Everyone's favorite question!! Are you shooting for poop perfection?!
Assessing bowel movements is often one of the first things we discuss with patients as it gives us tons of insight into whole body health, and can affect hormones, brain health, glucose management, metabolism, skin, and more.
So how do you know if your poops are healthy? Well we can't really know without testing, but here are some signs and symptoms we want you to be watching for:
Frequency: At minimum you should be having 1 bowel movement a day, if you are not your are holding on to waste (eek!!) and this can cause all kinds of symptoms but also provide the perfect environment for brewing more and more bacteria and microbs. Pooping up to 3 times/ day is considered ideal for most of you (as long as they also meet criteria for #2&3). And you know what's an even better sign? Pooping at the same time every day indicates your body is in a great rhythm. We even encourage clients to try to create this rhythm in their day.
Color: Any shade of brown is considered normal. Some foods can change the color of your poop (ie beets!), but as long as this is infrequent there is no warrant for concern. Poop that is super dark, pale or light grey, puke green or yellow is not what we are looking for.
Consistency: Your poop should be easy to pass without too much effort, long, sausage shapes, sinking, and hold its shape once fully eliminated. Stool that is loose, diarrhea, seems like rabbit poop, has undigested food pieces, or is floating is a no-no. Pro-tip: We are big fans of using a squatty potty or something similar if this helps with consistency.