How does poop form in the body. What can the color and consistency of stool reveal about health. Why is regular bowel movement important for overall wellbeing. What factors affect bowel habits and digestion.

The Crucial Role of Poop in Human Health

Poop, while often considered a taboo subject, plays a vital role in human health. It serves as a key indicator of our overall wellbeing, offering insights into digestive function, nutrient absorption, and potential health issues. Despite its importance, many people feel uncomfortable discussing or examining their bowel movements.

A healthy gut contributes not only to physical health but also impacts mental state. Digestive issues like constipation or nutrient deficiencies can affect mood and overall quality of life. By understanding and monitoring our poop, we can gain valuable information about our body’s functioning and potentially detect early signs of illness.

Why is poop so important for health?

• Indicates digestive system function
• Reflects nutrient absorption efficiency
• Can signal potential health problems
• Helps maintain gut health and overall wellbeing
• Impacts mood and mental state

The Science Behind Poop Formation

Poop is the end product of our body’s digestive process. After we consume food, our digestive system works to break it down and extract essential nutrients. The remaining waste, along with toxins and other unnecessary substances, is then expelled from the body as feces.

The journey from food to poop involves several complex processes throughout the digestive tract. Enzymes and hormones work in conjunction with the circulatory system to break down food, absorb nutrients, and move waste through the intestines. When this system functions optimally, waste passes through the body efficiently and painlessly.

How is poop formed in the body?

1. Food enters the stomach and is broken down by acids and enzymes
2. Partially digested food moves into the small intestine, where most nutrient absorption occurs
3. Remaining waste enters the large intestine (colon), where water is absorbed
4. Bacteria in the colon further break down waste and contribute to stool formation
5. The resulting feces is stored in the rectum until elimination

Decoding Your Poop: The Bristol Stool Form Scale

The Bristol Stool Form Scale is a valuable tool for understanding and assessing the health of your bowel movements. This scale classifies poop into seven categories based on its consistency and shape, providing insights into transit time through the digestive system and overall gut health.

What are the different types of poop according to the Bristol Stool Form Scale?

• Type 1 and 2: Separate hard lumps or sausage-shaped but lumpy (indication of constipation)
• Type 3 and 4: Sausage-shaped with cracks or smooth and soft (ideal consistency)
• Type 5 to 7: Soft blobs to entirely liquid (indication of diarrhea)

Consistently experiencing Type 1 or 2 stools may indicate constipation, which can often be addressed by increasing water intake and consuming more fiber-rich foods. On the other hand, frequent occurrences of Types 5-7 could suggest diarrhea, potentially due to infection, food intolerance, or digestive disorders like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

The Color Spectrum of Poop: What It Reveals About Your Health

The color of your poop can provide valuable insights into your digestive health and overall wellbeing. While brown is the most common and typically healthy color for stool, variations in color can sometimes indicate underlying health issues or dietary factors.

What do different poop colors mean?

• Brown: Normal, healthy stool
• Green: May indicate rapid digestion or consumption of green vegetables
• Yellow: Could suggest difficulty digesting fats or potential celiac disease
• Black: Might be due to iron supplements or potentially internal bleeding
• White: May indicate bile duct obstruction
• Red: Could be from eating red foods like beets, or potentially indicate bleeding in the lower digestive tract

It’s important to note that occasional color changes are often harmless and related to diet. However, persistent changes in stool color, especially when accompanied by other symptoms, should be discussed with a healthcare provider.

Factors Influencing Bowel Movements and Digestive Health

Various factors can affect the frequency, consistency, and overall health of your bowel movements. Understanding these influences can help you maintain optimal digestive function and address potential issues.

What factors impact bowel habits and digestion?

• Diet: Fiber intake, hydration, and overall food choices
• Physical activity: Regular exercise promotes healthy digestion
• Stress levels: Emotional state can affect gut function
• Medications: Some drugs can alter bowel habits
• Medical conditions: Digestive disorders, hormonal imbalances, and other health issues
• Age: Digestive function can change as we get older
• Travel: Changes in routine and environment can affect bowel habits

Maintaining a balanced diet rich in fiber, staying hydrated, and managing stress can all contribute to healthier bowel movements. Regular physical activity and establishing a consistent bathroom routine can also promote better digestive health.

Common Digestive Issues and Their Impact on Poop

Various digestive problems can manifest through changes in bowel movements. Recognizing these signs can help in early detection and management of potential health issues.

How do digestive disorders affect poop?

• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS): Can cause alternating constipation and diarrhea
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD): May lead to chronic diarrhea, blood in stool
• Celiac Disease: Can result in fatty, foul-smelling stools
• Lactose Intolerance: Often causes diarrhea after consuming dairy products
• Colorectal Cancer: May cause narrow stools or blood in stool

If you experience persistent changes in bowel habits or have concerns about your digestive health, it’s important to consult with a healthcare professional for proper evaluation and guidance.

Promoting Healthy Bowel Movements: Lifestyle and Dietary Tips

Maintaining regular, healthy bowel movements is crucial for overall wellbeing. By adopting certain lifestyle habits and dietary choices, you can support optimal digestive function and promote better bowel health.

How can you improve your bowel movements naturally?

1. Increase fiber intake: Consume more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes
2. Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of water throughout the day
3. Exercise regularly: Physical activity stimulates bowel movements
4. Establish a routine: Try to have bowel movements at consistent times
5. Manage stress: Practice relaxation techniques to support digestive health
6. Listen to your body: Don’t ignore the urge to have a bowel movement
7. Consider probiotics: These can support a healthy gut microbiome

By implementing these strategies, you can promote more regular and comfortable bowel movements, supporting overall digestive health and wellbeing.

When to Seek Medical Advice for Bowel Concerns

While variations in bowel movements are normal to some extent, certain signs and symptoms warrant medical attention. Being aware of these red flags can help you address potential health issues promptly.

What bowel-related symptoms require medical evaluation?

• Persistent changes in bowel habits lasting more than a few weeks
• Blood in the stool
• Severe abdominal pain or cramping
• Unexplained weight loss
• Chronic constipation or diarrhea
• Persistent nausea or vomiting
• Difficulty swallowing

If you experience any of these symptoms or have ongoing concerns about your digestive health, it’s important to consult with a healthcare provider. They can perform necessary evaluations and provide appropriate treatment or referrals if needed.

Understanding the importance of poop and maintaining healthy bowel habits is crucial for overall wellbeing. By paying attention to your body’s signals and making informed lifestyle choices, you can support optimal digestive function and potentially catch early signs of health issues. Remember, while discussing poop may feel uncomfortable, it’s a normal and essential aspect of human health that deserves attention and care.

Why is Poop so Important?

Everything you need to know about poop

People are generally delighted to tell you what they’re eating – in fact, a vast proportion of social media pictures are of the meals in front of them. At the other end of our bodies, after our food has gone through a complicated digestive process, we eliminate the waste. This isn’t something we’re nearly as comfortable talking about – in fact it’s often a taboo subject. Many people admit to their ‘anal retentiveness’ and how they couldn’t possibly poop in a public bathroom or when they’re away from home.

It’s surprising that there is such sensitivity around poop – after all, how your gut functions, resulting in the elimination of waste, is a crucial indicator of the health of your entire body. A healthy gut contributes not only to your body’s well-being but also to your mental state. Constipation, lack of nutrients, and bowel disorders all have an effect on your moods. Your poop can also alert you to a possible illness, so it’s a quick and easy way to self-diagnose. But still, many people tend to resist the subject and certainly shy away from conducting their own inspections. This needs to change!

What is poop and how is it formed?

