It’s not a lovely topic, but sometimes it’s important to talk about stool, AKA poop, crap, dump, bm, #2. As a nutritionist, I ask every one of my clients about their stool.
Do you go regularly?
How many times a day?
What is the consistency?
What color is it?
Answers to these questions help clarify the integrity of your gastrointestinal (GI) tract. If your GI tract is not functioning properly, it means you are not digesting and absorbing food well. Poor digestion and absorption leads to a never ending list of health issues, diseases, and metabolic distress.
How many bowel movements should you have a day? It is best to have 1-3 bm’s a day, preferably 2. Frequency of bowels is a good health indicator. If you do not have a daily bm, analyze your diet to make sure that you are consuming enough fiber and water and get regular exercise.
What should the consistency be? According to the book, Digestive Wellness by Elizabeth Lipiski, “it looks like a brown banana with a point at the end, is well hydrated, and just slips out easily”. If your stool contains a bunch of little balls pushed together, this is a sign that it has been waiting in the colon too long. Poor transit time greatly increases the risk of Colon Cancer.
What color should it be? Obviously stool should be brown, but it can have a greenish tone if you eat a lot of green leafy vegetables. Also, your stool can turn green if you take too much iron. If your stool has a yellow tone, this may be linked to a more serious issue, like the Giardia parasite.
There are many health problems directly related to the colon and unhealthy bowels, like Diverticular Disease, Chrohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Rectal Polyps, Colon Cancer, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and Parasites. There are a bunch of tips that you can do to help your colon.
Tips for Improved Bowels:
- Eat a diet rich in dietary fiber from fresh vegetables, fruit, beans, grains, nuts, and seeds. The American Dietetics Association recommends 20-35 grams of fiber a day.
- Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. This does not include sodas, coffee, and juices.
- Exercise on a regular basis, at least 3 days a week.
- Probiotics are a great nutritional supplement that naturally help bulk up the stool by providing billions of good bacteria. One third of our stool is composed of living and dead bacteria. My product is called Proflora and 1 capsule contains 9 billion good bacteria.
- My Detox Programs are a healthy way to help detox your internal organs, including your colon. When excreting toxic chemicals from your body, it’s a great way to jump start your metabolism.
Testing Bowel Transit Time (from Digestive Wellness)
Bowel transit time is the time it takes from eating a food until it comes out the other end. You can test your transit time by consuming charcoal tablets (from the health store) or beets.
Take 1 gram of charcoal tablets or eat 3-4 whole beets
Note when you took the charcoal or ate the beets
When you have darkened stool (from the charcoal) or red stool (from the beets), calculate the hours from consumption.
Results:
Less than 12 hours: This usually indicates that you have malabsorption problems.
12-24 hours: Optimal
More than 24 hours: This indicates that wastes are sitting inside your colon too long. Long transit time greatly increases the risk of colon cancer. Substances that were supposed to be eliminated get absorbed back into your bloodstream, where they can irritate your system.
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