By the end of this article, I hope to convince you why keeping tabs on your poop is super important and not gross.
Poop, aka stool, aka feces, is composed of approximately 75% water and around 25% of other wastes/undigested compounds. This includes dead bacteria, fiber that wasn’t broken down by bacteria, undigested lipids (including cholesterol), minerals, and various cellular proteins. This overall composition will vary from person to person based on factors like diet, hydration status, and the function of the GI tract or the presence of any illnesses.
Checking both your poop for color, consistency, and amount can give you a huge amount of insight into your health and the processes that are ongoing in the body
Let’s break each of these down and what you should be looking for:
Color
The color of your poop can tell you a lot of different things about your health, what you’ve eaten, and what medications you might be taking.
A light-dark brown color is what is considered “normal”.
If you’re seeing poop that is more green or yellow, it may indicate malabsorption of lipids or diarrhea. However, it could also indicate you’ve eaten a lot of green-colored foods.
Seeing black or red stools usually is alarming as it could indicate bleeding of the upper or lower GI, respectively. However, you might also see these colors if you’ve eaten a lot of beets, red food dye, or have taken medications like Pepto-Bismol (aka bismuth), which pretty consistently can cause your poop to turn black. If you see black or red stool, keep closer tabs on your habits and see a doctor if it persists or if you have concerns.
Lastly, a white or clay colored stool may indicate low levels of bile or the use of medications including some anti-inflammatory medications and some antibiotics.
What’s important to reiterate here is that your poop might be any of these colors based on certain food components, food dyes, and medications, and no single poop is usually a cause for alarm. This is why looking at your poop regularly is important!
Consistency
For consistency, a great tool is the Bristol Stool Scale.
This scale ranges from 1-7 with 1 being really firm and hard stools, and 7 being unformed, liquid stools. Ideally, you want your poops to fall right in the middle, around a 3-4. A 3-4 on the Bristol stool scale is a poop that is relatively smooth, well-formed, and easy to pass. Lower than that (1-2) and you are in constipation territory, above that (5-7) and you are looking more at diarrhea.
Amount and Frequency
So how often should you be going? Well, not surprisingly, this varies a lot as well. What is “normal” can range anywhere from 3 times a day to every 3 days. Ideally, going at least once per day is a good target. Going too infrequently could mean you’re a little constipated and going too frequently could mean that you’re not being able to absorb as many nutrients or water (stools are likely looser if someone is going too frequently too).
An important factor to take into consideration when discussing frequency is the ease at which you’re able to pass stools. If you are only going every other day, but you’re finding that you’re having difficulties and may be straining some, that would be an indication that maybe every other day isn’t optimal for you. However, for someone that might go every other day but has zero discomfort or difficulties passing stool, you could argue that there is nothing wrong with that and that is perfectly normal for them.
The actual amount that you are actually going is less important than the factors all listed above, but can still be helpful to keep tabs to just better understand what is “normal” for you. Stool output is really driven by how much food you’re eating and within that, how much of it contains indigestible components like fiber.
So if you check your poop and find that you might not be having perfect unicorn poops, some simple things you can do to help promote regularity and “healthy” poops is to:
1. Eat enough fiber: you should be aiming for 14 grams per 1000 calories eaten each day– so around 25-40 grams
2. Drink enough water: no need to carry around and chug gallons, but ensuring that you are sipping consistently throughout the day is a great place to start. ~8-16oz every hour or two is a good ballpark that you can then adjust from.
3. Incorporate regular physical activity: gentle and regular movement is great for gut health as it helps stimulate the motility of your gut. This is especially helpful if you struggle more with constipation. Walking is a really great way to get things moving if you’re feeling backed up.
4. Know your normal: I can’t stress this enough. What’s “normal” is going to vary pretty largely from person to person, so keeping tabs on your consistency, color, and frequency can help identify when things might be a little off and if you may want to go see a doctor.
That should be plenty to get you started on your healthy pooping journey. Comment below if you have any other questions!
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