Why does poop float sometimes. What does floating stool indicate about your health. How can the appearance of your poop reveal important clues about digestion and overall wellbeing. What are some unusual but interesting facts about bowel movements that everyone should know.

Understanding the Phenomenon of Floating Poop

Have you ever wondered why your poop sometimes floats instead of sinking to the bottom of the toilet bowl? This occurrence, while not extremely common, is something many people experience occasionally. Let’s delve into the science behind floating stools and what they might indicate about your health.

What Causes Poop to Float?

Floating poop is primarily a result of density differences. When your stool is less dense than water, it will float rather than sink. But what makes stool less dense? There are two main culprits:

• Excess air or gas in the stool
• Higher fat content in the feces

Contrary to previous beliefs that floating stools were always indicative of excess fat, recent studies suggest that increased air content is often the more likely cause.

The Role of Unabsorbed Carbohydrates

How do carbohydrates contribute to floating poop? When certain carbohydrates, such as lactose or fiber, are not fully absorbed in the small intestine, they travel to the colon. There, bacteria ferment these undigested carbs, producing gas as a byproduct. This extra gas can become trapped in the stool, making it lighter and more likely to float.

Individuals who are lactose intolerant or have suddenly increased their fiber intake may be more prone to experiencing floating stools. Additionally, sugary alcoholic beverages and artificial sweeteners can also lead to gassier, and potentially floating, poop.

When Floating Poop Might Signal Health Issues

While occasional floating stools are generally not a cause for concern, in some cases, they may indicate underlying health problems. Understanding these potential issues can help you determine when to seek medical advice.

Malabsorption and Steatorrhea

In rarer instances, consistently floating stools accompanied by an oily appearance (known as steatorrhea) could signal malabsorption issues. This condition occurs when your body struggles to properly digest and absorb nutrients, particularly fats.

What are some signs that floating poop might be related to malabsorption? Look out for these additional symptoms:

• Frequent loose stools
• Extremely foul-smelling bowel movements
• Abdominal cramps
• Excessive gas
• Visible oil droplets in the toilet water

If you notice these symptoms persisting, it’s advisable to consult a healthcare professional. They may recommend a fecal fat test to measure the amount of fat in your stool and determine if malabsorption is the underlying cause.

11 Intriguing Facts About Poop You Never Knew You Needed

While discussing bowel movements might not be a popular dinner table topic, understanding your poop can provide valuable insights into your overall health. Let’s explore some fascinating facts about stool that might surprise you.

1. The Bristol Stool Chart: A Universal Poop Guide

Did you know there’s an official medical tool for classifying poop? The Bristol Stool Chart, developed in 1997, categorizes human feces into seven distinct types based on their shape and consistency. This chart helps both patients and healthcare providers communicate more effectively about bowel movements and potential digestive issues.

2. The Ideal Pooping Position

How does your sitting position affect your bowel movements? Studies suggest that squatting, rather than sitting, can make defecation easier and more complete. This position straightens the rectoanal canal, reducing straining and potentially preventing issues like hemorrhoids and constipation.

3. The Gut-Brain Connection in Pooping

Have you ever felt the urge to poop in stressful situations? This phenomenon, often called “nervous poops,” is a real thing. The enteric nervous system, often referred to as the “second brain,” controls digestion and can be influenced by your emotional state, explaining why stress or anxiety can affect your bowel habits.

Decoding Your Stool: What Different Colors Mean

The color of your poop can be a window into your health, diet, and potential medical conditions. Understanding what different stool colors signify can help you identify when something might be amiss.

Brown: The Healthy Standard

What makes healthy poop brown? The brown color of normal stool is primarily due to bilirubin, a byproduct of red blood cell breakdown, and bile, which aids in fat digestion. Variations in brown shades are generally nothing to worry about.

Green: Diet or Digestive Speed

Why might your poop be green? Green stools can result from consuming green foods like leafy vegetables or food coloring. However, it can also indicate that food is moving through your digestive system too quickly, not allowing bilirubin to break down completely.

