Are you in the ‘Goldilocks zone’? What Your Pooping Habits Reveal About Your Health

WHAT you discover – or don’t discover – in the bathroom every day can go a long way in alerting you to your health status.

We all know that the color, shape and even the smell of your number two can reveal a lot.

And now, US scientists have discovered that the number of times you go each week can predict how well you will be in the future.

Everyone’s system is a little different, and according to experts, regularity is what you need.

But the ideal amount – or the “Goldilocks zone”, as researchers at the Institute of Systems Biology call it – is at least once a day.

For anyone sitting comfortably in this area, congratulations.

For those who poop in this zone, fiber-fermenting gut bacteria appear to thrive—suggesting that people who poop often share a similar gut microbiome.

HOW TO MAKE MORE POOP

If you’re not meeting your one-to-two goals, you might want to look at the common traits that Goldilocks Zone Pooers share.

According to the study, it involves a diet rich in fiber, better hydration and regular exercise.

Fiber helps keep the digestive system healthy and helps prevent constipation.

It bulks up stool, making it softer and easier to pass through the intestines.

Eating lots of fiber is associated with a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer.

Government guidelines published in July 2015 state that our dietary fiber intake should increase to 30g per day as part of a healthy, balanced diet.

Foods such as whole grain bread, fruits, vegetables and nuts contain a lot of fiber.

Drinking plenty of fluids, such as water, helps soften the poop and makes it easier to pass.

Therefore, the NHS recommends drinking between eight and 10 glasses of water a day to help prevent constipation.

Lack of exercise can affect bowel regularity.

Sitting still for a long time can slow digestion and reduce the number of bowel movements per day

The NHS says people should get two and a half hours of moderate-intensity physical exercise a week, such as brisk walking, cycling and pushing a lawnmower.

Adults should also perform muscle-strengthening activities, such as carrying heavy shopping bags and lifting weights, at least two days a week.

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Published in the magazine Cell reports to medice, the study involved 1,400 healthy adults who were separated into groups based on poop frequency. These were:

1. Constipation (1-2 bowel movements per week)
2. Low-normal (3-6 bowel movements per week)
3. High-normal (1-3 bowel movements per day)
4. Diarrhea

Scientists then looked for any links between poop frequency and other factors, including age and sex, genetics and gut microbiomes.

They found that age, gender, and body mass index (BMI) play a role in how often you poop.

Specifically, younger women and those with a lower BMI tend to have less frequent bowel movements.

WHY NOT DOING ENOUGH COOKING IS BAD

Going to the bathroom less often than you should means poop stays inside your body longer, which can cause a multitude of problems.

This is because poop can start to break down inside you – a process that can release dangerous toxins into your bloodstream.

These toxins, experts have found, may be behind the links between gut health and chronic disease risk.

Those who suffered from constipation typically had byproducts of protein fermentation in their blood, which are known to cause kidney disease.

Those with diarrhea did not improve.

People who suffered from regular runs had chemical patterns in their blood associated with liver damage.

“Overall, this study shows how bowel movement frequency can influence all body systems and how aberrant [unusual] bowel movement frequency may be an important risk factor in the development of chronic diseases,” said corresponding author Dr. Sean Gibbons.

“This information can inform strategies to manage bowel movement frequency, even in healthy populations, to optimize health and well-being.”

There were several limitations to the study, including the majority of participants being white and living in the same area of ​​the US.

There was also “limited representation in the constipation and diarrhea categories,” which reflects the “generally healthy” nature of this cohort,” the researchers said.