Very simply, when you eat food, you need to expel waste – along with toxins in your body. After a healthy gut has absorbed all usable nutrients from food, you don’t need what remains and it’s essential to get rid of it. Your gut, when it’s working well, is a healthy garbage disposal unit, effectively ridding your body of what it doesn’t require, and pooping is the way you do this.

There are many processes that occur as your food moves through your stomach and intestines and down to your colon. Various enzymes and hormones work in conjunction with your circulatory system to ensure that food is broken down into usable nutrients that are then taken up in the body as needed. When your digestive system is working well, you’ll process food efficiently, and your waste will quickly and painlessly pass through your body. However, when even one part of this complex system isn’t functioning well, you’ll experience side effects and you’ll know it by your poop.

Understanding your poop

Now that you know the importance of poop, how do you know what signs to look for? Believe it or not, there is actually a chart, known as the Bristol Stool Form, that will be an excellent guide as you start to learn how to diagnose your poop.

This scale classifies poop according to the time it’s taken to form in the colon, as well as its transit time through your digestive system. On this scale, there are 7 different groups of poop. If you fall into the diagrams for 1 and 2, you typically are constipated. Types 3 and 4 are ideal, while 5 to 7 indicate diarrhea. In addition, if your poop is constantly very skinny, this is a warning sign that you might have hemorrhoids or even colon cancer.

If you fall in categories 1 or 2, you could drink more water and try eating more ‘living’ foods such as fruit and vegetables. These foods are also rich in fiber, which will greatly assist with constipation. Categories 5, 6 and 7 often indicate diarrhea, which might show that you have an infection, a food intolerance, or even a disease such as irritable bowel disease (IBS). On-going diarrhea should definitely prompt you to seek medical advice.

Actually, it’s not uncommon for people to experience a variety of different poops depending on what they’ve been eating, as well as their location (e.g. away from home), and their stress levels. The rule of thumb is that your poop should usually be soft and easy to pass. Experts say that the ideal poop is connected in a smooth ‘S’ shape – this indicates that you’re getting enough fiber and are drinking sufficient water.

Does the color of your poop matter?

Poop doesn’t only contain the remainder of food, but also dead and live bacteria, mucus and dead cells. There could also be fiber, undigested fats, undigested food (corn and oats are well known for this) and cholesterol in your poop. As a result, color is another great indicator of the health of your body. Normal poop is brown in color, but you may notice your poop looking green, red, white, or black. Here’s what you can learn from this:

Green poop – your food may have been digested too fast, which isn’t a reason for concern
Yellow poop – this might mean your gut is having difficult digesting fats. As fats are essential for our wellbeing, you should find out whether you have malabsorption issues or something like Celiac Disease
Black poop – this could be simply explained if you’ve been taking iron supplements. On the other hand, it could indicate internal bleeding, so pay attention.
White poop – this usually suggests bile duct obstruction. If it continues, you should see a physician.
Red poop – if you’ve been eating berries or beets, this is probably the explanation. If you haven’t, red poop usually indicates the presence of blood and this could be serious, so you should seek medical help.
Floating poop – this isn’t a color, but it’s a different kind of poop that probably just means there’s trapped gas. If this happens occasionally it’s no cause for concern, but if you keep passing ‘floaters’ it could indicate that your body is not effectively absorbing fats and oils.

The smell of your poop could be telling a story

Depending on your diet, the smell of your poop will change. Ideally, humans are designed to be herbivores, but have been carnivores for centuries. Your digestive system is not optimally designed to process meat, so sometimes your poop might smell really bad when meat has passed slowly through your digestive system and has almost ‘rotted’ inside of you. This is why vegetarians have poop that smells much less pungent than that of meat-eaters.

Generally, you shouldn’t be too perturbed about the smell of your poop as this is, after all, a waste product containing eliminated toxins and bacteria. However, if the odor becomes particularly foul this could be a sign that something serious is happening in your gut and consulting a physician might be necessary.

Is there a normal ‘pooping schedule’?

Many people are concerned if they miss a day without a bowel movement, but actually some very healthy people poop only every second day. If you go three days without needing to poop, this would indicate a problem, while if you need to poop three or more times a day, this is also not normal.

You’ll establish what your own normal rhythm is, so don’t be too alarmed. Some people even poop at specific times of the day, while others are not that regular in their habits. Some feel that pooping more than once a day is ideal as you’re getting rid of waste, but this isn’t true for everyone.

Your digestive process is definitely influenced by your stress levels. The gastrointestinal tract is lined with the same serotonin receptors that are found in the brain, which means that your brain and your gut actually have a very close relationship. When you’re particularly tense, your gut wall can constrict, which causes constipation. Other people have a gut that works overtime when they’re nervous, leading to diarrhea. Something like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has been definitively linked to ongoing, high levels of stress.

Your diet also plays a big part in your pooping schedule. Cheese and other dairy products are known to slow your digestive system, as will foods that are hard to digest, like steak. Alcohol and coffee, on the other hand, can cause you to poop more often.

Red flags when it comes to poop

Regularity of pooping is important, but so is the experience of passing a stool. If you have pain or you find that you’re having to strain unnecessarily, this is a clear sign of an impacted poop that has been in your colon for some time.
If there’s blood in your poop, you should consult a physician
A healthy poop shouldn’t break up into multiple pieces
Pooping too little or too frequently (several times a day) should also receive attention
On-going diarrhea is definitely a sign of a health issue, which could indicate that you have a food sensitivity (for example, to gluten or dairy) or a number of other conditions such as ulcerative colitis or leaky gut.
Solving gut problems – dos and don’ts

Do:
Work on your stress levels – try to get a good night’s sleep and even try meditation if this helps to calm you.
Eat fiber-rich foods – fiber is a binding agent that facilitates the whole digestive process. Foods like meat and refined carbohydrates are not good sources of fiber, while whole foods, such as fruit and vegetables, are much kinder to your gut. Pay attention to what you eat, as you may find that some foods are more digestible than others. This way you can mindfully modify your diet.
Avoid alcohol and caffeine – both of these dehydrate the colon, which causes digestive problems. Try not to drink either if you’re having issues with your gut.
Drink a lot of water – dehydration is a major cause of gut problems and caffeine and alcohol make the situation worse. You should try to drink water regularly throughout the day, aiming for at least 8 glasses for maximum hydration. If you’re being very disciplined about having fiber in your diet, keeping yourself hydrated is even more important as fiber swells in your gut and needs water for optimum absorption. Fiber minus sufficient water is a major reason for bloating.
Look after your liver – bile is essential to digest the fats in your gut. With insufficient bile, your system can back up quickly and constipation can result. A regular liver cleanse is a good idea.
Maintain your probiotics – a healthy gut is like a garden filled with micro-organisms, consisting of good and bad bacteria. If you’ve been taking antibiotics, you’ll destroy the good bacteria along with the bad, and this will seriously impact your digestion. Taking probiotic supplements will help keep your gut healthy and functioning well. There are also foods rich in probiotics such as kimchi, sauerkraut, and high quality yogurts.
Don’ts
Harsh laxatives are not the answer to constipation – they may even exacerbate the problem. Rather improve your diet and drink more water as a first step.
Foods that contribute to inflammation are really bad for your gut, and should be avoided. Sugar is a major problem when it comes to good digestion as refined sugars actually destroy the healthy bacteria in your gut, while promoting growth of the ‘bad’ bacteria. This often leads to autoimmune disease and leaky gut syndrome. Dairy and gluten can also be harmful to many people’s guts, and there may be certain foods that are uniquely bad for you if you have an allergenic reaction to them.
Don’t be a couch potato – exercise is crucial for health, so keep moving as much as possible. Not only will this aid your digestion, it could also stave off dementia and Alzheimer’s. In fact, health practitioners are increasingly adamant that even 10 minutes of exercise a day will have a remarkably positive effect on your health.
In general, your gut is so important that some physicians refer to it as ‘your second brain’. The well-being of nearly every part of your body is influenced by the health of your gut, so it’s never been more important to pay attention to your diet and to take good care of your digestion. Follow these steps, be aware of your poop, and you’ll find that you’ll quickly be able to greatly improve your overall health.

digestive disorder report and hormone balance report

Read more on digestion

There is no doubt that fiber is an important element of your diet. It is what makes up plan tissue, and even though it is a type of carbohydrate, our bodies cannot digest it. Fiber is important because it adds bulk to your diet, helps to make you feel fuller faster, and can help with weight control (1). While fiber is essential in the right amounts, is it possible to go overboard with it? While it is rare, you can, indeed, consume too much. The symptoms of too much fiber are not serious, but they are anything but fun.

