Kris Carr

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Your Guide to Healthy Poop

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Hiya Gorgeous!

I love talking turd, and I’m not ashamed to say it! Turd, turd, turd (insert poop emoji). It’s time we all stop hiding behind our toilet paper squares and start understanding one of the most important parts of our everyday well-being—healthy poop!

Sure, bowel habits aren’t the sexiest of subjects, but vibrant health is pretty darn hot, in my opinion. And whether you like it or not, your poo is part of that picture.

Without further a-doo-doo …here’s the scoop on poop.

The Scoop on Poop: How the Digestive Tract Works

Poop is made up of dead gut cells, leftover indigestible fiber and bacteria. As you know, your chow is processed in your intestines, which are lined with some very smart cells. These cells allow essential nutrients, such as sugars, amino acids, fats, vitamins and minerals to be absorbed into your bloodstream.

The leftovers (aka the waste) are shuttled through the rest of your digestive system, out of your body and into the toilet bowl. The digestive process should be pretty straightforward. Let’s talk about what healthy—and unhealthy—poop looks like (and what you can do about it).

Bristol Stool Chart

Type 1: Hard Lumpy Poop

Type one consists of separate hard lumps (pebbles, marbles, berries, etc.) which is a signal that you’re pretty constipated. These solid pieces indicate that you’re likely dehydrated and your diet needs more fiber. Make sure you get enough fluids!

Type 2: Lumpy and Sausage Shaped

This type of poop is shaped like a log but it looks lumpy and a step away from type 1. It was likely hard to pass and required some effort to get out. It signifies mild constipation and is a signal that you need to boost fiber and water intake.

Type 3: Sausage Shaped with Cracks

Type 3 on the Bristol Stool Scale is a poo within the normal range and probably looks similar to a corn cob. This healthy stool should have been easy to pass.

Type 4: A Smooth Soft Snake

Type 4 is the ideal poop. This stool has a smooth surface and is likely s-shaped, like a snake. If the stool moved out with little effort and flushes in one piece, you’re likely drinking enough water and your daily diet is high in fiber. Congratulations!

Type 5: Soft Blobs with Defined Edges

Now we’re creeping back toward the unhealthy end of the scale. Blob-shaped poo with clear-cut edges can indicate a diet low in fiber. It also indicates that your stool moved too quickly through your digestive tract.

Type 6: Mushy with Ragged Edges

If your bowel movement is completely mush, it’s a sign of mild diarrhea. Your poo is traveling quickly through your digestive system which means your body might not be getting the nutrients it needs.

Type 7: Pure Liquid—Yikes!

You officially have diarrhea. Liquid poop could indicate that you have food poisoning or an illness. Pay attention—chronic diarrhea can mean you have an undiagnosed food intolerance to something like gluten.

Where do YOU land on the Bristol Stool Chart?

 

Normal Poop 101: A Healthy Digestive System

We’ve established that healthy poop should look like an “S” or a smooth log as it lands in your toilet. The types of poop that consist of round pellets, thick logs without curvature, shapeless mounds, and pencil-thin wormy poops mean that your diet, stress level, hydration status, or something else might be out of whack. What are some other things you need to know about healthy digestion?

How Often Should You Poop?

How often you poop probably varies, and each person has their own normal. You may go as often as two to three times per day (basically after each meal) or as little as every other day. However, if you’re going more than four times a day with loose or watery stools, only going a couple of times per week and feel bloated/backed up on non-poop days, or if your poop “normal” suddenly changes, you should probably consult your doctor immediately. These are all signs that your digestive process is out-of-whack.

How Should Pooping Feel?

Your poops should be easy to pass with a fairly effortless push. Chances are if you’re regularly grabbing a book or magazine as you head into the bathroom, or if you’re getting red in the face, you’re working too hard to get that little waste log out of there.