Red: Potential Warning Sign

What does red poop indicate? While red stools can result from eating red foods like beets or tomatoes, it can also signal bleeding in the lower digestive tract. If you haven’t consumed red foods and notice persistent red stools, it’s important to consult a healthcare provider to rule out conditions like hemorrhoids or more serious issues like colorectal cancer.

The Frequency Debate: How Often Should You Poop?

One of the most common questions about bowel movements is about frequency. How often should a healthy person poop? The truth is, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer.

The Normal Range of Bowel Movement Frequency

What’s considered a normal pooping frequency? According to gastroenterologists, anywhere from three times a day to three times a week can be normal, as long as your pattern is consistent and comfortable for you. The key is regularity – whatever that means for your individual body.

Factors Affecting Bowel Movement Frequency

What influences how often you poop? Several factors can affect your bowel movement frequency:

• Diet: Fiber intake, hydration levels, and overall food choices
• Physical activity: Regular exercise can promote more frequent bowel movements
• Age: Older adults may experience less frequent bowel movements
• Medications: Certain drugs can affect digestive transit time
• Medical conditions: Various health issues can impact bowel regularity

Understanding these factors can help you better interpret your own pooping patterns and identify when changes might warrant attention.

The Scoop on Poop Consistency: What’s Normal and What’s Not

The consistency of your stool can provide valuable information about your digestive health. But how do you know what’s normal and what might indicate a problem?

Ideal Stool Consistency

What does healthy poop look like? Ideally, stools should be soft, smooth, and sausage-shaped. They should pass easily without straining and maintain their shape in the toilet bowl. This type of stool indicates a well-functioning digestive system and adequate fiber and water intake.

Understanding Diarrhea and Constipation

How do you identify problematic stool consistencies? Diarrhea is characterized by loose, watery stools occurring three or more times in a day. On the other hand, constipation involves hard, lumpy stools that are difficult to pass. Both of these conditions can be occasional and harmless, but persistent issues may require medical attention.

The Gut Microbiome: Your Poop’s Hidden Ecosystem

Did you know that your poop is home to trillions of microorganisms? This complex ecosystem, known as the gut microbiome, plays a crucial role in your overall health.

The Importance of Gut Bacteria

How does the gut microbiome affect your health? These beneficial bacteria aid in digestion, produce essential vitamins, support immune function, and even influence mood and mental health. The composition of your gut microbiome can be reflected in your stool, affecting everything from its consistency to its smell.

Nurturing a Healthy Gut Microbiome

What can you do to support a healthy gut microbiome? Consider these strategies:

1. Eat a diverse diet rich in fiber and fermented foods
2. Limit processed foods and artificial sweeteners
3. Stay hydrated
4. Manage stress levels
5. Get adequate sleep
6. Consider probiotic supplements under medical guidance

By nurturing your gut microbiome, you’re not just improving your digestive health, but potentially boosting your overall wellbeing.

When to Seek Medical Attention for Poop-Related Concerns

While variations in your bowel movements are often normal, certain signs should prompt you to consult a healthcare provider. Being aware of these red flags can help you address potential health issues early.

Warning Signs in Your Stool

What poop-related symptoms warrant medical attention? Be on the lookout for:

• Persistent changes in bowel habits
• Blood in the stool (especially if it’s dark or tarry)
• Chronic diarrhea or constipation
• Unexplained weight loss accompanied by changes in bowel habits
• Severe abdominal pain associated with bowel movements
• Pale or clay-colored stools

These symptoms could indicate various conditions ranging from inflammatory bowel disease to colorectal cancer. Early detection and treatment are crucial for managing these health issues effectively.

Remember, while it’s important to be aware of your bowel habits, occasional variations are usually nothing to worry about. Your body has its own rhythm, and what’s normal for you might be different from someone else. However, if you’re consistently noticing changes or experiencing discomfort, don’t hesitate to speak with a healthcare professional. They can provide personalized advice and, if necessary, perform tests to ensure your digestive system is functioning optimally.

Understanding your poop might not be the most glamorous aspect of health awareness, but it’s undeniably important. By paying attention to this often-overlooked bodily function, you gain valuable insights into your overall health and wellbeing. So the next time you visit the bathroom, take a moment to observe – your poop might have more to tell you than you think!