Many of us know at least one person who lives a gluten-free lifestyle, and while sometimes the motivation to do so is for general health purposes, many other individuals actually have to avoid gluten due to celiac disease in order to live a relatively normal life. Those with celiac disease often find that even just a little bit of gluten in their diet can cause a variety of uncomfortable and downright miserable symptoms. (1) But what causes celiac disease and how can it be treated? Do your friends who love bread have to go without it for the rest of their lives? Thankfully, new research is proving that other options might be on the table. The task of completely curing celiac disease, and any other autoimmune disorders that creep in once the gate has been opened, is exciting and promising, yet further studies will need to occur before anything can be promoted as a mainstream cure.

the candida diet

As you probably know, it is healthy to have a balanced population of microflora (mostly what is known as “good bacteria”) in your digestive system. The little bacteria that thrive in our gut help promote healthy digestion and immune strength. Every once in a while, however, bad microorganisms can take over. In extreme cases of intestinal infections, the cause is easy to spot, especially when it is accompanied by extreme discomfort, nausea, and diarrhea.

We’re told to constantly wash our hands growing up – wash before dinner, wash after we use the restroom, and wash after we pet the dog. Many other countless times our parents are urging us to be cleaner, asking us to shower more often and keep a clean and dust free room. As adults, some of us have taken those habits to the extreme, avoiding germs like the plague. Often called germaphobes, these individuals are constantly afraid that germs will make them sick, so they aim to live as sterile of a life as possible

are you developing an autoimmune disease

Have you had odd symptoms that negatively affect your health, but they often seem to come and go? Or maybe suddenly you’re experiencing reactions to certain foods that you never used to before, and you’re left clueless as to why? It’s possible that you could have an autoimmune disease, although actually diagnosing it as such can take many years.

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Why Am I Pooping So Much? 11 Reasons Why, According To GI Doctors

Everybody poops—it’s a simple fact of life. You also probably have some type of pooping routine. Maybe you usually go right when you get up or an hour after you have coffee in the morning, or you regularly take a mid-afternoon poo. So it’s completely understandable that you’d get a bit confused if you start pooping so much more than normal.

While going number-two more than usual can be a sign that something is off, it’s not usually a reason for an otherwise healthy young women to freak out, says Kyle Staller, MD, a gastroenterologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Probably one of the most common things would be dietary intolerances—you ate something that doesn’t agree with you,” says Dr. Staller. This is especially true if you have a change for a few days and then it goes back to normal.

Okay, but how many times is it normal to poop per day?

It really varies from person to person, says Scharles Konadu, MD, a gastroenterologist at Huguley Medical Associates in Texas. “One thing to understand is each person has their own norm when it comes to bowel movements,” says Dr. Konadu. “While one person may poop daily another may go every other day and another every two days.”

In general, if the amount you’re pooping isn’t causing any discomfort, you’re probably fine, says Dr. Konadu. And again, if pooping more frequently is your typical baseline, then there’s no need to worry. But if you’re suddenly having more than three bowel movements a day (especially if they’re watery), you may want to check in with a doctor just to make sure things are functioning the way they should.

Wondering why the heck you’re pooping so much? These are the 11 most common causes of more frequent bowel movements.

1. You started eating healthier.

One of the most common reasons why young women start pooping more is because they increased their fiber intake, says Rudy Bedford, MD, a gastroenterologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California. So, if you suddenly started pooping more around the time you started adding more vegetables to your diet, that’s likely why.

2. You got an infection.

Viral and bacterial infections (think: everything from the flu to E. coli) can cause excessive pooping and diarrhea, says Dr. Staller. While this is normal, if you have bloody poop or a fever with it, you should get it checked out.

3. You increased your workouts.

Stepping up your exercise routine can make you go more than usual, says Dr. Bedford. Here’s why: Exercise increases muscle contractions in your colon, working poop out of your body faster than it did before. That’s why doctors may encourage you to work out more if you’re constipated.

4. You have IBS.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is no joke, and Dr. Staller says it’s common in young women. The condition—an intestinal disorder that causes pain in your stomach, gas, and cramping—can also make you poop a lot. “The classic patient gets sudden abdominal pain and cramping associated with constipation or diarrhea,” says Dr. Staller. If you notice you have these other symptoms in addition to a high frequency of pooping, see your doctor about it.

5. You’re stressed out.

For people who already have gastro issues like IBS, stress can be a poop trigger. “Many people have more loose bowel movements when they’re under stress,” says Dr. Staller. When your stress subsides, so should the number of times you need to use the bathroom.

6. You’re on your period.

Many women who are just about to get their periods or already have their periods will have looser or more frequent BMs. It’s likely due to a shift in hormones around your cycle (specifically progesterone), and is “very normal,” says Dr. Staller. If you only have to go more often (or have diarrhea) around your time of the month, that’s likely the cause—and totally normal.

7. You’re overdoing it on the coffee.

Coffee acts as a pro-motility agent, as WH reported previously, meaning it causes more movement and muscle contraction. That’s because the caffeine stimulates muscle contractions in your intestines, causing you to have to go to the bathroom. And the more caffeine you drink, the more of a laxative effect it will have. If you’re chugging cups of Joe every day and are running to the bathroom a lot, try scaling back the amount you consume.

8. You have an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

An IBD is different than IBS and includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. These conditions cause chronic inflammation in the digestive tract, as the name suggests. If you have an IBD, it can cause permanent damage to the digestive tract over time, so you definitely want to get a proper diagnosis and treatment.

The thing is, if you’re just having regular poops multiple times a day, you probably aren’t dealing with an IBD. Other symptoms of IBDs include bloody stools, fatigue, severe abdominal pain, persistent diarrhea, and even weight loss, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So if this sounds like your sitch, that warrants a trip to a gastroenterologist STAT.

9. You’re on medication.

Some medications, like certain antibiotics, may change what’s happening in your GI tract, including the bacteria makeup in your system, according to Harvard Health. In turn, you may have more bowel movements or diarrhea. This should subside when you’re done taking the antibiotic or Rx. And any time you’re prescribed medication, your doc should let you know if this is a possible side effect (and you can ask as well!).

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One note: If you have abdominal pain or notice blood in your stools, call your doctor. This could be a sign of a more serious problem, like an infection or an IBD.

10. You have celiac disease.

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder affecting the appropriate absorption of food and nutrients in the small bowel caused by an immune reaction to gluten found in certain foods. The immune reaction can show up as symptoms like diarrhea or constipation, weight loss, fatigue, anemia, abdominal pain and even rashes, explains Dr. Konadu.

If these symptoms sound spot on, talk to your doctor about celiac disease since many people have it and just don’t know. Your doctor will order blood tests that can help determine whether you have the condition. To alleviate the symptoms of celiac disease, you’ll likely have to switch up your eating habits. “Celiac disease is simply treated by avoiding gluten in the diet,” says Dr. Konadu. Luckily, there are plenty of gluten-free versions of all your favorite foods.