It shouldn’t be painful or difficult to produce a BM. If it is, you might be dealing with functional constipation. If you’re constantly running to the bathroom with stomach cramps, it’s another sign that something is wrong. Please consult with your doc if you’re experiencing persistent discomfort.

What Does the Color of Your Poop Mean?

Healthy poop should be a medium-brown color, courtesy of the leftover bile from your gallbladder (which helps break down your food). It also consists of bilirubin, which is created when red blood cells exit your body at the end of their life cycle. While brown poop is the norm, your poo can change colors depending on what you eat. Let’s dive into the spectrum of stool color, shall we?

Poop Colors

Green poop

A green poop color typically means you’re eating a LOT of highly-pigmented green foods (most likely veggies, right?) and some have slipped through undigested. This isn’t a cause for concern unless your stool is watery and green for several days. Even a neon-green poop can indicate food dye in something you ate.

Black Poop

Black stool can result from taking iron supplements or using stomach meds like Pepto Bismol, but could also be a sign of blood in your stools. Interestingly, it can even be caused by downing some black licorice. Now I know that sounds a bit scary, but it’s not necessarily cause for concern.

It could be the result of hemorrhoids, which can be tender and start bleeding if you’re straining too much while pooping (Ouchies! Ease up, hotshot). In that case, you may see a couple of drops of bright red blood in the toilet water, on your toilet paper, or on the outside of your poop. But it could also be a sign of bleeding in your upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract. If it continues, it’s safest to check with a medical professional.

Red Poop

Did you know that foods like beets, cranberries, and even tomato juice can lead to bright red poop? This isn’t anything to worry about—just thank those deliciously colorful root veggies for adding some extra pizzazz to your poo.

But if you aren’t eating these foods and you’re consistently seeing bright red blood in your poop—or if your poop is blackish-red or contains dark red blood—the blood is likely coming from higher up in your gut. This could be more serious, so I encourage you to check in with your doc post-haste.

Yellow/Orange Poop

Yellow poop may be a sign of an infection or inflammation in your intestines, especially if you observe mucus in your poop. It usually means you aren’t getting enough nutrients—or you’re eating far too many fatty foods.

White or Clay-Colored Poop

Chalky white or pale poop occurs when your poop doesn’t have bile in it. Seeing this type of poop could indicate a problem with your pancreas or gallbladder, such as your bile duct being blocked. While it might be a side effect of certain medications you’re on, check with your doctor ASAP if the white stool is accompanied by other symptoms such as abdominal pain, fever, and nausea/vomiting.

Signs of Trouble: When to be Concerned about Your Bowel Movements

What if Your Poop Floats?

While most poo sinks to the bottom of the bowl, sometimes it floats. Floating poop doesn’t necessarily mean something is wrong. However, if your BM floats and smells foul, check with your doctor to make sure it’s normal.

When Foul-Smelling Stool is a Problem

If your poop suddenly diverges from mildly stinky to overwhelmingly foul, you might want to take note. If your stool smells more after something you’ve eaten, it might indicate a food intolerance.

Constipation and Diarrhea

Occasional constipation and diarrhea are very common and nothing to worry about. But if you’re experiencing either for more than a week, you may be dealing with chronic constipation or diarrhea. It’s a good time to make sure you’re getting the Four Fs. And if the symptoms persist, it might be time for a visit to the doctor.

There are certain health conditions and medications that can make your poops extra pesky. For example, things like pregnancy and diabetes affect hormones that can make it harder to pass a BM.

Or, if you’ve had your gallbladder removed, for example, too much fat at one meal can cause diarrhea because the bile normally stored in your gallbladder isn’t available to break it down. For more deets on diarrhea (plus lots of tips to help you stop it!) check out my blog here. And if constipation’s got you down, check out my blog on that here.

How to be a Gold Star Pooper: The 4 Fs

The Four Fs are a general rule of thumb for healthy bowel movements: fiber, fluids, flora, and fitness!

