How can the characteristics of your stool indicate your overall health. What does the color, shape, and consistency of your poop reveal about your digestive system. Why does healthy poop typically sink in the toilet bowl.

The Importance of Poop Observation: A Window into Your Health

While it may not be the most pleasant topic, paying attention to your bowel movements can provide valuable insights into your overall health. The appearance, consistency, and behavior of your stool can offer clues about your diet, digestive function, and potential underlying health conditions. One particular aspect that often raises questions is whether poop should sink or float. Let’s dive into this topic and explore what your stool can tell you about your health.

The Composition of Healthy Poop: What’s Inside?

To understand why poop behaves the way it does, it’s essential to know its components. Healthy stool typically consists of:

• Indigestible fat
• Food residue
• Bacteria
• A large percentage of water

The combination of these elements determines the density and buoyancy of your stool, which in turn affects whether it sinks or floats.

Why Does Healthy Poop Usually Sink?

Generally, healthy poop tends to sink to the bottom of the toilet bowl. This is because it’s dense enough to overcome the water’s surface tension. When you hear a distinctive “plop” sound, it’s often a good sign that your digestive system is functioning properly.

A fiber-rich diet and efficient digestion contribute to the production of well-formed, dense stools. These stools are typically heavy enough to descend to the bottom of the toilet, rather than floating on the surface.

Floating Poop: When Should You Be Concerned?

While sinking poop is generally considered healthy, occasional floating stools aren’t necessarily cause for alarm. There are several reasons why your poop might float:

1. Changes in diet
2. Increased gas production
3. Temporary gastrointestinal infections
4. Malabsorption issues

If you notice your stool floating occasionally, it’s often due to dietary changes or increased gas production. This is usually temporary and resolves on its own within a day or two.

When Floating Poop Signals a Problem

However, if you consistently experience floating stools, especially if they appear greasy, it could indicate a more serious issue such as malabsorption. This condition occurs when your body struggles to absorb nutrients from food properly. Other symptoms of malabsorption may include unexplained weight loss.

Persistent floating poop can also be a symptom of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). If you frequently have floating stools along with symptoms like cramping, bloating after meals, constipation, or frequent diarrhea, it’s advisable to consult with your healthcare provider.

The Color Spectrum of Healthy and Unhealthy Stools

The color of your poop can provide valuable information about your digestive health and overall well-being. Healthy stool typically ranges from light yellow to dark brown, with the most common shade being medium brown.

What Causes Brown Poop?

The brown color of healthy stool is primarily due to bile, a substance produced by the liver to aid in digestion. As bile passes through your digestive system, it undergoes chemical changes that result in the characteristic brown color of feces.

Unusual Stool Colors and Their Meanings

While variations in stool color can often be attributed to diet, certain hues may indicate underlying health issues:

• Light-colored or clay-colored stools: May suggest bile duct problems, hepatitis, or pancreatic issues
• Red or bloody stools: Could indicate hemorrhoids, anal fissures, or more serious conditions like colorectal polyps or cancer
• Black stools: Might be caused by upper gastrointestinal bleeding or certain medications
• Green stools: Often harmless and related to diet, but can sometimes indicate increased gut motility

If you notice persistent changes in stool color, especially if accompanied by other symptoms, it’s important to consult with a healthcare professional for proper evaluation.

Decoding Stool Shape and Consistency: What’s Normal?

The shape and consistency of your stool can provide valuable insights into your digestive health and overall well-being. While there is no single “perfect” shape, certain characteristics are generally associated with healthy bowel movements.

The Ideal Stool Shape

Healthy stools typically appear as well-formed logs with a clay-like consistency. They should be smooth and soft, yet maintain their shape. The Bristol Stool Chart, a medical tool used to classify stool, describes ideal stools as Type 3 or 4 – shaped like a sausage or snake, either with cracks on the surface or smooth and soft.

Variations in Healthy Stool Shapes

It’s important to note that healthy stools can vary in size and shape. They may be:

• Long or short
• Thick or thin
• Snake-like or more rounded

As long as they maintain a generally consistent form and are easy to pass, these variations are typically considered normal.