11. You have hyperthyroidism.

Hyperthyroidism is an autoimmune disorder that causes an imbalance of thyroid hormone in your blood, says Dr. Konadu. The imbalance is caused by an overproduction of the hormone thyroxine by the thyroid gland and can lead to an increased metabolism. This can manifest itself in symptoms like weight loss, brittle hair, sweating, and increased heart rate, in addition to bowel irregularities, most commonly diarrhea.

To determine if you have hyperthyroidism, consult an endocrinologist, who will likely order a blood test. Once you’re diagnosed, they’ll then give you medication that slows down the production of hormone in the thyroid gland, or in some cases may even recommend surgery on the thyroid gland. Controlling the amount of hormone released into the blood should then alleviate the bowel issues you’re having.

How can you tell your poop issues aren’t something more serious?

Abdominal pain, bloody stool, and mucus in your poop are always clues that something isn’t right, says Dr. Bedford, and you should see a doctor if you’re experiencing any of those issues.

The way your bowel movements are impacting your life is also a big tip-off, notes Dr. Staller. If you really don’t give it another thought, you’re probably fine. But if you find that you’re changing your routine or avoiding social situations because you’re worried about pooping, you need to see a doctor.

Says Dr. Staller, “If it’s a common thing where you’re always on the lookout for a bathroom, you should go and get evaluated.” No matter what the cause, there’s plenty of treatment options and ways to help you stop spending so much time in the bathroom.

Korin Miller
Korin Miller is a freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, with work appearing in Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Self, Glamour, and more.

Jasmine Gomez
Associate Lifestyle editor
Jasmine Gomez is the associate lifestyle editor at Women’s Health and covers health, fitness, sex, culture and cool products.

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Frequent Bowel Movements: Causes, Diagnosis & Treatment

Overview

What are frequent bowel movements?

Frequent bowel movements is a condition in which a person defecates (eliminates waste from the bowel) more often than usual. There is no “normal” number of bowel movements. Many healthcare providers agree that healthy bowel movement frequency can range from three times a day to three times a week. However, your ‘normal’ pattern may be different from these numbers. To say that a person’s bowel movements have become more frequent is based on an increase in that person’s usual pattern, not on a standard definition that applies to everyone.

The two main bowel movement conditions are constipation (fewer than three bowel movements per week) and diarrhea (more than three movements of loose stools per day).

Who is affected by frequent bowel movements?

Frequent bowel movements occur in both males and females of any age.

Symptoms and Causes

What causes frequent bowel movements?

Some cases of frequent bowel movements last for a short time only and are not a cause for concern. These can be caused by digestive upset from eating spoiled, fatty or spicy food, a food that is not tolerated, or an intestinal “bug” that clears in a day or two.

Other possible causes of frequent bowel movements include an increase in physical exercise, certain medications like antibiotics or metformin, or a change in the diet (more fiber, water, fats or sugars). Bowel movements may return to the usual after the person adapts to these changes or makes modifications to his or her diet.

When the person has other symptoms to go along with the greater number of bowel movements, there may be other causes, including the following:

• Bacterial infection
• C. difficile infection (which can be serious if untreated)
• Viral infection
• Parasitic infection, such as from worms or protozoa
• Diverticulitis (the small pockets along the wall of the colon fill with stagnant fecal material and become inflamed)
• Inflammatory bowel disease (a group of disorders, including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, that cause irritation and swelling of the digestive tract)
• Pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas)
• Celiac disease (an autoimmune disease that causes sensitivity to gluten, a protein found in grains such as wheat, rye or barley)
• Cancer of the colon or elsewhere in the digestive tract
• Food allergies
• Gallbladder problems
• Lactose intolerance (the inability to digest lactose, the sugar primarily found in milk and dairy products)
• Irritable bowel syndrome (a disorder of the colon or lower bowel with symptoms that include abdominal pains or cramps)
• Side effects of medications (including antacids, laxatives, stool softeners)
• Foods and beverages, including certain herbs and herbal teas, alcohol and caffeine
• Use of antibiotics, which can upset normal bacteria in the gut
• Bowel obstruction
• Complications of intestinal or abdominal surgery
• Complications of cancer treatments such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy

Diagnosis and Tests

How are frequent bowel movements diagnosed?

In cases in which a cause for frequent bowel movements is not known, the doctor will ask you the following:

• The time of your last bowel movement
• How often you urinate
• The consistency of stool (watery or shaped)
• If there is blood around or in the stool
• If you have bleeding from the rectum
• If you are dizzy or have cramps, pain, fever or nausea
• What foods and drinks you consume
• If you have had any recent changes in your weight
• The medications you take
• If and when you have traveled recently

The doctor will conduct a physical examination and may order blood and stool tests, urinalysis and X-rays.

Management and Treatment

How are frequent bowel movements treated?

Mild cases of diarrhea can be treated with an over-the-counter medicine, such as Pepto-Bismol®, Imodium A-D® and Kaopectate®. These are available as liquids or tablets. Follow the instructions on the package.

Note: do not take antidiarrheal medicines if a bacterial infection or parasites are the suspected cause (symptoms include fever or bloody stools). It is important to allow bacteria or parasites to pass through the digestive system.

Living With

When should I call my doctor about frequent bowel movements?

Contact your doctor if you have frequent bowel movements and any of the following symptoms:

• Bloody stools or bleeding from the rectum
• Very bad-smelling stools
• Unintended weight loss
• Severe or chronic (long-term) diarrhea
• Acute severe diarrhea after hospitalization or after taking antibiotics
• Painful, swollen or bloated abdomen
• Abdominal cramps
• Painful bowel movements
• Incontinence (an inability to control bowel movements)
• Urgent need to have a bowel movement
• Nausea
• Vomiting
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Is It Normal to Poop Right After I Eat?

This article was medically reviewed by Leila Kia, MD, an assistant professor of medicine specializing in gastroenterology and member of the Prevention Medical Review Board, on July 18, 2019.

Let’s talk about poop—seriously. The state of your bowel movements isn’t exactly a glamorous topic, but it’s one of the best ways to keep track of what’s going on inside your body.

That’s because your poop (stool, feces, whatever you prefer to call it, really) is literally the last stop in your gastrointestinal tract. It’s made of everything that’s left after your body absorbs nutrients from the foods you eat and liquids you drink.

Everyone has their own version of “normal” poop. Some people go a couple of times per day, while others get by fine with just one trip to the toilet. The colors and textures of your poop (yes, we are going there) can also point to different aspects of your health—from solid hydration to inflammation in your gut.

But what about the way you go No. 2? Is it bad to poop right after eating? Should you poop every day? And why is it that you always get constipated on vacation?

We consulted a few trusty gastroenterologists to get the facts straight. Here’s what they had to say about your bowel habits.

Is it bad if I always poop right after eating?

If dinner seems like it goes right through you, it’s not because you have a super-efficient digestive system. Instead, it’s more like your digestive tract never grew up, explains Lisa Ganjhu, DO, a clinical associate professor of medicine who specializes in gastroenterology at NYU Langone Medical Center. “Pooping right after you eat is a reflex babies have,” she says. For some people, that reflex never goes away.

Though it might not be ideal, having to be near a bathroom after a meal is perfectly normal and isn’t anything to worry about, says Felice Schnoll-Sussman, MD, director of the Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health at New York-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine. The stool you pass after dinner isn’t from the food you just put in your mouth (even if eating is what triggered the “got to go” reflex), so your body has had plenty of time to soak up the nutrients.

