Yep, we’re going there!
Hang with me for a minute. If you don’t have little kids in your house poop might not be a daily topic of conversation. In fact, you might not pay a lot of attention to it, but it carries clues to how large parts of your body are functioning.
For instance:
- Texture can let you know if you’re drinking the right amount of water and how well you’re chewing your food
- Difficulty passing poop can be sign of jet lag, side effect of medications or a hint that there’s a problem you should talk about with your doc.
- Getting bloated and passing lots of smelly gas can let you know you have an allergy/intolerance to something you’re eating OR that you don’t have microorganisms in your gut to help you break down your food (this is easily fixable with food!).
- A sudden change in how your poop comes out (not at all or way too often) can be pointing to excessive stress in your life. Our guts produce massive amounts of hormones…that stress is NOT just messing with your head!
- And, of course, what you eat makes a difference. Most Americans only eat 15g of fiber a day (women should be aiming for 25g, men for 38g). That fiber does lots of good things for us…one of which is to help poop move through our bodies at an appropriate speed. Guess where it comes from? Fruits and veggies.
Want more info? Check out this nifty infographic from Precision Nutrition…
