I wanted to make the headline for this post ‘how small is too small’ but I was told that could induce some negative reactions.
I’m going to talk about a slightly awkward topic today.
As a nutritional therapist I am weirdly interested in everyone’s number twos 💩💩💩.
Well, it’s not that weird actually because your 💩 says a whole lot about your health.
Quite a few of these One Minute For Your Health emails will be aimed at helping you create the perfect poo.
And that’s because a perfect poo makes it much more likely that you will have:
less digestive problems
less likelihood of weight gain
balanced hormones (and better fertility)
balanced mood
better immunity
better liver function
less likelihood of cognitive degeneration
less risk of certain cancers
So you see - it’s important and you’re welcome.
In Western populations stool weight tends to be around 100g per day (or less, especially in women).
In populations still following more traditional dietary patterns stool weight can be up to 500g!
Higher dietary fibre intake is generally linked with greater stool weight, and stool weight greater than 150g is linked with reduced risk of certain cancers.
I’m guessing you’re wondering how to know how heavy your 💩 is?
The rule of thumb I learned is this; if your 💩 is forming a little pile in the bottom of your toilet bowl that does not peak above the water surface then it’s not big enough.
It should be forming a large mound that reaches above the water surface.
How to make it bigger?
The size of your 💩 depends on how much you have eaten (which is why men’s 💩 are usually bigger than women’s).
It also depends on how much dietary fibre you are eating. You can find fibre in:
whole-grains like oats, brown rice, buckwheat groats, quinoa and millet
vegetables with their peel on
nuts and seeds
legumes
fruits with their peel (although these tend to have less of an effect on stool weight)
In total you should be eating about 800g of vegetables, fruits and whole-grains per day. In other words 30g of fibre.
So here’s your #1M4YH challenge for this week:
Check out your 💩 to assess if it’s big enough. If not add an extra fibre-rich food (listed above) to each meal and snack you eat.
Caution: if you’re not used to eating much fibre this may initially cause some discomfort as your gut bacteria population builds up. Take it slow and make sure you’re drinking plenty of water to avoid constipation.
If you want to watch a video animation about the role of our gut microbes in health then click the button below.
And if you would like to know what your 💩says about your digestive health then why not take my free ‘Gut Health Check’ by clicking the link below.
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Links and References:
Cummings, J. et al. (1992) "Fecal weight, colon cancer risk, and dietary intake of nonstarch polysaccharides (dietary fiber)", Gastroenterology, 103(6), pp. 1783-1789. doi: 10.1016/0016-5085(92)91435-7.
MacLennan, R. et al. (1978) "Diet, transit time, stool weight, and colon cancer in two Scandinavian populations", The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 31(10), pp. S239-S242. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/31.10.s239.
de Vries, J. et al. (2016) "Effects of Cereal, Fruit and Vegetable Fibers on Human Fecal Weight and Transit Time: A Comprehensive Review of Intervention Trials", Nutrients, 8(3), p. 130. doi: 10.3390/nu8030130.
Book tip: Food Pharmacy. https://www.bog-ide.dk/produkt/715985/lina-nertby-aurell-food-pharmacy-indbundet/2328263?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIm66fkpSV6wIVsiB7Ch30dwclEAQYASABEgJOufD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Book tip: Happy Food. https://www.amazon.com/Henrik-Ennart-author-Niklas-Ekstedt/dp/1472959981
Book tip: Be Good to Your Gut. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=be+good+to+your+gut&ref=nb_sb_noss_2
Image taken at Cafe Mair’s in Fredericia
Learn more about me at www.efiaskitchen.com