Everybody Poops... Right...?

Did you know that is the name of a child's book? Bowel Movements(BM) seem to be a ta bu subject (in my family, it's funny), but when it comes to our health, it's really important and can tell us a lot about what's going on. And believe it or not, sound, shape, color and consistency do matter! If your diet is lacking in water, healthy fruits, veggies and whole grains, and other foods high in fiber, you may end up with constipation which tends to be hard, pellet like, and can be painful. On the other hand, if is super soft or greasy on a consistent basis, you may be suffering from some malabsorbtion issues, which could be a sign of Celiac Disease, IBS, or other GI conditions.

Dr Oz has said -

"You want to hear what the stool, the poop, sounds like when it hits the water. If it sounds like a bombardier, you know, 'plop, plop, plop,' that's not right because it means you're constipated. It means the food is too hard by the time it comes out. It should hit the water like a diver from Acapulco hits the water [swoosh]."

The next thing Dr. Oz recommends is looking at your stool—c'mon, you've done it before! You should look twice—look at the shape and then, the color.

"It should be an S shape and you want to make sure the color's normal because the color of the poop tells you a lot about how you made it," Dr. Oz says. "You don't want [pieces]. Food is a medicine for you. It helps you. [If the stool is in pieces] by the time you finished digesting your food, you don't have enough of it left to poop out in the right way and probably it' s hurt the colon that has to process it. At the end of the day you can analyze your body really effectively by looking at what comes out of your body."

Any time we eat, it causes peristalsis (muscle contractions) of the intestine, which in turn can cause a BM. Ideally, you would want a BM after eating, but this isn't the case for most individuals. Most individuals average 1-2 BM's a day. If you are going less than this, maybe only 2-3 x a week, and they are hard or painful, then you may need to re-evaluate your diet and try to increase your water and fiber intake.

If you have a drastic change in color, such as black - tar like, that can be a sign of internal bleeding from an ulcer or other injury/disease to your GI. Grey, clay like, could also cause concern. This information isn't for diagnosis purposes, but overall general knowledge. If you have any concern about your BM, please consult your doctor.

Sinkers vs. Floaters... a common myth is that if you have floaters, then your are eating too much fat, or aren't absorbing it properly. This can be the case if there is something going on, especially if it's "greasy" looking. But most floaters can be contributed to a higher amount of gas, which is released from the bacteria in our intestine. Either one is perfectly normal, and change to one or the other is generally from dietary changes.

I personally can appreciate a good BM :) I try to maintain a high fiber diet shooting for 25-35g a day. While I don't have the means to do the research, I think that a lot of GI disease can be attributed to a poor diet of processed foods, and not enough whole grains, fruits, veggies, and water. Think about it - if you aren't cleaning yourself out, then that processed "crap" is just sitting in there wreaking havoc on your insides! With the Holidays here, we tend to over indulge in processed foods and treats... me included! I've been feeling pretty bleh lately, so, today I started a natural herbal cleanse from Advocare. It's 10 days and has a fiber shake, probiotics, and the herbal cleanse. No crazy diet either. Just low fat, lots of fruits and veggies, whole grains, and lean meats.

Here's to a healthy colon, and I hope this was informative with out too much info - it's just for sh*ts and giggles :)