But if your poop is runny, floats, and smells terrible, that likely means that you’re not absorbing fats well or you may have a case of diarrhea, says Dr. Schnoll-Sussman.

However, with diarrhea, there’s usually little control over your bowel movements and there’s urgency to go to the bathroom right away, whether or not you just ate. Here are the common symptoms associated with diarrhea:

• Loose stools
• Abdominal pain
• Bloating
• Nausea
• Urgent need to go to the bathroom
• Blood in the stool

It’s worth noting, though, that there’s no such thing as “normal” timing for pooping right after a meal; some foods—say, high-fiber options like lentils, veggies, and whole grains—take longer to digest than others.

People who suffer from medical conditions—say lactose intolerance, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Crohn’s disease, or celiac disease—might have to poop right a meal more frequently than others because certain foods can trigger symptoms.

Is it bad that I don’t poop every day? How often should I poop?

There’s no rule that says you must go once a day. “On average, people go once or twice a day,” says Dr. Schnoll-Sussman. “But many people go way more.” And not pooping for a day, two, or even three can also be fine. In short, if you feel OK—no upset stomach, no trouble making it to the bathroom on time—then you probably don’t need to worry.

“The rule with pooping is there’s no such thing as normal—just normal from one person’s perspective,” says Dr. Schnoll-Sussman.

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So what if you’re a once-a-day pooper who’s suddenly going three or four times a day? Dr. Schnoll-Sussman says that it could be as simple as your diet (eat some sketchy meat recently?) or as complex as an infectious diarrheal disease. It could even be a good change; maybe you’ve started eating more fiber, for example. The important thing is to go to your doctor if your new pooping schedule gives you a constant upset stomach or your frequent bathroom trips start to make social situations awkward.

But…is being regular a good thing?

Yes. If you can set your watch to your bowel movements, it means that you have a healthy digestive system. But don’t worry if you aren’t quite so regular. You can poop at any point in the day, but experts have noticed that it’s common to visit the porcelain throne first thing in the morning.

“Most people eat the heaviest meal in the evening,” says Dr. Schnoll-Sussman. “So when you wake up, there’s been hours and hours for food to digest and position itself in your bowel.” She also explains that when you’re lying flat, your bowels close off so you won’t feel enough pressure to wake up to poop. But when you stand up, your bowels open and everything shifts downward.

The second most common time to poop has nothing to do with biology and everything to do with human nature: Lots of people head to the bathroom when they get home from work. “It’s simply because there’s time to relax and have a bowel movement,” says Dr Ganjhu.

Is there an ideal pooping position?

Squatty Potty: The Original Bathroom Toilet Stool

If you feel like pushing stool out takes eons, Dr. Schnoll-Sussman says it could be because you’re not sitting right. Science has proven that the most effective position for going No. 2 isn’t at the 90-degree angle created by sitting on a typical toilet, but more of a 45-degree angle that you get when you squat over the ground. It harkens back to the time of our ancestors, when toilets didn’t exist, and everyone had to squat to go to the bathroom. Squatting changes the position of your rectum so it’s at an angle that lets poop slip out with minimal effort, Dr. Schnoll-Sussman says. Unfortunately, it’’ not an easy position to master on modern toilets. Our suggestion: Try a Squatty Potty. Dr. Schnoll-Sussman says they really do work. And if you don’t want to spend the extra cash, using large books to prop your feet up will also do the job.

Does coffee really make you poop?

Come on, you know this one is true—but you might be curious as to why. Dr. Ganjhu says it’s because caffeine stimulates your bowels. The drug makes your gut contract, which in turn pushes stool toward your rectum. “So it’s not uncommon for people to have their morning coffee and then have a poop,” Dr. Ganjhu says.

Why do I poop so much during my period?

Add this to the list of unfair things: Getting your period often means cramps, bloating, and more time on the toilet. Dr. Ganjhu says it has to do with hormones. “A lot of women say they have looser stool on their periods,” she says.

Scientists believe it’s because the hormones you release during your cycle—called prostaglandins—trigger your uterus to contract and can sometimes get into your bowels and cause them to contract as well. And contracting bowels means more bowel movements.

Why do I get constipated on vacation?

Stop us if this sounds familiar: You’re on a family vacation, enjoying relaxing days on the beach with sun and sand, but there’s just one problem—you haven’t pooped for days. So what’s the problem? “Just sitting on a plane for a few hours is enough to dry your colon out,” says Dr. Schnoll-Sussman. The atmospheric pressure inside a plane is different than the pressure outside, so it slowly sucks water out of your body and your bowels.

Dehydration worsens as you spend all your time at the beach or sightseeing and forget to drink as much water as you do at home. Meanwhile, you’re probably eating tons of (possibly fried and fatty) foods that you normally don’t eat. And having to get down to business in an unfamiliar place—perhaps in a different time zone—can also make your colon extra shy.

How long should it take to poop?

Do you read the whole newspaper—or get through several levels of Candy Crush—on the toilet? There’s nothing wrong with taking your sweet time or with pooping quickly. If it takes you five minutes, great, but if it takes 20, that’s OK, too, says Dr. Schnoll-Sussman. “Most times you don’t even have to think about it,” Dr. Ganjhu says. “The colon knows when it is empty and done.”

That said, if pooping seems to take forever because you’re really straining—or because you need to manipulate your bowels to help yourself poop by sitting a certain way or even sticking a finger in your anus—you should see a gastroenterologist. “Some people who have a lot of difficulty may have some anatomical abnormalities that could be impinging on the rectum,” Dr. Schnoll-Sussman says.

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This Is Why You Always Have to Poop Around the Same Time

A few things happen at the same time every day: your first cup of coffee, the Today show, and, probably, when you poop. And while having a daily poop time might seem like a sign that you’re amazing and regular, the scheduled time is actually pretty common. According to Kyle Staller, M.D., a gastroenterologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, your colon, which helps push poop through your body, has an internal clock of sorts. Most people’s colons are quiet during the night while you sleep (which is why you probably rarely get up to go poop during the night), but it has a wake response in the morning. In other words, once you wake up and start your day, your colon does the same.

In the morning your colon will start contracting to move poop along your intestines, getting you ready to have a bowel movement. Eating can also trigger your colon to contract: Your stomach essentially signals to your colon that food is coming in, and that you need to make room for it by pooping soon after you eat. Couple that with coffee, which is a colon stimulant, and most people are primed and ready to poop in the morning after you’ve had breakfast.

Some people may poop at the same time every morning, and have another BM around the same time in the afternoon, while others just typically tend to go around the same time every day or every other day. It’s not that your body suddenly develops poop, Staller explains, it’s just that your colon decides it’s the right time to push it out.

That also explains why you don’t poop as often when you travel, especially if you head to another time zone. “Your body is expecting to wake up around the same time, but the cues are shifted,” Dr. Staller says. “With that, your colonic clock shifts, and it can take a few days to adjust.”

Of course, you can’t always head to the toilet whenever you want—sometimes you’re stuck on the phone, are in a meeting, or there’s no bathroom around. Holding it in here and there is fine, Dr. Staller says, but doing it regularly can make you constipated.

But if you find that your typical go time isn’t convenient for you, Ashkan Farhadi, M.D., a gastroenterologist at Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center and director of MemorialCare Medical Group’s Digestive Disease Project in Fountain Valley, California, says you can actually train yourself to poop at a time that is more amenable to your schedule. First, he recommends finding a time in your day that you know you’ll always be free to hit the bathroom, like 9:00 A.M., when you’ve had something to eat but before your office gets crazy. Then start going to the bathroom and sitting on the toilet for a few minutes at the same time every day.

