Why You Need to Look before You Flush.
Ok this is probably not going to be many people’s favorite topic, but when it comes to our health there is no reason to start being shy about it. Our bowel movements are a direct impact of what is going on in our gut, and as we talked before we know that gut health is our top priority for overall health and wellness (see the Is Your Gut Leaking post for an refresher overview on Gut Health). If we want a window into how the foods we eat are improving or not improving our health…then take a look in the toilet to see what’s coming out. If you start to take notice you may find some interesting trends as to what you eat and how your bowel movements may change.
Let’s look at what our bowel is trying to tell us with:
- Constipation – The lack of daily bowel movements. You are just not going #2 that often. Most people will tell you the problem is the lack of fiber, but we know this is not the case for the most part (not that you don’t need fiber, but it’s more a gut environment issue as discussed in the Fiber Overhyped post). What your body could be telling you is that your bacteria balance is all messed up (as in you probably do not have enough good bacteria from a poor diet or using anti-biotics). Also if you are dehydrated this is a sign. Solution: eat more fermented foods or take a probiotic, eat your fruits and vegetables for natural fiber, avoid caffeine drinks, and drink more water. That will probably take care of it 99% of the time.
- Diarrhea – Having too much water in your stool is a sign of bacteria infection. Basically your body is pulling water out of your body to flush out bad things. You may notice that you have this anytime you are fighting a cold or virus right? Well….bacteria infection and your body is a smart machine and doesn’t want it sticking around. It’s important to take notice of when you have this, as there could be certain foods that are also loaded with bacteria or just have this effect. Milk is a culprit sometimes, or it could be other foods that are high in bacteria or improperly cooked too. So whenever you get diarrhea, look back at to what you ate in the last 24 hours. This should always be temporary, but if it’s more consistent it could be a sign of more serious bowel illnesses.
- Hard/Small/Lumpy Stools – Hard stools are a sign that they are not coming out when they are supposed to and they are sitting in the gut too long (usually is also accompanied by constipation and not having regular daily bowel movements). Lumpy could also be a sign of dehydration or even a lack of fiber and water (as fiber holds onto water in the stool to make it bigger, softer and more easily passable). So again, drink more water and get you natural fiber from fruits and vegetables.
- Different Colors – I’m pretty sure I don’t need to tell you what color your bowel movements should be, but sometimes you may notice changes in color. Most of the time it could just be reflecting the foods we ate (or drinking green beer on St Patty’s day), but there also could be other digestive issues involved. A gray/pale stool could mean a lack of bile (bile is produced by the liver, stored in the gallbladder and used in digesting fats). This could be a sign of an overworked liver, gallbladder issue, other other digestive disorder. Red could be blood in the stool which could be anything from the start of hemorrhoids to bleeding somewhere else in the gut. Green could be a sign of a sped up removal process (as bile is green initially but turns to brown eventually). You don’t want too fast of removal as that could also be transporting out nutrients/vitamins/minerals that you need but still have not been absorbed properly. So your colors could be because of the foods you ate, medications you may be on or other issues.
- Smelly and Floating – This is a sign of too much undigested fat in your stool (fat floats). The issue here is either bad foods or your gut is improperly digesting (not being able to) fats. Since many essential nutrients are “fat soluble” you want to be able to digest those fats or you could be losing many of those nutrients that are now trapped in your stool and carried out of your body. There are many things involved here from the liver, gallbladder to gut health. Cleaning up your foods, removing excess toxins that overwork the liver and improving gut environment should help clear this up.
So there you have it. Is there really a specific amount of times we all need to go daily for maximum health? Probably not, as it will vary from person to person. Some may go 1x a day….others 2-3x a day. Look for healthy, soft, solid, easy to pass, non floating, non smelly, brown colored daily bowel movements and take notice of anything else (especially if it is on a consistent basis). Most of these abnormal issues mentioned above will hopefully just be temporary and due to what you eat, but like anything if it seems to be on a more consistent basis then there might be deeper issues involved and you may want to get further testing from a professional Dr (as I am not one so my opinions are no substitution for professional medical advice). To sum up:
- Keep track of when things go wrong, just think back and find out what you ate that may have caused the problem. You may find a pattern. This learning experience will be something you will not forget and will only help you make better choices in the future and have better health.
- Identify the foods that cause constipation, diarrhea or other bowel issues and remove them. (Milk and processed foods are the usual culprits here)
- Drink plenty of water, eat your fruits and vegetables, don’t use antibiotics unless absolutely necessary and load up on fermented foods/probiotics especially after any time you use antibiotics.
- Keep your gut healthy and happy.
If you ignore the potential warning signs in your toilet….you could be looking at more serious problems down the road. So….look before you flush and make your #2, a #1 priority.
photo by scottywitap
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Comments/Discussion
Got a comment or insight you want to add to this topic? Then please feel free to continue the discussion below. Please use your real name and not just your website (I will remove spam comments).
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For Probiotics roughly how many billion should one take in order to start returning their gut health to normal and fix up any constipation?
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For a broad spectrum Multi-Probiotic that has 16 different strains and 16 billion natural cultures (cells) per serving check out iFlora by Sedona Labs. http://www.sedonalabs.com.
