A wide variety of factors - including diet, exercise and stress - have an impact on the regularity of human’s bowl movements.
How ofter should you poop? Dr. Trisha Pasricha, gastroenterologist: “So much goes into our bowel movements...”
Going to the bathroom to satisfy our physiological needs is a fundamental part of people’s daily lives. Although it can often be a taboo or uncomfortable subject to discuss, regular defecation is an essential biological function for maintaining our health and well-being.
The need to have a bowel movement is a signal from the body that there is accumulated waste that needs to be eliminated. This natural process allows the body to get rid of toxins and excess substances, which helps to maintain the balance and proper functioning of our digestive and renal systems.
“Huge range of factors”
Speaking to The Sun, Dr. Sarah Jarvis, the clinical director at patientaccess.com, explains that the regularity of an individual’s bowel movements is affected by a “huge range” of influences: not only diet, but also a wealth of other surrounding factors. “Some of these you can’t influence,” Dr. Jarvis says. “Even if fed an identical diet, some people would open their bowels more often than others."
Dr. Trisha Pasricha, a gastroenterologist who is the author of the book You’ve Been Pooping All Wrong, agrees that a wide variety of factors can affect your regularity.
“There’s so much that goes into our bowel movements,” Dr. Pasricha told the Checkup with Doctor Mike podcast. “It’s stress, it’s [travel] - a lot of people can’t poop on vacation. People are often stressed while they’re traveling.”
Dr. Pasricha added: “A lot of people can’t poop at work, or they’re in an environment where they don’t feel safe and comfortable. Like college students: they have these shared dormitory bathrooms - everyone’s watching, staring, smelling, judging. They’re stressed, they’re not eating well - they often are the ones who have a lot of problems.
“Sometimes you might not say, ‘Oh yeah, I can pinpoint [that I improved the regularity of my bowel movements because] I changed my coffee creamer,’ or something. You might not be able to make that pinpoint, but when we take a big step back and say, ‘What else has been going on in life?’, there’s often something that could account for the change.”
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Constipation: a serious problem
According to Dr. Jarvis, most people have a “fairly regular pooing pattern”, with studies showing that 98% of humans have bowel movements between three times a day and three times a week.
But if you’re defecating less regularly than usual, or less than three times a week, you could be suffering from constipation. To combat this, try to get plenty of exercise to help get things moving: physical activity encourages peristalsis - the movements of intestinal muscle rings that carry your food through your digestive system.
You should also make sure to eat plenty of fiber, which is found in fruits, vegetables and grains. “If you start meeting your fiber goals, you’re going to poop more often,” Dr. Pasricha says.
Additionally, the availability of clean and accessible toilets is essential to meet the basic needs of people. Moreover, having access to adequate sanitation facilities is an internationally recognized human right and is essential to promoting the dignity and well-being of all.
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