified 5 steps that can help a person gain and maintain your gut Microbiome.

5 Tips to Gain and Maintain Healthy Gut Microbiome

1. Eat a Probiotic-Rich Diet

Fiber is perhaps the best friend of a healthy gut. It offers carbohydrates that your body cannot digest but hat makes an excellent food source for the beneficial probiotic bacteria that you want to encourage. It also helps encourage a healthy gut lining and may make gut bacteria more resistant to changing temperatures and environments.

In addition to traditional fiber-rich foods like beans and vegetables, try adding whole grains, bananas, chicory, and onions to your diet for their high levels of fructans.

2. Keep Sweetners to a Minimum or Use Natural Sweetners

While you want to increase fiber and overall carbohydrates, you’ll want to keep added sugars and artificial sweeteners to a minimum. Researchers are finding that these can lead to imbalances within the gut microbiome in animal studies, which may translate to higher increases of metabolic diseases in people.

Excess sweeteners can also negatively impact your blood glucose levels. This is linked to higher rates of disease and lower levels of and diversity within gut bacteria profiles.

Don’t worry too much about the sugars that naturally occur in fruits and vegetables. Instead, aim to keep added sweeteners to a minimum. The American Heart Association recommends keeping added sugars to less than about six teaspoons (or around 100 calories) per day for women and nine teaspoons (150 calories) per day for men.

3. Increase Exercise

Exercise improves your circulation and helps encourage lean muscle mass and definition. Both of those help the digestive system perform at its best. It also can help you control your weight, which can impact gut health and bacterial diversity.

You don’t have to suddenly transform into an uber athlete to see results. Take up walking during your lunch break, or try the new yoga class at the local recreation center to ease into exercising.

No matter what activities you decide on, aim to get at least the recommended 150 hours of moderate to intense exercise each week. Breaking that up into about 30 minutes of exercise on most days make sit a manageable task. If that still seems like a lot, break it into smaller ten-minute chunks spread throughout each day to start out. Strength training exercises are also recommended for the most health benefits.

4. Reduce Stress

That yoga class may give your gut health a boost beyond adding exercise to your day. Stress has been linked to less diversity among gut bacteria as well as disruptions in digestive functions.

Stress isn’t purely psychological either. Environmental factors like extreme temperatures and sleep deprivation can also stress out your digestive system. Encourage a healthy gut by reducing your exposure and resistance to stressors.

Be proactive and use management strategies like meditation, progressive relaxation, or deep breathing exercises to minimize the effects. Taking care of yourself by eating right, exercising, and getting plenty of rest can also help.

5. Stay Hydrated

Increasing your water consumption is a simple and easy way to increase your gut (and overall) health. While the advice has long been eight glasses of water a day, you actually need about twice that much fluid each day. Of course, some of that comes from water in the foods you eat.

Dehydration affects your body in many negative ways, going far beyond gut health. It leads to listlessness and fatigue, confusion and memory loss, and can cause problems with organ functions.

A quick way to check if you are drinking enough water is to check the color of your urine. It should be pale yellow or clear. Anything darker and you may need to up your water intake.

Reap the Benefits of a Healthy Gut

There are many benefits to fostering a healthy gut. It is linked to a lower incidence of chronic disease and healthier weight levels. It also appears to reduce inflammation and boost your immune system, which may help you fight off illnesses. Take these simple steps toward a healthier gut microbiome today to see how it affects your life.

Share this...

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Linkedin

People need to understand how important gut health is AND how important it is to eat the right food AND make sure your body processes it correctly AND to keep the food moving all the way through the intestinal tract AND out of the intestinal tract.

Water and Walking

Two things I have found in my search to relive my chronic constipation have been to make sure I am properly hydrated and to get enough exercise to keep the bowels moving.  With me and others our eating habits, age, gender, and health status all affect the number of bowel movements we experience in a given day. While there is no set number of bowel movements a person should have, it’s abnormal, unhealthy, possibly dangerous and downright uncomfortable to go four or fewer times per week.

The causes of constipation vary.

The condition may simply be due to such as things as dehydration or eating foods with too little fiber. In other, more serious cases, constipation can be the result of stress, hormonal changes, spinal injuries, muscle problems, cancers, and other structural problems affecting the digestive tract.

Lifestyle changes that can help you poop.

There are several lifestyle changes that can also keep your constipation at bay more permanently. For regularity, try to make these tips part of your daily habit.

