Your poop is one of the best indicators of your health. The color, size, and texture of your poop can tell a lot about what is going on in your body, it can help you in identifying common problems such as digestion problems, motility diseases or even adverse reaction or side effects of medication.
So here is a Bristol Stool Chart, which is a stool scale that classifies the human feces into seven different categories to be used for clinical purposes. Apart from helping your doctor, this chart also gives you an idea, if all is good with your digestive system or not.
This chart describes 7 categories of stool-based on its shape and consistency and assigns them a sample number from 1-7. Here is the Bristol Stool Chart:
Type 1: Separate hard lumps: the stool is hard, look like nuts and is really hard to pass and means that you are constipated
Type 2: lumpy and sausage like even this type of stools mean that you are slightly constipated
Type 3: a sausage shape but with cracks on the surface, you can rightly describe it as the gold standard of poop, especially when it is soft and really easy to pass
Type 4: like a smooth, soft sausage or snake, considered to be normal and should happen every one or three days
Type 5: Soft blobs with clear cut edges, it is easy to pass, this means that you are lacking fiber and should look for ways to increase intake of fiber in your diet through vegetables or cereals
Type 6: mushy, fluffy consistency with ragged edges, this too-soft consistency is considered to be a mild form of diarrhea. In such cases, you should drink plenty of water and fruit juices
Type 7: liquid consistency with no solid pieces, this is diarrhea which implies that your stool moved too quickly through your bowels and didn’t form into a healthy poop at all
Colour of your Poop:
As with the size and consistency, even the color of your poop can tell a lot about the health of your digestive system.
- Any shade of brownis usually considered to be good
- A little greenis also ok
- Super greenin color stool implies that either you ate to much of greens or its passing your bowels too fast
- A blackcolor stool means that you have eaten a licorice, iron supplements or bismuth medication or it is also an indication of bleeding in your upper intestinal tract
- A pale, white or claycolor stool indicates clogging in your bile duct
- When your stool is redin color it is either because you ate red things or a hemorrhoid or you are experiencing bleeding in the lower intestines.
- Yellow, when your stool is yellow in color it indicates too much fat, malabsorption, or celiac disease on your diet
An individual’s bowel habits are influenced by many factors and change on a daily basis. Some of the common reasons why you might experience changes in your bowel movements are your diet, stress levels, dehydration, traveling, medications, changes in your activity levels or exercise regime, some kind of illness, or even hormone related changes such as during menstruation or pregnancy.
There are many ways in which you can improve the overall health of your digestive system, here are 4 of the most effective ways of increasing your stool health:
- Drinking more water: your poop can easily tell if you are drinking enough water or not. If you are dehydrated, the large intestine and the colon will work like dehydrators and absorb all water from stools to replenish your body with water, which may lead to harder stools. And to avoid any such conditions it is always a good idea to drink plenty of water. Water not only aids the digestive process but also helps in breaking down the food and absorbing the required nutrients.
- Eat More Fiber: fibers are of two types, one which is soluble in water and the other which is insoluble, and both of these, not only aid digestion but also support your regularity. The soluble fiber will dissolve in water and helps in absorbing vital nutrients for your body from various foods. Whereas the insoluble fiber in its fibrous form, helps pass the food through your digestive tract and adds bulk to the stool.
- Remove all unhealthy animal fats: fat normally takes a bit longer to digest than other foods and the time taken varies on the type of fat you, intake. Various dietary fats include saturated fats, trans fat, mono saturated fatty acids, and polyunsaturated fatty. To put this simply, take out the bad fats in your diet like fish, chicken, and any other processed meats. If what you’re eating has a father or a mother, it will worsen your transit time.
- Use Colon Cleanser: any toxin in your digestive system can lead to a variety of health problems and any sort of colon cleansing not only improves your health (by removing toxins), but also boosts your energy and enhance your immune system.
As the colon is cleansed, it pushes all wastes products out from your body and clears the way for good nutrient absorption. A good colon which results from a colon detox allows waste to pass out easily. There are many herbal products such as the Easey Sweep Colon Cleanser that can be safely and effectively used for this purpose.
The Herbal Colon Detox by Easey Sweep Colon Cleanser is not only safe but also an easy way of getting rid of all the waste from bowels. The formulation not only helps in improving the functioning of your stomach but is also very good at cleaning the small and the large intestines and eliminate any sort of uneasiness associated with occasional bowel movements.
Apart from flushing out the waste products from your body it will also help in giving you a flatter belly, improve the regularity of bowels and promote healthy flora by cleansing the bowels.
Any sort of abnormality in your pooping habits can last for up to 2-3 days after which if you still experience discomfort you should always consult a healthcare professional to get a precise diagnosis on what may be going on with you.
Many people share feelings of disgust in having to look behind after defecating. However, your poop can provide you a wealth of knowledge about your health. So next time whenever you poop takes note of what is going on, you never know as your toilet bowl can be the window into your health and you.