When Stool Shape Indicates a Problem

Certain stool shapes and consistencies may signal underlying health issues:

1. Pebble-like or very hard stools: Often indicate constipation
2. Loose, watery stools: May suggest diarrhea or digestive upset
3. Pencil-thin stools: Could potentially indicate an obstruction in the colon
4. Greasy or floating stools: Might suggest malabsorption issues

If you notice persistent changes in your stool shape or consistency, especially if accompanied by other symptoms like abdominal pain or changes in bowel habits, it’s advisable to consult with a healthcare professional.

The Role of Diet in Stool Health: Fiber, Hydration, and More

Your diet plays a crucial role in determining the characteristics of your stool. The foods you consume directly impact your digestive health and, consequently, the appearance and behavior of your bowel movements.

The Importance of Fiber

Fiber is essential for maintaining healthy bowel movements. It adds bulk to your stool, helps it move through your digestive system, and promotes regular bowel habits. There are two main types of fiber:

• Soluble fiber: Dissolves in water and forms a gel-like substance that helps soften stool
• Insoluble fiber: Adds bulk to stool and helps it pass more quickly through the digestive system

A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes can provide a good balance of both types of fiber, promoting healthy stools that are well-formed and easy to pass.

Hydration and Stool Consistency

Adequate hydration is crucial for maintaining proper stool consistency. When you’re dehydrated, your body absorbs more water from your stool, potentially leading to constipation and hard, dry stools. Conversely, drinking plenty of water helps keep your stools soft and easy to pass.

The Impact of Specific Foods on Stool

Certain foods can affect the characteristics of your stool:

1. High-fat foods: May lead to greasy, floating stools if not properly digested
2. Dairy products: Can cause loose stools in people with lactose intolerance
3. Spicy foods: May increase gut motility and lead to looser stools
4. Artificial sweeteners: Can have a laxative effect in some individuals

Being aware of how different foods affect your digestion can help you make informed choices to maintain healthy bowel movements.

When to Seek Medical Advice: Red Flags in Stool Health

While occasional changes in your stool are normal, certain symptoms warrant medical attention. It’s important to be aware of potential red flags that could indicate underlying health issues.

Persistent Changes in Bowel Habits

If you notice significant changes in your bowel habits that last for more than a few days, it’s advisable to consult with a healthcare professional. This includes:

• Persistent diarrhea or constipation
• Alternating bouts of diarrhea and constipation
• Sudden changes in stool frequency

Blood in the Stool

The presence of blood in your stool should always be taken seriously. It can appear as bright red blood on the toilet paper or in the bowl, or it may cause your stool to appear dark and tarry. Potential causes include:

1. Hemorrhoids
2. Anal fissures
3. Inflammatory bowel disease
4. Colorectal polyps or cancer

If you notice blood in your stool, it’s important to seek medical evaluation promptly.

Unexplained Weight Loss

Significant unintentional weight loss, especially when accompanied by changes in bowel habits, can be a sign of various digestive disorders or other health conditions. If you’re losing weight without trying, it’s important to discuss this with your healthcare provider.

Severe Abdominal Pain

While occasional mild abdominal discomfort is common, severe or persistent abdominal pain, especially if accompanied by changes in bowel habits, should be evaluated by a medical professional.

Chronic Fatigue or Weakness

If you’re experiencing ongoing fatigue or weakness along with changes in your stool, it could be a sign of nutrient malabsorption or other health issues. This combination of symptoms warrants medical attention.

Remember, while it’s important to be aware of your bowel habits, obsessing over every change can lead to unnecessary anxiety. Use your judgment, and when in doubt, don’t hesitate to consult with a healthcare professional for proper evaluation and guidance.

What It Can Tell You About Your Health

Healthy poop typically sinks to the bottom of the toilet bowl. You may have floating poop temporarily if you have an illness. But regular floaters can indicate a health condition.

When was the last time you took a look at what you left behind in the toilet bowl?

While there are certainly more appealing (and better-smelling) things to look at, checking out what’s coming out the other end can actually tell you a lot about your diet, activity level, and health in general.

It can be especially important to know whether your poop sinks or floats. But since you’re probably (hopefully?) not looking at anyone else’s poop on the regular, it can be hard to know whether yours is “normal.”

