Know your bowel movement

A bowel movement is the normal passage of waste products from the body after metabolism has taken place. Bowel movement is largely determined by the consumption rate of an individual. If one is taking more than the body needs at any given time, he is bound to pass the excess out through bowel movement. Another […]

A bowel movement is the normal passage of waste products from the body after metabolism has taken place. Bowel movement is largely determined by the consumption rate of an individual. If one is taking more than the body needs at any given time, he is bound to pass the excess out through bowel movement.

Another reason people have bowel movement is as a result of water-borne or food-borne diseases. This will cause more bowel movement, which is likely to be almost liquid in nature. But all in all, it is simply a function of what the body requires and what it does not that it discards as waste.

Everybody has a routine for bowel movement. Some have it every day, especially in the mornings while others have it at a different time in the day. Dr Ayinbode said the frequency or regularity is dependent on a variety of factors. One of such is the fact that there are people who are naturally constipated and don’t need any aid with emptying their bowels. And some are forced to do so because of worm infestation in their system as well as water intake.

Dr Denis Moffat expatiates further. “Faeces contain water, indigestible fibre, undigested food, sloughed off intestinal cells, living and dead bacteria, bile and worn-out red blood cells. A normal stool should be brown to light brown, formed but not hard or too soft, cylindrical but not flattened on any side, fairly bulky and full-bodied but not compact, easy to pass and shouldn’t have an extremely foul smell.

“Each bowel movement should be in one piece, about the size and shape of a banana being tapered at the end. Sometimes, this will not be discernable if the faeces break up in the toilet. Some people feel that if the body is absorbing all the minerals from the food, the stool will float. “Others believe that the stool should sink. I think the important thing is that there are no air bubbles in the stool and that it doesn’t drop like a brick in the toilet. It should be somewhere in between.

“An occasional deviation from this pattern is acceptable. Any chronic deviation from the above pattern is not healthy and should be immediately dealt with,” he explained.

Moffat stressed that it is important to look at your stool in the toilet because it can reveal a lot about your health if you learn to read them. Air or bubbles in the stool can mean that we have a gut or flora imbalance and that gas-producing bacteria are overgrown and competing with the healthier flora. A horrible smelling stool is indication that there is too much protein and flora imbalance.

If the stools are black, tarry and sticky (called melena), this can mean that there is bleeding from the small intestine. These types of stools usually have a distinctive bad odour. If you’ve ever smelled a dog with Parvo, corona or rotavirus, you know what I mean. Light green stools mean too much sugar, fruits or vegetables and not enough grains or salt. Mucus can reveal diverticulitis and gut inflammation due to allergies or parasites.