Are you in the ‘Goldilocks zone’? What your poo habits reveal about your health

WHAT you discover – or don’t discover – in the loo each day can go a long way to alerting you about your state of health.

We all know the colour, shape and even smell of your number twos can reveal quite a bit.

Your bowel movement could be linked to your long-term health

And now, US scientists have found the number of times you go each week can predict how well you might 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 the researchers from the Institute for Systems Biology call it – is at least once a day.

For those sitting comfortably in this zone, congratulations.

Experts say it’s a sign that your fibre-fermenting gut bacteria are thriving – suggesting that people who poop this often share a similar gut microbiome.

HOW TO POOP MORE

If you’re not hitting your one-to-two-poo goals, you may want to take note of the common traits ‘Goldilocks Zone’-pooers share.

According to the study, that’s a fibre-rich diet, better hydration, and regular exercise.

Fibre helps to keep the digestive system healthy and helps prevent constipation.

It bulks up stools making them softer and easier to pass through the bowel.

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

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

Foods like wholegrain bread, fruit, vegetables and nuts all contain lots of fibre.

Drinking plenty of fluid such as water helps to soften your poo and makes it easier to pass.

So the NHS recommends drinking between eight and 10 glasses of water each day can help prevent constipation.

A lack of exercise can affect bowel regularity.

Staying too still for too long can slow digestion and reduce the number of bowel movements per day

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

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

Though everyone’s number twos look different, they usually fall into one of seven categories outlined by the Bristol Stool Chart (see above)

Published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine, the study involved 1,400 healthy adults who were separated into groups based on poo frequency. These were:

Constipated (1-2 bowel movements per week)

Low-normal (3-6 bowel movements per week)

High-normal (1-3 bowel movements per day)

Diarrhoea

The scientists then looked for any links between their pooping frequency and other factors, including age and sex, genetics, and gut microbiomes.

They discovered that age, sex and body mass index (BMI) play a large part in how often you poop.

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

WHY NOT POOING ENOUGH CAN BE BAD FOR YOU

Going to the loo less often than you should means the poop sticks around inside the body for longer, which can cause a whole plethora of issues.

This is because the poo can start breaking down inside you – a process which can release dangerous toxins into the bloodstream.

These toxins, the experts found, could be behind the links between bowel health and chronic disease risk.

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

Those with diarrhoea didn’t come out any better.

People who suffered from regular bouts of the runs had chemistry patterns in their blood linked 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.

“These insights could inform strategies for managing bowel movement frequency, even in healthy populations, to optimize health and wellness.”

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

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