Forgive me. Yes, we’re going there. It’s can feel taboo, uncomfortable, or at least embarrassing to talk about. Because of that you may not have some important information, so today I’m jumping into the role of your mortifying grandma who’ll say just about anything.
There’s something called the Bristol Poop Chart (for real). It was developed by doctors at the Bristol Royal Infirmary in Bristol , England because their patients were less than enthusiastic about discussing the shape and nature of their stools. That’s a problem since...
Your stool
is a tool
for tracking your health.
(Yes, I said it; now try just try to get that rhythmic little ditty out of your head.)
This article (LINK) goes into more detail than we will here, but here’s a brief overview of some important items.
They have broken it out into seven types of stools ranging from dry, hard pellets to practically liquid. The consistency has to do with how long it hangs out in your colon, the longer the time, the harder the stool. Right in the middle of the scale is healthiest – smooth with no discomfort in passing it. See the article for more info.
A Few Other Things to Consider
SPEED - If you have time to time to read a good chunk of War and Peace or even an article from your favorite source, that’s an issue. Now, if you’re lounging on the toilet as a means for “alone time,” knock yourself out. That doesn’t count. But if you’re hanging around for longer than a minute or two because your body requires that, you’ll want to check into why.
FREQUENCY – Like frequency of peeing should track with our water consumption, bowel movements should correlate to how frequently we eat. Normal frequency is one to three times a day (not a week). Our food should be processing through our system, not backing up. That’s toxic.
APPEARANCE - Proper consumption and digestion of food = well formed stools. Low fiber/high processed food diet = malformed stools. Our stools should have little to no undigested food parts. If food is passing through without breaking down, obviously the nutrients are still in the food and not drawn out for our body’s use. Inadequate chewing or insufficient stomach acids to breakdown food can be part of the problem. Antacids deplete stomach acid. If you’re someone who uses antacids often and you notice undigested food chunks in your stools, drinking warm lemon water in morning can help.
FLOATERS? – If stools float it means they have sufficient fiber and essential fatty acids. Lack of healthy fats causes sinkers or malformed stools. A change of diet, including possibly adding ground flax, is the place to begin addressing this issue.
When it comes to what our bodies are eliminating, let’s follow the example of most any toddler and look before we flush. It’s amazing how much we can learn about what’s going on inside of us by what’s coming out of us.