11 Icky but Interesting Facts About Poop

Let’s talk about poop. Sure, it’s not exactly dinner-party fodder, but it’s important to learn all you can about bowel movements — what’s weird, what’s normal, what’s healthy, what’s not. That’s because your poop (stool) is an important clue to your overall digestion and health: Your poop can reveal serious signs of infections, digestive problems, and even early signs of cancer, according to the gastroenterologist Anish Sheth, MD, the coauthor of the books What’s Your Poo Telling You? and What’s My Pee Telling Me?

First, even though we often take poop for granted most days, sometimes your poop (stool) is not normal at all. Here are some poop concerns many people have:

Most people have experienced diarrhea, whether from a GI virus, an allergic reaction to food in the diet or even as a result of stress or anxiety. Diarrhea is loose, watery poop. You have diarrhea if you have loose stools three or more times in one day. Acute diarrhea is diarrhea that lasts a short time. This poop problem is common and usually lasts about one or two days, but it may last longer. Then it goes away on its own. Diarrhea lasting more than a few days may be a sign of a more serious problem.

People who are constipated may experience any one or more of the following poop symptoms:

• Difficulty passing stools
• Feeling of incomplete emptying after defecation
• Hard poop (stool)
• Painful bowel movements
• Reduced poop (stool) frequency
• Straining with a bowel movement

The process of pooping is learned early in childhood and retains spontaneity throughout life in most people. However, some people may lose the spontaneity of pooping for a variety of reasons such as childbirth trauma, surgery, medications that slow bowel transit, or other reasons. Some common health conditions such as diabetes can weaken the nerves in the colon and result in severe constipation.

Normal poop (stools) are soft and formed (not hard or lumpy). They are passed without urgency or straining. A sudden change from a person’s normal bowel pattern should be reported to a doctor.

So, brush up on this poop (stool) trivia, and then pay attention to how often you go, how long it takes, and what the end result looks and, yes, smells like. Simply put, know your poop.

Floating Poop: Why Does Your Poop Float Instead Of Sink?​

Your poop can tell you a lot about your health. Red in the bowl—which can signal anything from hemorrhoids to colon cancer—is a known red flag. But what if the color is just fine, but it doesn’t exactly sink to the bottom of the bowl like normal poop does?

It’s not exactly common, but we’ve all probably experienced the floating turd. So what exactly does it mean if your stool is not sinking?

“A floating stool is simply less dense than a sinking stool,” says gastroenterologist Neil Stollman, M.D. Doctors used to think this resulted from excess fat in the feces, but one study in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests it’s actually extra air. Dr. Stollman says it could probably be either, though air is more likely.

Extra air in the stool could come from unabsorbed carbohydrates, like lactose or fiber, which ferment in the colon and release gas, says Dr. Stollman. This may be more likely to happen if you’re lactose intolerant or have just consumed a lot of dairy or fiber all at once. Sugary alcoholic drinks and artificial sweeteners can also make your poop gassier, says gastroenterologist Kenneth Brown, M.D.

Related: Why Drinking Booze Gives You Diarrhea

And if your poop contains more air or gas than normal, it will make it lighter—thus more likely to float on top of the water than sink to the bottom of it, like denser turds do.

Still, it’s possible that extra fat in your feces can cause it to float, too. In this case, eating more fatty food than normal is likely the culprit, says Dr. Stollman. When your intestines can’t absorb all that fat, it’s excreted through your poop.

In rarer cases, fatty, floating stools—officially known as steatorrhea—can signal that your body is unable to digest and absorb nutrients, like fat, properly. This is called malabsorption.

If there are also drops of oil in the toilet, your pancreas might not be working properly to absorb the fat you eat, says Dr. Brown. And oil in the poop itself might mean the bacteria from your small intestine are growing outside it, breaking it down before you can.

Doctors can diagnose malabsorption through a fecal fat test, which literally measures the amount of fat excreted in your stool. If your floating poop is caused by malabsorption, you will probably have other signs as well, like frequent loose stool, extremely foul-smelling stools, abdominal cramps, and gas.