Let’s cover the basics of what normal, healthy poop looks like, what to do when it doesn’t look normal, and when to see a doctor.

Poop typically consists of:

• indigestible fat
• food residue
• bacteria
• a large percentage of water

Hearing a hearty “plop!” when you’re sitting on the toilet is actually a sign that your poop is dense and, therefore, healthy.

If you’re eating a fiber-full diet and your digestive system is firing on all cylinders, your poop should be heavy enough to land at the bottom of the toilet bowl.

What to do if your poop floats

Even though healthy poop sinks, occasionally your poop will float like a life preserver.

If you’re leaving the occasional floater behind, it’s probably not a cause for concern. Eating a new food or food that gives you a lot of gas can make your poop less dense, resulting in floating stools. After a day or so, this typically goes away on its own.

Floating poop can sometimes be a symptom of a gastrointestinal infection or a stomach bug. These, too, tend to be temporary and will go away on their own.

But if your poop frequently floats and feels greasy, it could mean that you’re experiencing malabsorption.

Another symptom of malabsorption is weight loss. See your doctor if this is a regular symptom for you, especially if it’s accompanied by floating poops.

Floating poop can also be a symptom of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). IBS has other symptoms, too, such as:

• cramping
• bloating after meals
• constipation
• frequent diarrhea

If you frequently have floating poop in addition to these other symptoms, talk with your doctor.

Healthy stool is brown. This is because bile from your digestive organs tints the color of your poop.

Your poop can vary in color according to what you’ve eaten recently. If your poop looks super dark or even black, it’s probably because you’ve been eating a lot of blueberries or a food that uses dark food dyes, like black licorice.

Unhealthy shades

If your poop isn’t on the range of colors between yellow and dark brown, it can indicate an underlying health concern.

Light color

Poop that’s a lighter shade of brown or gray, or clay-colored, can indicate that your bile ducts aren’t functioning at their full capacity. This can be a sign of:

• hepatitis
• bile duct blockage
• gallstones
• swelling in the liver or pancreas

If your poop becomes lighter in color than usual and doesn’t return to its dark brown color, pay attention to other symptoms you be having. Contact your doctor if you aren’t feeling well.

Red

Poop that’s red, or stools that come out bloody, can be a sign that you have a blockage at your rectum. It can also indicate hemorrhoids or gastrointestinal bleeding.

In some cases, red poop can be a warning sign of colorectal polyps or intestinal cancer.

If you’re seeing blood in your stool or frequently have red poop, contact your doctor and let them know, regardless of other symptoms. They’ll be able to tell if you need to have your stool tested to determine what’s causing your red poop.

Poop can take many shapes and still be healthy.

Your feces will typically appear in formed logs with a clay-like consistency. Narrow, snake-shaped poop is also considered normal. Your poop can be large, small, short, or long: All these shapes fall on the spectrum of normal.

Unhealthy shapes

There are some things about your poop’s consistency and shape that can point to an underlying health condition. Most things about your poop’s shape and size are related to your diet.

Poop that looks lumpy or comes out in small softball- or caterpillar-like shapes can mean that you’re constipated. Increase your water intake if you notice your poop coming out pebbly or dry, even if you’re not straining when you go.

Poop that looks jagged or fuzzy might mean it’s time to load up your plate with fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

A low amount of fiber in your diet can result in poop that’s extremely soft. If your poop lacks (for lack of a better word) definition, change up the amount of fiber you’re getting at each meal.

Even healthy poop doesn’t smell the best. There’s a reason, after all, why the word “excrement” is synonymous with “gross.”

Unpleasant-smelling poop is the result of bacteria and food decay. Poop has a very distinct smell that you’re probably familiar with, and everyone’s poop smells unique to them. Poop that smells earthy or musty is typical and normal.

Unhealthy smells

Poop that smells greasy, foul, or especially putrid can be a sign from your body that there’s something else going on.

Taking antibiotics changes the microbiota in your gut. This can result in foul-smelling stool. It’s often temporary and will resolve on its own, but a course of probiotic supplements can’t hurt to help things along.

If you menstruate, your poop may have a distinct and powerful odor during your period (which is totally normal).