Get Enough Fiber

What foods help you poop? Ones with dietary fiber for starters. As you learned in my guide to fabulous fiber, it comes in two forms: soluble and insoluble. Lack of either creates pooper pandamonium.

Soluble fiber absorbs water and forms a gel in your intestines, which bulks up your stool and makes it smooth enough to keep the trains moving. Soluble fiber also helps regulate blood sugar and can lower cholesterol levels. Add these foods to increase soluble fiber: oatmeal, apples, oranges, pears, berries, flax, beans, peas, lentils and psyllium (corn husk).

Insoluble fiber does not absorb water, so it acts like the bristles in a broom to sweep poop along. It also has a mild laxative effect, which helps with healthy elimination. Add these foods to increase insoluble fiber: whole grains, nuts, seeds, dark leafy greens, celery, broccoli, cabbage, onions, dried fruit and root vegetable skins.

You’ll know you’re getting too much fiber (or an imbalance of soluble to insoluble fiber) if you have diarrhea. It’s also important to include whole grains in your diet because they add bulk and movement to your fibrous stools. You can get still get constipated on a high-fiber diet if your diet lacks sufficient whole grains!

Drink Plenty of Fluids

When you increase fiber, you also need to increase your fluid intake. Remember, soluble fiber absorbs water, which means you’ll need more H2O to stay hydrated and prevent constipation. There are two easy ways to estimate how much water you need each day:

  • Divide your body weight in pounds by two. This gives you the approximate amount of water in ounces that you need to drink per day. For example, a 140-lb woman should drink about 70 oz. For those using the metric system, divide your weight in kilograms by 30 to determine how many liters of water you need per day.
  • Look at your pee—it should be a light straw color. The darker your pee gets, the more concentrated it has become, which indicates that you need to drink more fluids.

Get Some Flora in Your Diet

Your intestines are home to over 100 trillion bacteria and a great deal of these bacteria (good guys and bad guys) end up in your poop. Good bacteria (also known as probiotics) are very important to help keep us regular. We need probiotics to work alongside our digestive enzymes and help break down food to release the nutrients our bodies need. In return, probiotics survive and multiply in our gut when they dine on the leftover fiber from our digested food.

To increase good bacteria in your gut:

Include Fitness in Your Routine

If you want your poop to move, YOU need to move too! Exercise helps stimulate the natural contractions of your intestines. It also tones the muscles in your core that helps create healthy elimination. Gentle activities such as taking a walk or yoga can help ease constipation, but moderate aerobic activity regularly is a more effective way to keep constipation at bay in the long run. It can even help reduce stress. Score!

It’s your turn, don’t be shy! Now that I’ve opened the bathroom door and started the poop-ersation, light a match and share your tips for healthy elimination.

Peace & terrific turds,

 
 
Add a comment
  1. nelmalyn says:

    My poo is stock inside me, I try to remove it but it doesn’t seem work, and I decided to take rest, why will I do to remove the poo inside my body?

  2. Abigail says:

    Please tell us about Gastritis And IBD.

  3. Sarah says:

    I had been wondering why my poops were so much more regular when I start running regularly! This explains it!

  4. Moo says:

    There’s loads here about helping with constipation, but I’ve got, err… the opposite problem! I’m vegan and I go two or three times a day, mostly in the mornings and it is nearly always a very loose movement. I eat a lot of veg, a lot of lentils, a lot of whole grain and a lot of dark green leafy veg. I’ve been fully vegan for almost a year now and I thought my bowels would have become a bit more ‘normal’ (healthy) by now. Where am I going wrong?!