Save Your Own Ass!

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That said, in most cases, floating poop on its own probably doesn’t indicate any problem. “Very few people have consistent bowels,” says Dr. Stollman. Most changes are simply due to diet or medications. But if you notice a change for a month or more, talk to your doctor just to be safe (For more health stories like this, sign up for our Daily Dose newsletter).

Suzannah Weiss
Suzannah Weiss is a freelance writer and editor whose work has appeared in New York Magazine, The Washington Post, Playboy and more.

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Gastroentologist Dr. Sameer Islam Explains Why Poop Floats Sometimes

Everybody poops — and everybody looks at their poop. It’s a fact of life. But what if you notice something strange happening in the toilet bowl when you take a gander at your waste. What if your poop is just floating like a log?

In a recent YouTube video, Dr. Sameer Islam answers the question of why your poop floats. While occasional floaters may be just excess gas trapped in your stool after a particularly bean-filled meal, Dr. Islam addresses those with poop that floats again and again.

Dr. Islam says there’s many reasons poop can float, with one of the most common being something called “steatorrhea” — or, basically, oil (or fat) in the stool.

As you likely know, oil and water don’t mix, hence the increased buoyancy of your poop. Dr. Islam says this extra oil in the stool may be caused by abnormal growth of bad bacteria, conditions like celiac disease or Crohn’s disease, or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. He also adds that too much fiber in your diet can cause your poop to float.

While all of this is mighty interesting, you may be wondering if buoyant waste should actually concern you. Well, Dr. Islam says floating stools aren’t “too worrisome,” in his professional opinion.

“Now, if you would that with other symptoms, such as pain, nausea, not feeling very good, that can be something to worry about,” Dr. Islam says in the video. “So that’s just something to keep an eye on.”

All in all, it seems the most concerning thing about floating poop is effectively flushing it down the toilet. Now that’s the true concern here…

Katie Dupere
Katie Dupere is an editor and writer in New York City specializing in identity, internet culture, social good, lifestyle and beauty topics. 

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

Why Does My Poop Float?

Although the topic is a little yucky, especially for ones with a weak stomach, let’s talk about stools and what can they tell us about our health. Every detail matters and it can tell you if there is something wrong with you. This includes the odor of your stool, how consistent it is, and its color as well.

Why does my poop float? This is a good question because there can be an underlying problem which presents itself in floating stools. In most cases, there is no cause for concern, as it doesn’t directly indicate any illness or disease. Usually, it is caused by your diet and can be fixed easily, or it will revert back to normal on its own.

The Usual Suspects

The most common reasons for floating stools are bad absorption of nutrients from food, known as malabsorption, and having too much gas in the stool, which reduces the density of the stool and makes it float.

The body needs to fully absorb and digest the nutrients from the gastrointestinal tract. Not doing so causes bad absorption of nutrients, and digestion is facilitated by intestinal bacteria.

They usually digest polysaccharides and sugars, creating additional gas in the process. The gas consists of methane and hydrogen. If the lower intestine carries the load and digests most of the food, all the excess gas will have to find a way out. It can be released in the form of floating poop or flatulence, commonly known as passing the wind or farting.

Another cause for malabsorption can be diarrhea because it makes the intestines contract in higher frequencies and move stool along too fast. If malabsorption is severe, the floating stool will also be very greasy and it may smell horrendous.

Malabsorption can also occur due to a gastrointestinal tract infection. These infections can be a result of bacterial or viral infections. In most cases, they go away on their own.

Finally, malabsorption can be caused by lactose intolerance. Lactose is a sugar present in all dairy products. People who are intolerant to lactose cannot digest It. When they consume dairy products, it can lead to diarrhea or gassy and floating stools.

Foods that Cause Poop to Float

Foods that make you gassy usually make your stool float. They usually have a lot of fiber, sugar, lactose or starch. Here are some of those foods:

• All types of soda, energy drinks, and flavored water. The so-called sports drinks are not that healthy despite their name.
• All sorts of legumes (beans, lentils, peas, peanuts) make you gassy.
• Cabbage also makes you pass wind one way or the other.
• Dairy products – all sorts of milk, cheese and yogurts, especially the full-fat types, can interact with your digestion, especially if you are lactose intolerant.