You may also experience foul-smelling stool in addition to diarrhea if you take more than the recommended dose of a multivitamin or supplement. This, too, will resolve on its own in a day or two.

Seeing a doctor

If your poop is especially smelly and accompanied by other symptoms, you may need to contact your doctor.

Bacterial infections like E. coli, food and dairy allergies, and gastrointestinal parasites can cause your stool to smell abnormally offensive. Malabsorption can also cause a strong stench.

If your poop smells worse than usual, pay attention to other symptoms that you may be having. See your doctor if you have especially smelly stools and:

• frequent cramping
• constipation
• diarrhea
• weight loss
• bloody stool

Some people poop a couple times a day. Others only poop every other day. Regularity is important, but there’s a wide range of what’s “normal” when it comes to poop frequency.

You may poop more often or less frequently depending on how much fiber is in your diet, how much meat you eat, how much physical activity you tend to get, and other factors.

Fixing constipation

If you feel constipated, first try to increase your water intake. Being dehydrated means that you might not have enough water traveling through your intestine to form solid, healthy poop.

If that doesn’t work, increase your fiber intake. Keep in mind that eating a lot of fiber can actually slow your digestion, at least at first.

Constipation home remedies are another option if you’re not pooping regularly. Consider taking a magnesium supplement or a natural laxative to get things moving. Getting some exercise, like going for a run or practicing yoga, can also help.

If you experience constipation on a regular basis, or if your stools are hard and dry, let your doctor know.

Healthy poop will typically sink to the bottom of the toilet, look dark brown, and smell a bit musty but not especially foul.

Poop gives you important clues into what’s going on inside your body. Any stool that’s not within the realm of what’s normal for you is a reason to pay close attention.

Stool that floats, is a different color than usual, and smells especially foul could indicate that you need to have a conversation with your doctor.

What It Can Tell You About Your Health

Healthy poop typically sinks to the bottom of the toilet bowl. You may have floating poop temporarily if you have an illness. But regular floaters can indicate a health condition.

When was the last time you took a look at what you left behind in the toilet bowl?

While there are certainly more appealing (and better-smelling) things to look at, checking out what’s coming out the other end can actually tell you a lot about your diet, activity level, and health in general.

It can be especially important to know whether your poop sinks or floats. But since you’re probably (hopefully?) not looking at anyone else’s poop on the regular, it can be hard to know whether yours is “normal.”

Let’s cover the basics of what normal, healthy poop looks like, what to do when it doesn’t look normal, and when to see a doctor.

Poop typically consists of:

• indigestible fat
• food residue
• bacteria
• a large percentage of water

Hearing a hearty “plop!” when you’re sitting on the toilet is actually a sign that your poop is dense and, therefore, healthy.

If you’re eating a fiber-full diet and your digestive system is firing on all cylinders, your poop should be heavy enough to land at the bottom of the toilet bowl.

What to do if your poop floats

Even though healthy poop sinks, occasionally your poop will float like a life preserver.

If you’re leaving the occasional floater behind, it’s probably not a cause for concern. Eating a new food or food that gives you a lot of gas can make your poop less dense, resulting in floating stools. After a day or so, this typically goes away on its own.

Floating poop can sometimes be a symptom of a gastrointestinal infection or a stomach bug. These, too, tend to be temporary and will go away on their own.

But if your poop frequently floats and feels greasy, it could mean that you’re experiencing malabsorption.

Another symptom of malabsorption is weight loss. See your doctor if this is a regular symptom for you, especially if it’s accompanied by floating poops.

Floating poop can also be a symptom of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). IBS has other symptoms, too, such as:

• cramping
• bloating after meals
• constipation
• frequent diarrhea

If you frequently have floating poop in addition to these other symptoms, talk with your doctor.

Healthy stool is brown. This is because bile from your digestive organs tints the color of your poop.

Your poop can vary in color according to what you’ve eaten recently. If your poop looks super dark or even black, it’s probably because you’ve been eating a lot of blueberries or a food that uses dark food dyes, like black licorice.

Unhealthy shades

If your poop isn’t on the range of colors between yellow and dark brown, it can indicate an underlying health concern.