“Don’t do anything and don’t force it or push it,” Dr. Farhadi says. “Your goal at first is not to have a bowel movement; it’s to condition your colon.” After about two weeks, Farhadi says your body will get used to this routine and should be ready to go at the time of your choosing.

Sure, you don’t have to train your colon, and you can keep pooping however you like, whenever you like. But if you find that you’re regularly getting the urge during a time that kind of sucks for you, it’s good to know you have options!

What it Means to Have a ‘Ghost Poop,’ According to a Doctor

You’re probably already wondering, what the heck is a “ghost poop” and what does it even mean if you have one? In a recent video, YouTuber, gastroenterologist, and Men’s Health columnist Dr. Sameer Islam, shares what this elusive poop says about your toilet habits.

Dr. Islam gives us three definitions of the elusive ghost poop: 1) the urge to poop that ends up only being gas, 2) a poop so smooth that it went down the drain before you could see it, and lastly 3) a visible poop in the toilet, but zero poop marks on your toilet paper after wiping.

As far as the first type of ghost poop, “This is caused by having too much air in the colon and in the rectum as well,” he says. “It innervates or activates the nerves inside your colon [and rectum] and gives you that urge to have a bowel habit.” The culprit? Eating gassy foods, being constipated, or even swallowing too much air.

The main way to prevent this ghastly gas is simply to avoid eating foods that give you lots of gas, avoid swallowing too much air (typically by drinking straws), and keeping your bowel movements regular, he suggests.

The second ghost poop isn’t one to worry about, Dr. Islam says. It should actually be celebrated for being such an amazing bowel movement.

The third type of ghost poop might feel bizarre, but it’s also nothing to fear, according to Dr. Islam. “It’s like a ghost that leaves no trace,” he says. This is a sign you had a poop so small or so smooth that simply didn’t leave a mark—zero cause for alarm.

Dr. Islam’s tips for your best poop yet, with or without ghost poops? Eat more probiotic and magnesium foods like kimchi and whole grains, spend less time on the toilet, and consider in a bidet and Squatty Potty for cleaner, more efficient bowel movements.

Taylyn Washington-Harmon
Taylyn Washington-Harmon is the Health Editor at Men’s Health, with previous bylines at Health Magazine, SELF, and STAT.

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Causes of Diarrhea and Frequent Bowel Movements

You may not think much about taking a dump. For some, it’s just something you do every day, like brushing your teeth or tying your shoes. 

But what if you’re suddenly pooping 10 times a day? Different story.

It’s actually pretty common for adults in the U.S. to experience short-term changes in bowel frequency, says Princeton gastroenterologist Anish Sheth, M.D., author of What’s Your Poo Telling You? Recent dietary changes, for example, could increase your output.   

But if the problem persists—or reoccurs—the underlying cause could be serious. So here are the answers to your most urgent questions. 

(And for the smartest solutions to every problem in the book, check out The Better Man Project. You’ll learn how to shrink your belly, transform your diet, and have scorching hot sex!)

How many times a day should I be pooping?

There’s no hard-and-fast number for your number two, but most people make anywhere between three throne trips a week to three a day, says Jordan Karlitz, M.D., FACG, an assistant professor of medicine in the division of gastroenterology at Tulane University. 

However, that’s just a general guideline: What’s most important to be aware of is when you experience sudden changes to your regular pooping pattern. 

“If you’ve gone once a day your entire life, but you’ve now started going three or four times a day for the past couple weeks—even if it’s not explosive diarrhea—that warrants medical attention,” Dr. Sheth says. 

Related: What Your Poop Says about Your Health 

I don’t feel sick, so what’s wrong? If your bowels have been crazy for a few days, examine your diet. Common short-term culprits of loose, frequent stool include alcohol, caffeine, fructose, and artificial sweeteners like sorbitol, says gastroenterologist Dr. Karlitz. (You know, all the stuff you like.)

You might also notice a difference if you’ve been loading up on sources of insoluble fiber—like dark, leafy vegetables and whole-wheat flour—which softens your stool. 

(It’s time to separate fiber fact from fiction. Discover The Truth about Fiber.)

Taking new medications can affect your poop, too. Any type of antibiotic can upset the normal balance of good and bad bacteria in your GI tract, Dr. Karlitz says. 

But if you haven’t changed your diet or med regimen, you’ve likely contracted a short-lived illness that targets your bowels, like a stomach virus or food poisoning. You’ll likely just have to let that pass.

If your poop pattern doesn’t return to normal after 2 weeks—or shifts every few weeks or months—and you start experiencing blood, mucus, abdominal pain, fever, and nausea, see your doc, says Dr. Sheth.  

What will my doctor do?

Gas, bloating, joint pain, fatigue, and mouth sores all signal celiac disease, an autoimmune disease that occurs when your body reacts negatively to the protein gluten—found in ingredients like wheat, barley, and rye. If your symptoms match up, your doc could order blood tests to screen for celiac. (And if she doesn’t, bring it up to her.)

Related: The Truth about Gluten

If there’s blood in your stool, your doctor should order a colonoscopy, which searches your large intestine for colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disorders. 

Ace your exams? You might have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which causes abdominal pain, bloating, gas, diarrhea, or constipation. 

How do I stop pooping so much?

First, cut out potential diet culprits. Keep a food journal and log what you eat every day, plus any symptoms you experience, Dr. Karlitz advises.

If insoluble fiber is to blame, eat more soluble fiber—found in oats, beans, and apples—or pop a supplement like Metamucil or Benefiber. Soluble fiber absorbs water and takes on a gel-like consistency as it travels through your system, says Lee Baumann, M.D., the author of Clearing the Air: Art of the Bowel Movement. That means firmer, less frequent poops. 

If antibiotics are your problem, pop probiotics to restore your gut’s balance of good and bad bacteria. A 2012 review concluded that taking probiotics can reduce your risk of the runs by 42 percent. Find a probiotic with the strain Lactobacillus, like Culturelle. 

For run-of-the-mill stomach viruses, stick to an all-liquid diet until your squirts improve. Eating solid food too soon can spark more diarrhea and worsen dehydration. 

If you have IBS, you may have to experiment with your diet. Pay closer attention to what you eat every day, and note the foods that seem to aggravate your condition. Common trigger foods can include dairy, cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower and broccoli, and artificial sweeteners, but this is highly individual. Swedish research shows increasing physical activity can also improve IBS patients’ symptoms. 

Additional reporting by Julie Stewart 

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90,000 I poop in pieces – MC BORROW aka Rap movement ONE TUZ

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90,000 HIV-positive woman about helping others: “This is the wave on which if the whole society got hooked, how the world would change”

From this interview with Elena Schepeleva , an “equal” counselor for women living with HIV, we we are starting a series of publications with stories of women whom we can safely call heroines.Heroines of their lives, of their community. They not only were able to cope with the circumstances that they had to endure after being diagnosed with HIV, but also support others – those who are still looking for strength in themselves.

Elena came to the NGO “Positive Women” as a volunteer, from the self-help group of women living with HIV “Kiyanka +”.

Alina Yaroslavskaya: Lena, tell us what brought you to the self-help group for women “Kiyanka +”?

Elena: In August 2015, I was in a hospital in serious condition and was diagnosed with HIV.I still remember the moment when they told me about it. I went into the ward – and said to my neighbors: “I seem to be dying.”

My roommates: “In what sense are you dying?”

“I have AIDS,” I say.

One of the girls stood up and said: “Don’t you dare say that. I just got married, they took out a colostomy for me, did a female operation. I poop through my stomach. I’m on my honeymoon and I’m pooping through my belly. ”

Another says: “I have been with kidneys all my life. Now on hemodialysis, then somewhere else.Have you been in the mountains? ”

I say: “Was.”

She: “Have you been to the sea?”

