What your poo can reveal to you
Cari Wright
Health begins in your gut. Living a lifestyle that supports a healthy gut starts with AWARENESS.
How do you feel after you eat certain foods? Drink certain drinks? Do you notice a difference in your overall wellbeing when you drink more or less water? Get more or less physical activity? What about rest? How often do you have bowel movements? Does this vary with your diet, physical activity, water intake, stress level?
A fairly good indicator of your overall gut health can be found every day in your very own bathroom. Yep, that’s right, I’m talking about your toilet! If the thought of inspecting the contents of your toilet makes you squeamish, you’re not alone. But such resistance to talking about what we find in our toilets often means that those with unhealthy feces tend to be unaware of it.
What is your poo made of?
It’s not just what you’ve eaten.
Feces are three-quarters water. Optimum water content makes our feces soft enough to ensure our metabolic waste products can be transported out of our bodies safely.
Of the solid components of feces,
1/3 is bacteria
1/3 is made up of indigestible vegetable fiber (the more fruit and vegetables you eat, the more feces you excrete per bowel movement)
1/3 is made up of other substances the body is ready to get rid of (medications, food coloring, or cholesterol, for example).
What does the color of your poo mean?
The color of stool rarely indicates a potentially serious intestinal condition, but it can give us useful insight into what’s going on in the gut. The natural color of human feces ranges from brown to yellowish-brown which has less to do with what we eat than it does with the breakdown of red blood cells. Greenish tones can also be considered normal though very green can indicate that food may be moving through the large intestine too quickly.
Light Brown to Yellow
Can indicate the result of a harmless disorder called Gilbert’s syndrome in which one of the enzymes involved in breaking down blood works less efficiently. Yellowish feces can also indicate problems with bacteria in the gut. Antibiotics and diarrhea can also cause alterations in fecal color.
Light Brown to Gray, White or Clay-colored
Can be the result of a lack of bile in the stool indicating an issue with the connection between the liver and gut. If this connection is inhibited in some way (kink, pressure, obstruction) then no blood pigment can make it in to the feces. It’s a good idea to consult your doctor if you’re noticing gray color in your feces. Can also be influenced by medications such as large doses of bismuth subsalicylate (Kaopectate, Pepto-Bismol) and other anti-diarrheal drugs.
Black or Red
Blackish tones can be the result of certain ingested substances such as iron supplements, bismuth subsalicylate (Kaopectate Pepto-Bismol), or having eaten black licorice. But, typically indicates blood, not the broken down blood corpuscles which turn stool brown, but entire blood corpuscles. Congealed blood is black and should be checked out by a doctor. For those with hemorrhoids, a small amount of bright red blood in the stool is usually not reason to worry. Eating beets can also cause stool to take on a reddish hue and again, is no cause for concern.
Shape / Size / Consistency
To evaluate the shape, size and consistency of your stool, the Bristol stool scale comes in handy. This tool was designed by Dr. Ken Heaton, from the University of Bristol, in 1997, as a way to evaluate the consistency of stool. It has been used pretty widely throughout the medical community since, as it provides a discrete way to discuss that topic which many are reluctant to acknowledge.
If you’re a little squeamish, hopefully the following “friendly” illustrations by Stephanie Seege will make the prospect of inspecting your business a little easier to stomach!
Type 1
Separate hard lumps, like nuts (hard to pass)
Type 1 is known as painful constipation. It passes through your system in about 100 hours (about 4 days). According to Stephen Holt, M.D., the characteristics of stool in fiber deficient people resembles “pebbles” rather than formed “logs.” Try gradually adding prebiotic fiber to your diet to make your stool more porous and feed the good bacteria in your gut.
Type 2
Sausage-shaped, but lumpy
Constipation tells you that you are dehydrated. It also might be showing you that you lack sufficient fiber in your diet, or are not chewing your food well enough. Try increasing your water intake (filtered or spring water preferably, or if you have access to structured water, that is ideal). Our general guidelines for daily water intake is “half your body weight in ounces” (ex: 150 lbs / 2 = 75 lbs = 75 oz water daily). You might also try sticking to smoothies and soups for a day or two to make your stool more porous and ease your digestion. Prunes are a great option too.
Type 3 & Type 4
Like a sausage but with cracks on its surface (Type 3) or like a sausage or snake, smooth and soft (Type 4)
These are considered ideal because they have the optimum ration between fluid and solid content. If you’ve got Type 3 or 4 on a regular basis, that’s cause for celebration because what you produce in the bathroom is a direct reflection of how well you have taken care of yourself!
Type 5
Soft blobs with clear-cut edges (passed easily)
Early stage diarrhea. When you get stressed or affected by bacteria your body goes into defense mode and your intestine stops functioning, meaning that it doesn’t absorb any nutrients. Try avoiding animal protein and processed sugars.
Type 6
Fluffy pieces with ragged edges, a mushy stool
One step closer to diarrhea. A typical bodily reaction to the need to remove toxins quickly and efficiently.
Type 7
Watery, no solid pieces. Entirely liquid
This is full-on diarrhea. Drink plenty of water, because this type of stool passes through your system in only ten hours and you are loosing a lot of liquid. For short-term diarrhea, Stephanie Seege, founder of Helpings and author of ‘Holy Shit’ a TEDx talk recommends bananas, boiled rice and white toast to make your poo firmer. Long-term diarrhea can become dangerous since it prevents the body from absorbing the nutrients required for basic function.
Does it float or sink?
If you’re pretty regularly seeing Type 3 - 4 you may also want to take note of how quickly it is sinking to the bottom of the bowl. Feces that sink straight to the bottom could indicate that nutrients have not been digested properly. Ideally, it should sink slowly and release a few bubbles.
So next time you go, take a peak! Is your poo indicating you should make some changes in your daily activity and diet? We hope this can be a useful resource as you evaluate your current level of health. If you find you would like additional support, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We offer free 15-minute phone consultations with our primary practitioner for new clients wishing to evaluate further health care options and have a wide range of expertise services available to support including Customized Nutrient Support, Strategic Health Coaching, Colon Hydrotherapy, Biofeedback Therapy, NeuroCranial Integration, and more.
Sources:
Bristol stool chart. (n.d.). https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/poop-chart-bristol-stool-scale
Feces. (n.d.). ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMHT0022950/
Heaton KW, et al. (1992). Defecation frequency and timing, and stool form in the general population: A prospective study. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1379343/
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2018). Constipation. mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/constipation/symptoms-causes/syc-20354253
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2020). Dietary fiber: Essential for a healthy diet. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/fiber/art-20043983
Seege (2018). Poo School https://stephanieseege.com/what-poo-tells-you
Enders (2015). Gut
Holt (2017). The Definitive Guide to Colon Hydrotherapy
Molly E. Conover, Certified Colon Hydrotherapist
Molly is a Certified Colon Hydrotherapist through the International Association for Colon Hydrotherapists (I-ACT). She received her training in Boulder, CO and serves Northern Minnesota from the Designed For Thriving Clinic just north of Duluth in Two Harbors, MN. Molly also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English from Augsburg College and is a freelance graphic and web designer working primarily with Natural Health Practitioners to effectively bring their private practices, product lines, and techniques to their ideal clients. She lives in Duluth, MN with her husband, baby daughter, and husky.
Designed For Thriving is a Holistic, BioEnergetic Clinic & full-service Medical Spa in Two Harbors, MN.
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