Light color

Poop that’s a lighter shade of brown or gray, or clay-colored, can indicate that your bile ducts aren’t functioning at their full capacity. This can be a sign of:

• hepatitis
• bile duct blockage
• gallstones
• swelling in the liver or pancreas

If your poop becomes lighter in color than usual and doesn’t return to its dark brown color, pay attention to other symptoms you be having. Contact your doctor if you aren’t feeling well.

Red

Poop that’s red, or stools that come out bloody, can be a sign that you have a blockage at your rectum. It can also indicate hemorrhoids or gastrointestinal bleeding.

In some cases, red poop can be a warning sign of colorectal polyps or intestinal cancer.

If you’re seeing blood in your stool or frequently have red poop, contact your doctor and let them know, regardless of other symptoms. They’ll be able to tell if you need to have your stool tested to determine what’s causing your red poop.

Poop can take many shapes and still be healthy.

Your feces will typically appear in formed logs with a clay-like consistency. Narrow, snake-shaped poop is also considered normal. Your poop can be large, small, short, or long: All these shapes fall on the spectrum of normal.

Unhealthy shapes

There are some things about your poop’s consistency and shape that can point to an underlying health condition. Most things about your poop’s shape and size are related to your diet.

Poop that looks lumpy or comes out in small softball- or caterpillar-like shapes can mean that you’re constipated. Increase your water intake if you notice your poop coming out pebbly or dry, even if you’re not straining when you go.

Poop that looks jagged or fuzzy might mean it’s time to load up your plate with fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

A low amount of fiber in your diet can result in poop that’s extremely soft. If your poop lacks (for lack of a better word) definition, change up the amount of fiber you’re getting at each meal.

Even healthy poop doesn’t smell the best. There’s a reason, after all, why the word “excrement” is synonymous with “gross.”

Unpleasant-smelling poop is the result of bacteria and food decay. Poop has a very distinct smell that you’re probably familiar with, and everyone’s poop smells unique to them. Poop that smells earthy or musty is typical and normal.

Unhealthy smells

Poop that smells greasy, foul, or especially putrid can be a sign from your body that there’s something else going on.

Taking antibiotics changes the microbiota in your gut. This can result in foul-smelling stool. It’s often temporary and will resolve on its own, but a course of probiotic supplements can’t hurt to help things along.

If you menstruate, your poop may have a distinct and powerful odor during your period (which is totally normal).

You may also experience foul-smelling stool in addition to diarrhea if you take more than the recommended dose of a multivitamin or supplement. This, too, will resolve on its own in a day or two.

Seeing a doctor

If your poop is especially smelly and accompanied by other symptoms, you may need to contact your doctor.

Bacterial infections like E. coli, food and dairy allergies, and gastrointestinal parasites can cause your stool to smell abnormally offensive. Malabsorption can also cause a strong stench.

If your poop smells worse than usual, pay attention to other symptoms that you may be having. See your doctor if you have especially smelly stools and:

• frequent cramping
• constipation
• diarrhea
• weight loss
• bloody stool

Some people poop a couple times a day. Others only poop every other day. Regularity is important, but there’s a wide range of what’s “normal” when it comes to poop frequency.

You may poop more often or less frequently depending on how much fiber is in your diet, how much meat you eat, how much physical activity you tend to get, and other factors.

Fixing constipation

If you feel constipated, first try to increase your water intake. Being dehydrated means that you might not have enough water traveling through your intestine to form solid, healthy poop.

If that doesn’t work, increase your fiber intake. Keep in mind that eating a lot of fiber can actually slow your digestion, at least at first.

Constipation home remedies are another option if you’re not pooping regularly. Consider taking a magnesium supplement or a natural laxative to get things moving. Getting some exercise, like going for a run or practicing yoga, can also help.

If you experience constipation on a regular basis, or if your stools are hard and dry, let your doctor know.

Healthy poop will typically sink to the bottom of the toilet, look dark brown, and smell a bit musty but not especially foul.

Poop gives you important clues into what’s going on inside your body. Any stool that’s not within the realm of what’s normal for you is a reason to pay close attention.

Stool that floats, is a different color than usual, and smells especially foul could indicate that you need to have a conversation with your doctor.