    Thanks
    xoxox

  5. smith says:

    I just had a c section three weeks ago and I went to poop Walla go and it’s a odd color green and when i wipe it’s like green liquid is coming out Scary because I have not ate anything green really I barely eat because I been getting sick alot

  6. Greg says:

    in my opinion perfect poop would be one firm log slides out slowly and I don’t think we should have to wipe my butt holes I don’t think any other animal really does…. me not like humans we have an industry that makes toilet paper I like to go when I go poop and wipe and nothings on the paper that’s perfect. thank you just an opinion hopefully I don’t come off rude I don’t mean to

  7. anna says:

    Hi!
    thank you for the article, it’s very interesting!
    I am vegan since 4 months now, and my toilet visits definitively increased in number and volume…not that I ever had problems before, but now they are so quick! The problem is not that I am going like 4 times a day average, but that lately when it decides it’s time to go…then IT’S REALLY TIME TO GO! And I find this annoying and impractical, because not always during the day I can be in easy reach of a toilet….then my stool is the same, in the soft side, light brown at times orange-ish colored, and with a remarkable volume. Should I worry about it? Any advice on how to “fix” this without going back to dairy or animal products?
    Anybody experience the same, or did and then went back to a sustainable rhythm?
    Thanks!

    • Moo says:

      I’ve been vegan for nearly a year now and still having same problem! And I definitely know what you mean about when it’s time to go, it’s reeeeally time to go.

      Tips anyone?? Please!

  8. emilie says:

    hi , i just want to ask something about my poop… I am 23 years old and I have a 13 month old baby boy.. since I was a child I do poop regularly for 1-3 times daily, when I was 19 I had amoeba but it was treated right away. So here comes the problem this past few days I had loose stool and thought that it might be the amoeba somehow its texture got well a few days after taking some medicine, however I poop for about 8-10 times now and always had the feeling that I really need to go to the bathroom always and gassy all the time, i got my poop checked and said it was normal the color and shape but its bothering me big time because of the thought that it might be something serious cause of searching the internet what could it be, and I have no money to go to the doctor and have some tests.. i hope someone could share to me what might it be.. thanks and sorry for the long post…

  9. Julia Hernandez says:

    I saw you on Oprah. I think your story is amazing. I’m a fellow yogi, who loves inspiration. It makes me want to live my fullest happy ness. My mom has had HIV since I was 5. I’m now 33. She’s still alive so I can relate to you story in many ways. (The ups and downs.)
    I was wondering if you have ever Hurd of the Gerson miracle? If you have not please look it up and email me what you think.
    Thank you for your time, namaste
    Julia Hernandez

  10. Desiree says:

    My brother recommended I might like this blog. He was entirely right.

    This post truly made my day. You cann’t imagine just how much time I had
    spent for this information! Thanks!

  11. IR says:

    Thank you for the information! I have a hard time eliminating, and this was veeery helpful! God bless!

  12. I love talking about poop too! Another helpful tip for folks is to get yourself on a schedule if you can. Give yourself a few minutes to sit quietly at roughly the same time every day – eventually you will train your body and that will become your natural time to go. Takes some of the stress out of it for people who aren’t regular.

    • Does that really work, Andrea? I have never heard of or considered “training” our bodies to poop. I find that my body is mostly on a schedule anyway, but I know plenty of women who struggle with “scheduling”, especially when beginning to modify their diets. I’m really intrigued by this!

  13. Kathy Ingram says:

    I have been taking Advocare amino acids for about a month. I recently noticed the color of my stool is a tan color and bulky textured. I drink lots of water during the day, between 80-90 ozs. and work out about 40 minutes per day on an elliptical. Is it possible the amino acids have changed the color of my stool?

    Kathy

  14. Craig Tsao says:

    I joked about a secret society of Olympic poop diving. Part of the premise involves crafting your diet to achieve the perfect poop. No splash with a *kerplunk* sound wins a perfect 10.

    Oddly enough, I ended up thinking about how poop indicates health. Google searched healthy pooping and here I am.

