How to Have a Healthy Poop

How to Have a Healthy Poop

toiletThis may or may not be the most important post I have written, and yes it is all about Healthy Poop. No one likes to talk about it, but it IS one of the most important indicators of your health.

Your poop tells you so much about your body, what it needs, what it should’t have, and what you may need to do to take your health to the next level. We can have all of this incredible information right at our finger tips, all we have to do is pay attention.

When you wake up in the morning and have a glass of water, you should feel the urge to have a bowel movement within about twenty minutes. If it’s longer than that or if you require caffeine to poop, then you are constipated, even if you eventually go later that day. This is because your liver is in self-cleaning mode from 3 P.M. to 3 A.M. Your first bowel movement should happen soon after waking, because the liver has been working for the past twelve hours to get rid of yesterday’s waste.

So many people today (especially woman) are constipated which is resulting in hormonal imbalances, acne, and even depression. If we are not having 1-3 movements a day, our body then reabsorbs the toxins and tries to use them in the body.

Below I will explain what a healthy bowl movement should be like, and if you not having one, how to get it!

Possible Problems

  • If you are not pooping every day, your body is  reabsorbing the toxins that were meant to be eliminated, which is one of the number one causes of hormone disruptions and disease.
  • If you are constantly pooping, having loose bowl movements, or if diarrhea is present, that means that food is moving too quickly through your small intestine which means you are not absorbing or using any of the important nutrients you are getting from your food. So, you may be eating the cleanest diet in the world, but if your body is not absorbing it correctly, it is worthless.
  • You want that sweet spot of continually eliminating as many toxins as possible while still absorbing and using the nutrients you are taking in.

The Healthy Poop:

Your ideal situation would look like this. Waking up in the morning, drinking a glass of water, and eliminating within 30 min. Later in the afternoon after lunch, you should feel that urge again and proceed to elimination #2.

1. Time it takes to get through your body:

  • Less than 12 hours = Possible malabsorption problems. Indicates you’re not absorbing all the nutrients you should from your food.
  • 12 – 24 hours = Optimal.
  • 24 hours + = Too long. This indicates wastes are sitting inside your colon too long, and substances that were supposed to be eliminated now are absorbed back into the bloodstream and can interfere with your system.

2. How Many Bowl Movements a Day

  • You want to have 1-3 bowl movement every day.

3. What should it look like?

  • bristol_stool_chart1Believe or not, what your ‘business’ looks like also tells you how your body is using the nutrients it is getting.
  • The Bristol Chart helps indicate how your body is digesting and absorbing food.
  • 1–2 indicates constipation and you are storing toxins in your body instead of eliminating them regularly.
  • Type 3–4 are ideal stools as they are easier to pass.= You are absorbing and using all the nutrients you are eating.
  • Type 5–7 may indicate diarrhea and urgency.= you are not absorbing using the nutrients you are taking in.

Now I know this may seem impossible, it sure did to me, but you can totally make it happen. Even one large elimination a day is a wonderful goal to shoot for.

 

 

Here are my best tips to achieve that perfect poop:

1. Water:

  • Ever morning, start your day with at least 20 oz. of water followed by a mug of warm water with lemon.
  • Try to drink at least 64-ounces of water every day, not at meals as this dilutes the enzymes needs to properly digest your food!

2. Movement Everyday:

  • A 30-minute walk
  • Yoga/ Pilates
  • Swim, run, dance, whatever gets you up and moving!

3. Food:

  • Try having fermented foods such as kefir, sauerkraut, or kimchi in at least two of your meals. This will help with digestion, absorption, and detoxification.
  • Try having a plate that is 75% veggies at dinner.
  • A magnesium supplement is a good idea as well to add an extra boost and eliminate those toxins.

4. Avoid:

  • Sugar, gluten, non organic pasteurized dairy, and vegetable oils as all of these are highly inflammatory and cause digestion issues.
  • If you rely on coffee to get things moving, try cutting it out for a week. Once you stop, you will be stopped up for awhile as your body remembers how to stimulate a bowl movement on it’s own. The body can get hooked on caffeine the same way  it can get hooked on laxatives and depend on coffee to stimulate the colon. We do not want that.

Try this steps and you will be a mean, lean, eliminating toxin machine. 😉

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One Comment

  • Kimjungill

    Megan, thanks for this article. Lots of good information.

    How big are your bowel movements? And on the chart where are yours (type 2 or 3?)

    Reply