It does not sink: Unsightly symptom of dangerous diseases revealed

Komsomolskaya Pravda

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American scientists called non-sinking feces a sign of disease

American scientists called non-sinking feces are a sign of disease Photo: Shutterstock

This discovery surfaced by accident: during experiments with mice that live in sterile conditions from birth, scientists at the American Mayo Clinic in Minnesota (one of the largest private medical and research centers in the world) noticed that neither one of these individuals does not sink poop. Never. At all. And we decided to check other, non-sterile mice. And then they got to the people …

A detailed account of this unappetizing experiment has been published in Scientific Reports. The main thing: if all the feces of sterile mice sank immediately, then in non-sterile mice during that part of the experiment, which is beautifully called “flotation”, almost half went to the bottom. The poop was not only drowned, but also weighed. It turned out that their weight is different, and depends, among other things, on the gas content. And this, in turn, depends on the types of bacteria living in the intestines.

Human feces, which were taken up by tireless researchers at the last stage, showed the same results (taking into account, of course, that absolutely sterile people did not participate in the study). It turns out that earlier science believed that the weight of feces is associated only with the amount of fat, and its excess indicates violations of the processes of digestion and absorption.

“Remember, Dr. House had a vegan patient whose husband also became a vegan,” Ancha Baranova , a well-known scientific blogger and Doctor of Biology , comments on the results of the study. But sometimes he cheated on her. Not in terms of love, but in terms of cutlet-meat-eating. And his wife, along with Dr. House, figured him out, because his poop stopped sinking. Dr. House said it was because of the animal fat. But it is not so. Poop can suddenly begin to swim in the event of a rapid multiplication of gas-producing microbiota, led by Bacteroidetes ovatum.

In healthy and adult people, the main gases are oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Other intestinal gases that internal bacteria and microbes produce – methane, hydrogen sulfide and ammonia – are usually much smaller.

Therefore, almost 85% of healthy people’s feces sink in water, the rest do not, according to the study. These non-sinking poop belong, according to the experimenters and Anchi Baranova, especially to healthy people (unless, of course, they are vegans, since veganism stimulates gas formation). They are mega-healthy, because they easily tolerate Bacteroidetes ovatum frolicking inside the colonizers. But if a person did not change the diet, continuing to eat, including meat food, and his feces suddenly became unsinkable, then some inflammatory process has most likely begun or is starting in the intestines.

“These results may have implications for improving our understanding of the biotransformation of food microbes and gut microbial regulators of fecal flotation in healthy and diseased humans,” the researchers write, not hiding their desire to continue experimenting with faeces. Fortunately, the state of Minnesota pays, and there is an abundance of material.

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Is it possible to determine bowel disease by feces?

During an appointment with a gastroenterologist, many patients avert their eyes to the question: “How long have you been paying attention to the result of the work of the gastrointestinal tract?” It’s not embarrassing!

In our opinion, it is much sadder if you have never looked at your feces. Such observations are a very important method of self-diagnosis and diagnostics in general. It is periodic observation that is dominant, and not one single look at the stool in the morning before a visit to the doctor.

A change in stool parameters is one of the main symptoms of most diseases of the intestines and the gastrointestinal tract in general.

Indicators to pay attention to when self-diagnosing stools :

• frequency per day and per week;
• consistency and volume;
• change in the frequency and consistency of the stool, in comparison with how it was before, when peace and tranquility reigned in the stomach;
• impurities in the stool and its color;
• cases of unsuccessful or excessive urge to empty the bowels;
• lack of urge to defecate or feeling of incomplete emptying of the bowels.

You don’t have to look for a problem where there isn’t one, and you certainly shouldn’t turn a blind eye to alarming symptoms. To determine what is the norm, it is important to understand that each organism is individual!

Normal chair characteristics

1. Frequency – usually 1-2 times a day, 3 to 7 times a week.
2. Stool consistency, for quick orientation of the patient and the doctor in it, the Bristol scale, which was published back in 1997, is used. Let’s get to know her better. Depending on the diet, the amount of fiber, water, stools can normally vary from type 3 to type 5.
3. Stool stability is perhaps the most difficult to explain: there should be no sudden changes in consistency, stool frequency during the week, +/- one type on the Bristol scale. Also important is the subjective sensation before, during and after the act of defecation. Here is a place for satisfaction and quiet joy, I’m quite serious!
4. The color of the stool can be varied, it depends on the diet. Brown of different shades is considered optimal. We make an amendment for the color of food: a lot of dairy products in the diet – the stool will be lighter. It’s darker if you ate a dish with nori, a black burger. In addition, it is worth thinking about drugs or dietary supplements that you can take – bismuth and iron preparations give dark, closer to green stools.