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C – There are a number of factors such as are you in good health…..what is the current state of your gut bacteria balance…are you just coming off antibiotics….do you eat any naturally fermented foods….etc. Suggested doses can range by supplement manufacturer as well as some may be high doses per serving/pill. I would say most average people should take anywhere from 2-10 billion per day. (again there are so many factors…including how much you are really going to absorb and what is not destroyed in the process of digestion). I’ve also seen studies where people have mega dosed with 100 billion daily for 30 days to stop the bad bacteria…and then go on a maintenance of 2-4 billion/day. So…when in doubt start slow and make sure there are no negative side effects (minus going the bathroom). You can try upping little by little to see if it makes a difference but anywhere from 2-10billion/day is a good place to start. Also I’ve seen manufacturer’s say to take it with food…..some say empty stomach to ensure maximum bacteria survival and absorption. Again that could be a different delivery system per each manufacturer so read the label on whatever you have. Someone asked this in the past on which brand to take, so I’ll put the link here again as this was recommended by an ND and many seem to like it (and it should easy to find at a local vitamin store somewhere): http://www.newchapter.com/product-categories/whole-food-probiotic-nutrients
Side note: If constipation is your issue (along with drinking more water), also make sure you are not overdosing on other types of fiber or fiber supplements. Fruits and vegetables should give you plenty of fiber and will not cause constipation…where as other forms of fiber may actually induce constipation (esp soluble fibers that will absorb too much water like psyllium husks….aka lead to dehydration and constipation). Ground up flaxseeds are probably the only other type of fiber I would say is good to take too as it is an Omega 3 based one and does seem to help people.
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[...] Why You Need to Look before You Flush. [...]
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Thanks Mike, great reply. I have tried upwards of 20billion with little luck. I have hereditary lazy bowels and have suffered from IBS in the past which is of no help. I will try some ground flax seed as well. Oddly enough standing on my knees sometimes solves the problem!?!? Keep up the great blogging!
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C – Interesting note about standing on your knees. Take a look at this page (squatting the best toilet posture), you may find things that work better for you. Along those lines while you don’t have to go out into the neighbor’s yard to try squatting (I would really not suggest that!), you could try just getting a small stool or box to put your feet up while you sit on the toilet…see if that improves anything. Along with cleaning up the gut, getting rid of allergens, getting more healthy bacteria, drinking water…the colon is also a muscle that needs to be exercised. As people who tend to have more contipation will find it harder and harder because like you say, the muscles get “lazy”. So another important reason to go daily….exercise the colon and keep the removal process going strong!
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This is a are great product, thought I would share (although costly):
http://store.hippocratesinst.org/Crock-Pot-5L-P407C8.aspx
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Mike OD, great subject matter (no pun). You are right on! I have a group of large clients (large = very big humans) that have consumed very large amounts of food/protein over the years to further their BBing or Powerlifting careers and MANY suffer from these same problems you address. I found that using BENTONITE CLAY (Calcium bentonite and NOT COSTLY) for a short while may help clear up many of these issues and gets them growing again. (see below)
WHAT THE HELL IS BENTONITE CLAY????
This is kind of how it works is toxins, pathogenic viruses, aflatoxin (a type of mold) and even pesticides and herbicides can be eliminated by using this clay. These toxins, being positively charged (+), are attracted to the negatively charged platelets of the clay. This clay is known as an “absorber†(-). To give you an idea how the clay binds with the toxins, just imagine how a magnet attracts metals!
The bentonite also acts like a sponge. When bentonite is exposed to water, it expands and creates numerous porous spaces in between the particles. Toxins are invariably drawn into these spaces and are then flushed with the bentonite. Bentonite is an inert substance. It is not assimilated in the body and is passed through the body very much unchanged.
Bentonite also helps by scraping the linings of the colon thereby freeing it of the various wastes deposited by years of eating an unhealthy diet. Invariably, the colon’s ability to absorb nutrients from the food we eat increases as the colon becomes cleaner.
Keep up the great work Mike OD!
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746 – So true. I’ve heard the wonders of the negatively charged clays such as bentonite (and green clay) for pulling out all the “crap”…literally. You are right on about getting the muscles growing too…as many people can just destroy their guts and then reduce the optimal digestion and utilization of essential amino acids, vitamins, minerals and the likes (just cause we eat it…doesn’t mean it is getting used 100%…or even 85%!) Could this be a big reason why people have good success on building muscle with less (but still a good amount of course) food on IF?? Great detailed explanation and definitely worth a periodic cycle…and No, eating a mouthful of dirt from the backyard is not the same thing…just in case anyone was wondering.
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I started passing stools daily quite recently, though not since last week (I stayed at my grandparents; lots of desserts, though no grains). It seems that flax is essential. I messed up my thyroid while loosing weight, as I was only eating an egg daily, with lots of nuts and maybe a sausage or two. IF, eating 2000 kcal daily, and lots of broccoli seems to fix it. I had some probiotics today. I think I will start passing daily stools again in no time, although my recent stool was hard and probably had lots of undigested fat in it (it floated, partially).
I feel like a pervert writing to you about my stools.
Thanks for all your wisdom, Mike!
Cheers,
Emil.
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Emil – Don’t be shy about anything when it comes to your health. Stool, stool, stool…..see it’s just a word. Trust me….I get worse perverted comments/messages on here, thank goodness for spam filters! Just keep track of your health, and you can live a long and semi-perverted life.
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[...] Look Before You Flush: The color of your urine or stool can tell you much about your health. Daily checks can help you discover if you are digesting your food correctly or if you have food allergies or other digestive problems. Also, ask your doctor about colorectal screening for colon cancer. [...]
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