Poo – is yours normal

Do you ever talk about poo?

I find people are inclined to either talk about poo with gusto or hide the fact that they even poo, let alone admit to someone that they do. Either way, it's important to know what's going on with your poo. You can tell a lot about your health by just looking at your poo — colour, smell and shape can tell you a lot about what's going on in your digestive system.

Sometimes people poo too much, not enough or just right.

Are you wondering which camp you are in and what it means? Here is some information about poo that you will find useful, especially if you poo too much or not enough.

Pooing too much

If you are pooing too often and your poo is runny and/or explosive, then that's not ideal. You may be in danger of nutrient malabsorption as the poo is transiting through your digestive tract far too fast, with little chance for the nutrients to be absorbed.

Sometimes this can happen if you have a food intolerance — the culprit may be wheat, dairy or egg. In fact any food can cause diarrhoea, but egg is known to cause explosive diarrhoea. Other causes of loose stools may include the production of too much hydrogen gas if you have fructose malabsorption or SIBO going on in your gut. You could also be producing too much hydrogen sulfide gas in your small intestine.

Parasite infestations and an overgrowth of yeast can also cause you to poo too much.

The only time you should have diarrhoea is when you have ingested food that contains bacteria or you have gastroenteritis. Diarrhoea is your immune system's way of getting rid of the bacteria — its job is to flush it out as quickly as possible, and it's important to let your body do that job.

Not pooing enough

If you are not pooing daily, it means that you are constipated. Even if the pattern throughout your life has been that you have only pooed once per week or once every three days, you are still constipated and this is not normal and neither is it good for you. The toxins from your bowel are recirculating around your body creating inflammation and toxin overload.

Constipation can be caused by a food intolerance and A1 dairy is a common culprit, but I do see constipation being caused by lots of other foods too. Constipation can also be caused by too much methane gas in the small intestine, which can be caused by SIBO or fructose malabsorption. Constipation can also be caused by parasites, yeast overgrowth and an underactive thyroid gland — hypothyroidism.

What should a normal poo look like?

If you'd like to know what a normal poo should look like, google 'Bristol Stool Chart'. You should be aiming for between a type 3 and 4. There is also a Bristol stool chart for children, as it's important that the younger children in your family know about poo too so they can tell you when there's a problem.

If you have food particles in your poo, that may mean you have a lack of digestive enzymes.

Colour and smell

Colour matters too — your poo should be a chocolate brown. If it's mustardy in colour your liver may be under stress. If it's black you may have a gastrointestinal bleed somewhere and you need to see your doctor immediately.

Smell is also a big problem for many — your poo should not stink like the dead. It should smell like a healthy compost bin.

If your poo floats then that may indicate that you are not absorbing your fats as well as you could be — as the oil is on the outside of your poo and oil floats on water.