• Add more fiber to your diet, with fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes, beans, and whole grains. You should consume at least 14 grams of fiber per day for every 1,000 calories in your diet. If you need to take a fiber supplement for chronic constipation, start with a low dose and increase as tolerated. For some people, a large amount of fiber can lead to bloating.
• Exercise most days of the week with a daily walk, jog, bike ride, swim, or other form of exercise. Light exercise helps maintain proper circulation and can keep the bowels healthy.
• Consume plenty of liquids — mostly water and other clear liquids — every day. Aim for at least eight 8-ounce glasses of clear liquids per day.
• Manage your stress.
• Never “hold in” your stool.

Prescription Drugs and Constipation

There are several lifestyle changes that can be made although in some cases there is one that can’t be changed.  For me, it is the medicine I take to help stop epileptic seizures.
For people who’s prescription medicine is partly to blame for constipation must drink even more water and make sure they get enough excercise or just keep active so the bowels keep moving.

The following is a list of the things I and others have used to help stay more regular.

1. Take a fiber supplement

Fiber supplements are readily available and effective at inducing bowel movements if a low-fiber diet is the cause of your constipation. They work by adding bulk, or volume, to your stool. This helps push stool through your intestines and out of your body.

You can buy fiber supplements:

• calcium polycarvophil (FiberCon)
• psyllium (Metamucil, Konsyl)
• methylcellulose (Citrucel)

2. Eat a serving of high-fiber food

Try these foods that are high in fiber:

• oats
• whole-grain bread or cereal
• fibrous veggies and fruits
• rice and beans

Be sure to drink lots of water with these foods, as it will further help push your stool through your system.

3. Drink a glass of water

Proper hydration — typically at least eight 8-ounce glasses of clear liquid per day — is necessary for normal bowel movements. If you’re constipated and haven’t been drinking an adequate amount of water, consuming a large glass of water or other clear liquid may trigger a bowel movement.

4. Take a laxative stimulant

Laxative stimulants are designed to force a bowel movement by squeezing the intestines.  Here are a few I have tried that have been successful.
All of theses are OTC supplements.

• bisacodyl (Dulcolax, Ducodyl, Correctol)
• senna-sennosides (Senokot)

5. Take an osmotic

Osmotic laxatives work slightly differently than stimulant laxatives. They’re designed to help move fluids through the colon. Some examples include:

• magnesium hydroxide (Phillips Milk of Magnesia)
• polyethylene glycol (MiraLAX)
• magnesium citrate
  Be careful you don’t take too much of this if you try it straight from the bottle
• lactulose (Kristalose)

With a doctor’s prescription, you can obtain higher-strength polyethylene glycol, also called PEG (Golytely, Nulytely).

6. Try a lubricant laxative

Lubricant laxatives such as mineral oil add a slick coat to your intestine’s walls, allowing stool to move through your colon and out of your body more easily. Take mineral oil no more than two hours after your evening meal. Expect results within six to eight hours.

7. Use a stool softener

One common cause of constipation is dehydration, which can cause hard stool. Using a stool softener, such as docusate sodium (Colace) or docusate calcium (Surfak), can moisten the stool by pulling water from your intestines. This allows the stool to exit your body more easily.

8. Try an enema

There are several types of enemas that you can try. Enemas work by softening stool enough to produce a bowel movement. Some common types of enemas include sodium phosphate (Fleet), soapsuds, and tap water enemas. Learn about proper ways to administer an enema.

9. Try a suppository

Rectal suppositories also help encourage bowel movements by softening stool. Try a glycerin or bisacodyl suppository.  Both of which are OTC.

10. Get in a squat position to poop

Bring a small footstool into your bathroom the next time you need to poop. Placing your feet on a stool in front of the toilet while you poop — so your body is essentially in a squatting position instead of in a seated position —can help you pass stool without straining.  Squatty Potty makes an inexpensive one that has worked for me.

11. Get some exercise

Light exercise, such as walking or jogging, can encourage bowel movements by increasing blood flow throughout your abdomen.

When to see a doctor

Chronic constipation can make it challenging for a person to focus on their daily tasks and activities. If your constipation lasts more than a week and doesn’t respond to treatment, it’s time to see a doctor to rule out serious causes. See a doctor right away if your constipation is accompanied by dizziness, fatigue, cramping, or spasms.