I say: “Was.”

She: “But I cannot afford it, because I am attached to the apparatus.”

There was still a grandmother in the ward, from the Amosov clinic, with a heart defect all her life, she had a tube in her throat, she spoke badly. He says to me: “All my life I was afraid to lift something harder than a spoon. And so I wanted to ride a bike and jump at a dance with my girlfriends. You will live. Everything will be fine”.

And so I decided to live. Immediately after the hospital, she turned to Kiyanka +, and a year and a half later she began to volunteer and advise other women – she shared her story with newcomers who were just learning about their positive HIV status and turned to us.

A.Ya .: How I first came to “Kiyanka”, do you remember?

Elena: Yes. I was going to go and thought: now I will go and what will I see there? Dilapidated aunts? Rotten morally and externally, sick.I looked at myself in the mirror: I also look no better, thin, scary, after the hospital. But she went anyway. I got lost in Kiev that day. I think, “This is the reason for me not to come.” But Vera (Vera Varyga, leader of the self-help group) still motivated me to come that day. She called me, guided me, told me how to get there.

And now Alina meets me. And she is so all curly, beautiful. “And I also live with HIV,” he says to me. I think: “Yes, it cannot be!”.And it set me on fire! We came, and there I saw Vera – with such eyes, with such lips, with such a smile! There are many other young, pretty girls. And they talk so sincerely about their lives. I think: “God, what can I tell? I have nothing to tell, I haven’t done anything good ”. Then I thought: “I want to be like Vera. Everything, I will be like her. I will help everyone – not only HIV-positive women, but also IDPs ”.

A.Y .: I understand why you added a migrant to the group of women whom you wanted to help. Are you from the Luhansk region? Can you tell us about where and how you lived before what you did?

Elena: I am from Lugansk, my parents still live there. Then I lived in Russia, in Yekaterinburg. She studied at the medical institute. I got married, my husband was from a very intelligent family. But both he and his parents hid from me that he used injecting drugs.When I found out about this, I realized that there would be no life with him. She took the child and went to Lugansk to see her mother. As it turned out, he infected me with HIV, but then I still did not know about it. I did not graduate from the institute, I left the 4th year.

She returned to Ukraine with her son, entered the pedagogical university, for correspondence course. In parallel, I went to work in a large industrial company – there I was doing personnel work. She worked with hard workers. Naturally, there had to be tough, categorical, unprincipled, because the work would not have been built differently.I had an apartment, a car and a well-to-do life, I could travel, I traveled all over Europe. And suddenly all this was gone.

From the very beginning I was a different person, I was indifferent to people, to their problems, I did not understand someone else’s pain. I thought that if a person is not complete or sick, what is the use of him? What benefits does it bring to society? Something in me was not natural cruelty towards people. I just took all my life. I took everything that could be taken, and did not hesitate.There was greed in me, greed. I wanted to get as much out of life as possible. And I always tried to take more financially.

Probably the war changed me, and HIV changed me a lot. He played the role of such a virus of kindness in my life. Why do I associate him with kindness? Because I have never had so many friends around in my life – just friends; people – sincere, cool, with whom I can share something, take something from them, and most importantly – give them something. It is very important for me.At this stage in my life, it is important for me to give. I feel in myself that I can do it. And I really understand that if there was no HIV infection in my life, I might have remained the ignorant person I was before.

A.Ya .: You have a dramatic story … Lena, how long did it take to adapt and accept the diagnosis? How far have you gone from the moment you realized that you can already speak openly about your HIV status?

Elena: I adapted very quickly.In August 2015, I learned that I have HIV, in October I started taking ARV therapy, and in April of the next year I positioned myself as an HIV-positive woman.

I had to speak openly. I got into a situation of violence. The man who lived with me beat me, spread rumors about me. We can say that most people learned about my HIV status not from me, but from him. After he told everything to my parents, I realized that he would tell everyone.Then I made a decision for myself that I would not hide my HIV status. What should I hide? Am I a criminal? No. Did I kill someone? No. I have a sexually transmitted infection. It’s not my fault, I didn’t deserve it on purpose. Yes, I infected him, but if I had known that I had HIV while we started living together, I would never have done it.

I thought that if I stay silent, the situation will not change. It even helped me to understand what was happening when I started to say it.Let it be at first clumsy, ridiculous, I was able to tell my situation … First I tried it at support groups, then Vera says: “There you have to take part, and there you have to take part – how do you look at it?”. Why not? Because I know that a bunch of women like me are sitting blinkered, intimidated, afraid, not even for HIV, they do not dare to voice their problems. And I will voice for HIV infection. Then I realized what benefit it brings.

A.ME: What is the most difficult thing for you when women come? Indeed, despite the availability and abundance of information about what HIV is, what is ARV therapy, which gives the same opportunities to live fully as any other people; Despite all the stories, open faces and much more that are now broadcast in the information space, almost everyone who finds out about their HIV status perceives the diagnosis as a deep tragedy. Surely it is difficult to get women out of crisis conditions.

Elena: The most painful thing is to hear from a woman that she is afraid that her relatives will not accept her, that she is now unworthy to be a woman and to realize herself as a woman.Be a mom, be a wife. Beloved wife! Achieve something in your career, somehow realize yourself in everyday life, even just make a beautiful hairstyle. This is what is very painful to hear from a woman. She does not identify herself in any way. Here’s just a vertical puddle. This, it seems to me, is the hardest thing. Because there is a retrauma, and you understand that in life you also sometimes thought that you are a vertical puddle, and you are not worthy to have a beloved man, family, travel, work, develop, because you are nothing.I also had such thoughts. Not for long, however, but they were. It happens to any person. And it is very difficult to find arguments for this woman so that she understands that this is not so.

I notice that almost all women, no matter what problem we face – the problems and needs are the same – to speak out. See the support of your own, caring people. In quarantine, IDP girls often called me. Just talk. I understand that they need her. I give them support, motivation for the best. By doing this, we are doing such a cool thing.It inspires me so much! This is the wave on which if the whole society got hooked, how the world would change.

A.Ya .: In your experience, do most of them come out of this state?

Elena: If women do not have any serious psychological problems that they acquired before HIV infection – yes, they walk easily, they are light, it is pleasant to work with them. Why is it nice – you immediately see the result. But there are women who also have serious problems.In this situation, there is only constant support. They, in principle, do not leave the group. Those who got everything they need from the group – they immediately went, settled down, they have a family and their own whirlpool. And those that have problems that are quite serious, deep, and which do not even require correction so much as constant support – they remain. These women are the hardest. About 50% of women are launched and rods like rockets, and 50% stand in one place. Or they leave a little bit and come back. They try to follow an example from other women, but they cannot get out of this situation.

A.Ya .: What do you think, does the situation change women in principle, what we openly say about our HIV status in public? Do you have examples from clients, girlfriends, college girls?

Elena: I’m sure it changes. The fact is that when the interview came out on television, the story where my husband Roma and I walk in the park, where I talk about HIV infection, about the fact that I live and don’t plan to die, I don’t plan to fall apart, and I don’t turn into a zombie.The only thing that has changed in my life is that I drink the drug every day ( approx. – antiretroviral therapy ).

I am quite a normal woman, I am a happy wife, a happy mother, I have a wonderful son, and my husband is cool. I probably would not have appreciated him in my life if I had met “before”. Right now, at the moment, it is present, and when I say it, people see that I am really happy. And they wrote to me so many reviews in a personal message! And they wrote from Western Ukraine. There, apparently, the situation is a little worse than ours – I mean with openness.HIV is more demonized there, or women are more traditional, or something … And so they write: “I also live with HIV, and I meet a man. He has no HIV status, what should I do, how can I tell him? ”. And also many people told me: “I will take an example from you, I like your message”. And even in our group the women have become! And what a Forum we had last year! This cannot even be compared with the Forum that was held a year ago. The attitude of women living with HIV about HIV has changed.I hope that society will change too.