Warning symptoms not to be ignored

1. Smaller stools (less than 1 every 2 days or 3 times a week) or frequent stools (more than 2, rarely 3 times a day).
2. Changes in shape and consistency. We will continue to get acquainted with the Bristol scale, not the norm in it: fragmented, “sheep” or dense, type 1-2 feces and, in contrast to it, mushy or watery stools, stools in separate flakes – type 6-7.
3. Unstable stool – alternation of its consistency and frequency without any regularity, then 1 time per day, then 5, then type 3 on the Bristol scale, then 6. It is also important to notice what sensations accompanied the alternation of stool (good / bad).
4. Color change. Pay attention to very light, closer to gray stools or very dark, black stools. Often yellow stools are also a sign of abnormality.
5. The appearance of impurities in the feces is perhaps the most formidable, but clear symptom:

   🔸Blood. It can be scarlet, dark, it can be changed black. It can be in scarce amounts, only on a piece of paper or on the surface of the stool, it can be mixed with feces. It may drip or stand out excessively, but here you yourself will call an ambulance team without much thought.

   There are many diseases, an alarming symptom, however, one should not be afraid of an examination, it is better than reaping the fruits of inaction.

   🔸 Slime. Often we are faced with a misunderstanding of this term. I would describe it as follows: a clear viscous liquid, resembling saliva, can be mixed with the stool, can be separated on its own. May be released as foam.

   🔸Yellow-green impurities in the stool can be a sign of the presence of pus, which means inflammation, or accelerated progression of bile through the gastrointestinal tract.

   🔸Undigested pieces of food – the result of an accelerated work of the gastrointestinal tract and incomplete processing of the food product, pay attention to their composition (meat / vegetables), especially alarming if you see food consumed during the day.

6. Ineffective or excessive urge to stool, as well as the absence of an urge to stool, may not be the norm, pay attention to this.

In case of abnormalities, consult a gastroenterologist.

Fecal tests for diagnosing bowel diseases

Tracking stool parameters is a simple and effective method that can be used for preliminary diagnosis. If deviations from the norm have appeared, in addition to consulting a gastroenterologist, stool tests will be required to help establish the cause of these deviations. Fecal analyzes are powerful non-invasive diagnostic tools.

Coprogram or general fecal analysis is the most famous, proven analysis. It examines the components of the processing of all foods (proteins, fats, carbohydrates), mucus, visible blood, inflammatory cells, sometimes even protozoan cysts or helminth eggs can be identified and described.

Fecal occult blood is a more accurate method for detecting blood in the stool, including altered blood, from the upper GI tract, in minimal amounts.

Fecal calprotectin is an assay to detect inflammation in the intestines. It is especially interesting as a screening in older people in conjunction with feces for occult blood.

Eosinophilic neurotoxin is an indicator of an allergic reaction in the gastrointestinal tract.

Pancreatic elastase is useful for patients with chronic pancreatitis to determine the degree of production of pancreatic enzymes.

Stool culture for dysbacteriosis to detect deviations in the composition of the microflora, the growth of pathogenic and opportunistic flora.

Also do not lose their relevance stool tests for helminths and protozoa . There are many of them, starting from microscopic examination by the Parasep enrichment method, up to high-precision PCR reactions separately for each type of pathogen or a panel of the most common ones.

For the interpretation of the tests, I recommend that you consult a doctor.

How to do a stool test correctly?

Proper preparation and collection of stool samples will ensure correct results. All stool tests must be taken in a special container on the day of collection; the collected samples should be stored in the refrigerator for no more than 6-8 hours. The collection of stool samples is carried out in a natural way, without the use of enemas and laxatives, urine should not get into the tests. The container must be filled 1/3. Some stool tests require special preparation before taking them.

To prepare for a coprogram, skip a week or more after taking antibiotics.