How many times a day do you poop? Once, twice, five?
Most people have no idea how many times a day they should poop, and it's not exactly the type of thing you talk about with your friends. So that leads you to just assume however many times you go is normal.
The reality is most people (especially in the U.S.) don't go to the bathroom enough. So how many times a day should you poop? We'll give you the answer to that, and let you know what to do if you're not pooping enough.
How the Digestive System Works
The first thing that we need to do is go over what is good digestive health and how the digestive system actually works.
Your digestive system turns the food you eat into nutrients that the body can use, and then removes the waste so that you can excrete in out in the form of poop.
It all starts with the mouth. That’s the beginning of the digestive tract. As soon as you start chewing the first bite of food, you’re breaking down the food more easily to be digested.
The food then goes down the throat to the next destination on the list. It travels down the esophagus, sometimes called the swallowing tube.
When the food enters the stomach, it is bathed in digestive juices which break the food down into components that your body can actually use.
It mixes and grinds the food that you’ve eaten to process the nutrients that are there, with what cannot be processed leaving the stomach through the small intestine. The small intestine is made up of three different segments, and it continues the process of breaking down food by using enzymes that are released by the pancreas and the liver.
Bile from the liver aids in digestive health, and removes waste products. The pancreas, liver and gallbladder are all three important organs when it comes to digestion.
Once the nutrients have been absorbed completely, what is left over moves through the small intestine and into the large intestine, which is sometimes called the colon. The large intestine is responsible for moving waste to the rectum, which is the last part of the process of digestion.
The stool, or waste left behind after digestive processes have happened, passes through the large intestine through contractions, and is stored inside the colon until he empties out into the rectum twice per day.
The rectum is the last step in the process and it eliminates the waste whenever you go to the bathroom.
How Often Should You Poop?
Most doctors recommend you poop at least once per day.
Remember, the large intestine empties out into the rectum twice per day, and for optimal health, you should be going at least once per day.
If you're not going once per day, then there may be a problem happening that you can resolve. For example, if you're on a very restrictive diet and don't eat very much, then the amount that your large intestine empties out into the rectum may not be enough to trigger a bowel movement.
However, that’s not to say that it shouldn't happen. In fact, if you want to stay as healthy as possible, the more often you go, the better your health probably is.
What you should understand is that your feces is around 75% water, made from a mixture of the dead bacteria that help you digest your food, living bacteria and indigestible fiber that you could not incorporate into something that your body can use.
It is waste materials that come from the liver and intestines. Exactly how often you poop should be determined individually.
It depends upon your diet, the food that you are eating as well as the amount that you are eating, as well as body weight and a number of other factors.
For example, someone that weighs a normal 160 pounds will produce around enough poop to be able to make a bowel movement once per day.
There is no real standard of bowel movement schedules that you can refer to, because everyone is a little bit different. However, once per day may be a marker that you can go by.
The frequency that you poop is based upon your personal dietary habits and a number of other factors.
For instance, people living in Western countries like the United States have different bathroom habits than people do live in the East. This is all due to diet, lifestyle and lots of other things.
Anxiety can also play a part in the amount of poop that you produce every day. Anxiety can kick your digestive system into overdrive, making you want to go to the bathroom more often.
The Fallacy of Less is More
There is a lot of information out there about how often you should poop. There is a fallacy of less is more that you should definitely pay attention to.
The truth is, the less is more mythology is nothing more than that; a myth. Don't listen to people that tell you that only going a few times a week is perfectly healthy, because that does not meet the recommendations of other established science.
You always want to make sure that you compare established science with the other information that you are getting from doctors. Nutritionists and even some doctors aren't always right, and they can be influenced by bad information just as well as anyone else.
The fact is, if you understand how digestive systems work, then you will not be fooled by a doctor or another purported health professional telling you that you can go only a couple times a week and be perfectly healthy.
Since you know that the large intestine dumps waste into your bowel at least twice per day, then you can see that it would make it very difficult for a thinking person to see a few times a week as a normal, healthy bowel movement.
You want to ensure that you are listening to health experts that actually know what they are talking about.
Foods That Will Make You Poop More Often
There are lots of foods that will help you with your digestive health if you add them to your diet.
There are certain fruits that will help you stay regular, such as citrus fruits and apples. That’s right, just adding apples and oranges to your diet will do a great deal for making sure that you are regular.
However, there are other foods as well that you want to consider. For example, some of the other foods that you may want to add to your diet that will cure constipation and improve digestive health include pears, which contain about 5.5 grams of fiber in a single pear.
You also want to make sure that you're adding oat bran to your diet. Oat bran is one of the best sources for fiber that will make your digestive system work faster. Even rhubarb is one of the best choices out there when it comes to improving digestive health.
Some of the other foods that you want to consider include spinach and other greens which contain not only fiber but are great sources of vitamin C in vitamin K as well as folate.
Jerusalem artichokes and chicory are also two great sources of fiber that you need for digestive health, as well as Chia seeds.
The sweet potato is also an important addition to your diet when it comes to making sure your bowel movements are regular and that you did not experience constipation.
How Often Do You Poop?
The bottom line is that there are plenty of things that you want to keep in mind when it comes to how many times a day you should be going to the bathroom.
How many times a day you poop is determined upon many factors. You need to make sure that you are eating a well balanced diet, and that you are living the right lifestyle to promote good digestive health.
There are lots of things that you need to consider though, when it comes to choosing the right food to promote digestive health. Some of the foods that you can eat have been identified here, but you will have to do your own research to find out which foods make you poop when you are constipated.
There are a lot of foods out there that help with digestive health, so you should have no shortage of ideas when it comes to choosing the right one.
Click here for more info on how to make yourself poop.