Share this...

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Linkedin

It should be no surprise that constipation is a major problem among those who suffer from Leaky Gut Syndrome. It is a common occurrence anytime that your digestive tract becomes dysfunctional. But the good news is that there are plenty of natural constipation remedies that can be very effective at helping you not only overcome constipation but to also help regulate your digestive tract and improve your health all at the same time.

Please Note: If you suffer from diarrhea which is also very common with Leaky Gut Syndrome, much of this still applies to you.

And most people seeking natural constipation remedies have been suffering from chronic constipation for many years. And this can have a significant impact on your health because if you are not removing your toxic waste then your body is reabsorbing it. You are also creating a breeding ground for bacterial infections, parasites, and Candida. And this is part of the process that is creating inflammation and holding you back from healing.

If you study the lifestyle habits of many different native cultures around the world that are without the influence of all of the Leaky Gut Syndrome causes, you’ll find that they have perfect digestion and do not suffer from Leaky Gut or any of the degenerative diseases that are common among us today.  And under these conditions, it is commonly found that they have multiple bowel movements each day and typically one within 12 hours after every meal they eat.

So if you’re not finding yourself moving your bowels at least one to two times per day then you need to pay special attention to these natural constipation remedies.

Test for Bowel Transit Time

It should also be noted that even if you are going one or more times per day, you can still be constipated. Constipation is also a factor of your transit time. So, if you eat a meal and it takes two or three days before that meal reaches your colon and is eliminated then you are still constipated.

But you can easily test your transit time to ensure that it is in the 12 to 24 hour time frame which is considered normal.

Just follow these instructions below before using any of the natural constipation remedies in order to get a baseline of your transit time so you can measure improvement.

1. After your next bowel movement, you can either eat red beats or find an all natural food coloring and add it to your meal.

1. Keep a lookout and see how long it takes before you notice the red coloring and note the number of hours between

The red coloring from the beats or food coloring will not be absorbed and will be noticeable in your stool.

Natural Constipation Remedies

There are plenty of natural constipation remedies out there but it only makes sense to start with the basics before you start adding fibers or other laxatives. These are probably the most common sources of constipation so they are the best place to begin.

Natural Constipation Remedies – Dehydration

Regardless of your level of health, the vast majority of constipated people in the world are chronically dehydrated. They drink all kinds of other liquids, many of which are diuretics and cause them to lose even more water.

A general rule is to make sure that you are drinking a minimum of half your body weight (lbs.) in ounces of water every day. If you weigh 200 lbs. then you should be drinking at least 100 ounces of water daily.

Natural Constipation Remedies – Sodium Chloride

It’s very common to avoid salt like the plague today. It’s been linked to heart disease amongst other health issues. And while this is somewhat true for highly processed and toxic salts, there’s another side of the story that you need to know.

We need salt in our diets in order to maintain the proper electrolyte ratios and to maintain our health. And most people need much more salt than they are getting.

And one of the functions of salt is to help your body to better absorb and utilize water which also helps with dehydration. If your body can’t absorb the water you drink then it sure can’t use it to relieve constipation.

Natural Constipation Remedies – Your Diet

Your diet has a big influence over your bowels, transit time, and constipation. Processed foods are a common cause of constipation because they disrupt the entire digestive tract as well as being low in natural fiber and void of essential nutrients. They also promote dysbiosis which greatly affects constipation more so than most people realize.

Food allergies are also something to take into consideration. A common symptom of food allergies is constipation so it’s best to determine and avoid the foods you are sensitive to.

Your diet should be focused around foods in their natural forms that are not processed and how Mother Nature intended them to be eaten.

Let Me Repeat This –  Dehydration

Regardless of your level of health, the vast majority of constipated people in the world are chronically dehydrated. They drink all kinds of other liquids, many of which are diuretics and cause them to lose even more water.

A general rule is to make sure that you are drinking a minimum of half your body weight (lbs.) in ounces of water every day. If you weigh 200 lbs. then you should be drinking at least 100 ounces of water daily.

Water – THE Best Place to Start When Fighting Constipation

While most people are stuck looking for a pill, powder, or miracle to fix their constipation, oftentimes the problem can be corrected with some simple lifestyle changes. So it’s important to rule out the obvious and put these natural constipation remedies to use before you jump ahead of yourself and introduce anything additional to your daily regime.

Share this...

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Linkedin