    I’m about to leave on a 6 month backpack journey on the Appalachian Trail. Will soon write a blog article about my nutrition plan. Food on a long distance backpacking trip can be a logistical problem, but if anyone has some comments, advice, or tips about achieving an Olympic worthy poop while backpacking in the wilderness, please do contact me at craig.tsao@gmail.com

    Right now my general plan regarding eating on the Appalachian Trail involves a lot of oatmeal, peanut butter, coconut oil, nuts, cliff bars (or whatever bars I can get my hands on) and whatever varieties I can find along the way from gas stations, the occasional grocery store, and outfitters. I’m also bringing a few supplements such as Fish Oil (with omega 3 and D3), resveratrol, L-Glutamine, and Magnesium Citrate.

    For those of you that want to jump on me about greens, well just know that I’m going to try. It’s not easy keeping up on leafy greens when you’re backpacking. Plus I’m poor. I don’t have an income or sponsors for this adventure. I’ll be paying about $4,000 + in student loans and insurance alone while this goes on. If you’re concerned about my general sexiness degrading due to insufficient funds, please do send me food or help me get sponsors.

    http://www.trailjournals.com/affirm

  15. denise says:

    i would like to have my coment here, becouse i had very bad problems in the past with poping.. i spent a hole month without going to the toilet! it was in a stressfull time of my life, i think the positives afirmations, i relise the pas, and im open to new things in my life, they are great! also, drinking a fruit juice every morning for breeackfast, and the mate, is an infusion. lot of liquid in the morning and pacience. thanks Kriss

  16. Angel B. says:

    Is a person eating correctly when they don’t have to use toilet paper when they finish pooping?
    NOTE: the poop is a solid piece (toothpaste consistency), medium brown in color.

  17. thanks ill be sure to drink more water eat more fiber and excersize thank lately ive have “problems”

  18. Michelle says:

    I have no solution. I eat a complete plant based diet, I drink bucket loads of water, I walk 3-4 miles almost everyday, and I am still frequently constipated.I have tried a month long cleanse, consisted of tablets, very little results. I had my gallbladder removed a few years back (probably wasn’t needed) and since then I have had massive problems. I have not attempted the probiotics. Any other ideas. Thanks.

    • maby you have parasites talk to your doctor

    • denise says:

      Michelle. probably youre stress. i sufer similar condition. if sombody told me about the afirmations many years ago i will endidng this problem moore fast, is easy to me to let go , to let go the past, i make space for new beginins. i clear my body of toxins, i clean my life of toxics… take your time alone. youj will find this part of you who is stockt in the past. let go. let og to let in the new.

    • Valerie says:

      Hi Michelle, I just posted about my similar experience. I gave up all flours and sugars, went to a mostly plant-based diet, with lots of fiber, practice yoga and meditation almost daily, walked 60 minutes a day, get in lots of water, and yet was still having problems with constipation. Then I found Magnesium Calcium +™ by Rainbow Light. It helps me with gentle, proper, daily elimination, with sleep, and it helps relieve muscle aches and cramps. The key to this formulation is that it has double the magnesium as calcium… not the reverse! The typical product has the opposite ratio. I take two tabs every night after dinner and I go once the next morning — a complete, perfectly healthy BM. It makes me happy!

    • Jessica says:

      Michelle,
      Hi there. I read your comment about having your gallbladder removed and wanted to throw a suggestion over the fence to you. Head over to Chris Kresser’s website and look up “gallbladder removal” in his search engine (or, “digestion”). He had a very detailed podcast about digestion that hit on this issue. He’s a fantastic clinician and researcher!
      Take care!

  19. david says:

    I use a preboitic supplementnt makes things go smoothly

  20. A great blog post. And, from all the comments, I’d say a timely one as well.

    It is common for people to become constipated when they travel. While the occasional use of magnesium citrate is probably okay, I suggest that my patients use triphala instead. It is not technically a laxative, but a moderate dose will gently encourage a bowel movement. Added benefits: It’s balancing to all constitutional types and is a gentle yet effective detoxifier.

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