A.Ya .: Are you currently working in the Positive Women project?

Elena: Yes, I am now working towards developing the potential of the community of women living with HIV, the basis of this direction is the initiative group. Women who are already full, who have already resolved issues with self-stigma, with self-acceptance, come to me in the direction. Before me, they are already going through the adaptation stage, together with our other employee, Anya.And even after adaptation there is work, because self-esteem is about HIV too. One way or another it sounds, it is present.

These women are already ready to give, to give to those women who have just come to the group. They can provide one-on-one consultations. We have now launched the Peer-to-Peer School. Together with these women, we developed a program and discussed together what topics should be included in it. The goal is that when they graduate from this School, they will provide quality consultations within our community to those women who have just entered.The school will have to bring in such a comprehensive approach, when a woman who comes to us will be able to choose the counselor with whom she would like to communicate. We will even expand the possibilities of receiving services – through counseling in AIDS centers.

A.Ya .: How do you deal with burnout? How do you like to relax, how do you recover?

Elena: I came to the conclusion that everything in this life is not just that, and my work has become a hobby for me.I enjoy working with people. What I wanted to become a physician is to work with people. Then I became a personnel officer – this is also work with people. Then I got into a mutual support group on HIV, and volunteered at first – this is also work with people. I got to “Vertical” as a senior social worker – this is also work with people. I really enjoy working with people. People inspire me. There is no greater reward than positive promotion of the person you motivate to do so. When you see that a person is like that today, he is downtrodden, he is scared, he is unsure of himself, he pulled his demons out, and you just observe that things happen to him in life that should not happen.He loses his job, self-confidence, some women even lose their families when they find out about their HIV status. And they lose communication with those people with whom they used to communicate. They change their social circle – because they are afraid that they will find out, that they will be judged. And when you see that she started, that she restored the connections that were, and even more – damn it, it’s so cool! This is so motivating to work. I like. It seems to me that it is impossible to burn out here. There are moments like this, but it’s not about burnout.

A.Y .: What do you dream about besides work?

Elena: I want to live in Sicily. Italy is very close to me. My aunt lives there, and I have always dreamed of living in Italy. Maybe even get a goat and make your own cheese. I really love cheeses, wines, for me this is such a special gourmand. And I do not like the feeling itself after you have drunk, but the process itself. My husband and I often order craft cheeses from a local cheese factory. I like cheeses with a complex taste, with a complex aroma, with a mold – vigorous.Those that you open, and you understand that you need to eat it with your mouth, not your nose. I would probably like to do something with my own hands – I love to cook, and maybe this is something of my own. Either basturma, or cheese. I would like to live for my own pleasure.

A.Ya .: And what does it mean for you to live for your own pleasure?

Elena: I want my son to get behind me as quickly as possible. I will love him at a distance, help him, morally support him.But I no longer want to take care of the children, as mothers usually do. I want him to start his life. It’s time. I understand that this will happen, I am already ready for this.

I don’t want to think that my parents are in uncontrolled territory. I cannot get them out in any way so that they move here, to Ukraine, and I am constantly worried about them. Because I really understand that the burden of responsibility that my mother places on me is manipulation on her part. “You have to watch us. You must bury us, go to our graves, plant artificial flowers. ”And I don’t want to be tied to graves. I don’t want to think about it, I want to live at least a little for my own pleasure, carefree. It’s not that you don’t think about others – you do, but without straining. So I want to live without stress.

A.Ya .: Do you think your work, helping women is forever? Or will there be something else, since you love change?

Elena: Maybe over time I will change something – my place of residence, work, but I will not leave this sphere of activity anyway.Maybe I’ll stay as a volunteer. You know, social workers are people who can work without a paycheck. Someone works, and performs exactly what is shown to him according to the job description. And you may not have a salary and work. It’s already in the blood. I understand that the need for this will not dry out in people, as well as in psychologists, for example. And I know that there is a lot of work in our country in this direction. I think I will always be a social worker, even without working. I just like it – to support people.

Alina Yaroslavskaya, BO “Positive Women”, for the project “From Vulnerable to Strong and Open. We speak out loud. ” The program of the Ukrainian Women’s Fund “Women’s Voice and Leadership – Ukraine”, supported by the Government of Canada.

90,000 why do I poop from fried food?

Why do I get diarrhea after fried food?

Some people find it difficult to digest creamy or fried foods. “ When fatty foods are not digested normally, they enter the colon where they are broken down into fatty acids, causing the colon to excrete fluid.90,059 and cause diarrhea, ”says Dr. Greenberger.

Can fatty foods cause poop?

Fatty fried foods such as fries, donuts, onion rings, and even well-breaded good foods such as fish tend to slow movement through the digestive tract. These foods can constrain you and cause constipation.

Why do I poop over cooking?

The gastrocolic reflex is a normal reaction of the body to food of varying intensity.When food enters the stomach, the body releases certain hormones. These hormones cause the large intestine to contract so that food travels through the large intestine and is eliminated from the body. This makes room for more food.

What is unhealthy feces?

Types of abnormal feces

poop too often (more than three times a day) poop less often (less than three times a week) excessive straining when pooping . poop red, black, green, yellow, or white.fatty, greasy stools.

Is it normal to have diarrhea after fast food?

Fast food

Fatty, fatty, or fried foods contain saturated fat and trans fats. These foods can cause diarrhea 9059 or worsen symptoms. This is because it is difficult for the body to break down them.

Can you poop what you just ate?

Stool immediately after a meal is usually as a result of the gastrocolic reflex , which is the body’s normal reaction to food entering the stomach.Almost everyone experiences the influence of the gastrocolic reflex from time to time. However, its intensity can vary from person to person.

What if you ate too much fatty food?

If you ate fatty foods, drink a glass of warm water . This will help you calm and revitalize your digestive system. Water serves as a carrier of nutrients and waste. Thus, drinking warm water promotes the breakdown of nutrients in an easily digestible form.

Why does poop keep coming out after wiping?

Common causes of fecal incontinence include: diarrhea, constipation, and muscle or nerve damage . Muscle or nerve damage can be associated with aging or childbirth. Whatever the cause, fecal incontinence can be embarrassing.

Do you lose weight when you feed?

While you may feel lighter after pooping, you don’t actually lose much weight .Moreover, when you lose weight while nursing, you are not losing the weight that really matters. To get rid of disease-causing fat, you need to burn more calories than you consume. You can do this by exercising more and eating less.

How many times a day can you poop?

How many times a day should you poop? There is no generally accepted number of times when a person should poop. As a rule, pooping from anywhere from three times a day to three times a week is normal.Most people have a normal bowel pattern: they poop about the same number of times a day and at the same time of day.

What makes food go too fast?

When food moves too quickly from the stomach to the duodenum the digestive tract releases more hormones than normal . Fluid also moves from the bloodstream to the small intestine. Experts believe that excess hormones and the movement of fluid into the small intestine cause symptoms of early dumping syndrome.

Which 3 foods are not allowed to eat?

20 foods that are harmful to your health

1. Sweet drinks. Added sugar is one of the worst ingredients in the modern diet. …
2. Most pizzas. …
3. White bread. …
4. Most fruit juices. …
5. Breakfast cereals with sugar. …
6. Fried, grilled or grilled food. …
7. Baked goods, biscuits and cakes.…
8. French fries and potato chips.

What is the most difficult food for humans to digest?

Worst food for digestion

• Fried food. They are rich in fats and can cause diarrhea.