Diseases Can Cause Poop to Float as Well

Why does my poop float? In case you are wondering, you should know that most of the time there isn’t any cause for alarm if you notice you have floating poop, but in some scenarios, it can a good tell that something is wrong with you. Here are some of the diseases which come to mind when you have floating poop:

• Short bowel syndrome – This condition is associated with malabsorption; it happens when your body has trouble with nutrient absorption. Sometimes short bowel syndrome is caused by missing part of the small intestine, whether it was removed during surgery or a genetic flaw. Other cause can be an intestinal disease.
• Cystic fibrosis – This disease is inherited and often turns out to be fatal. Cystic fibrosis makes your digestive tract and your lungs produce a lot of thick mucus. If the mucus gets to the pancreas the result is improper nutrient absorption, accompanied by poop that floats. Unfortunately, this disease has no cure. Some medications can help to reduce the symptoms of the disease, floating poop included.
• Celiac disease – This is an autoimmune disease which causes your immune system to attack the lining of your small intestine if you eat gluten. Nowadays gluten has a very bad reputation and this is one of the reasons for it. Celiac disease has no cure, but you can easily get rid of the symptoms by staying away from products which contain gluten. Read the label on wheat products, as they are usually full of gluten.

The following genetic diseases can cause your poop to float, but they are really rare:

• Disaccharides deficiency is a disease which causes you to have less or no enzymes used for breaking down various types of starch and sugar.
• Bassen-Kornzweig syndrome is a type of genetic disease that makes your intestines unable to absorb fats.
• Biliary atresia makes it harder for intestines to absorb fat, even though they can still do it. It affects the development of bile ducts.

Treatment

As previously mentioned, the problem with floating stool often resolves itself without any medical intervention. Any necessary treatment will be dependent on the underlying cause of your stool situation. Thus, the treatments are different. If you have a bacterial infection, you will likely be prescribed antibiotics. In the case of diarrhea, there is some medication for slowing down the contraction of your intestines.

This problem usually has to do with your diet as well, so be prepared to adjust your diet according to the doctor’s recommendation.

Prevention

Floating poop is often caused by consuming food which can be problematic and cause excessive gases. Avoid such food, especially lactose if you are intolerant, and you should be in the clear. Also, keep track of bowel movements and try to figure out what caused your stool to float based on what you previously ate.

Hook, Line, and Sinker

If you’ve stuck around till here, you should have all the necessary advice to keep your stool grounded. If you suspect that your floating stool is a symptom of illness, it is best to get in touch with your primary care physician right away.

References:

https://goaskalice.columbia.edu/answered-questions/floating-stools-%E2%80%94-what-do-they-say-about-my-health
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25966670
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/5-things-your-poop-can-tell-you-about-your-health
https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003128.htm

Why Does Some Poo Float and Some Poo Sink?

Featured image credit: Icon Films/Flickr

Anaconda action. Backing the big brown motorhome out of the garage. Curling one out. Dropping the kids off at the pool. Exorcising the demon. Feeding the toilet. Giving back the corn. Heaving ho. Prairie dogging. Laying a brick. Making butt coffee. Putting your thoughts on paper. Releasing the hounds. Scatter bombing. Turtle necking. Waking Winnie the Pooh.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about yet, it’s poo.

Poo comes in many shapes, sizes, colours and densities but one thing that has never been consistent when I’ve looked down at my mud babies are the floaters and the sinkers.

Which in turn got me thinking, why does some poo sink and some poo float? I don’t have the answer. And when I asked my friends they didn’t really know either. So, one of those extremely weird afternoons on Google happened.

But now I do know and I plan on sharing that with you now.

The first thing to know is that how your poo behaves once it has settled in the toilet bowl can actually say quite a lot about your health and general well-being.

Poo, despite what you might think, is actually around 75% water – the rest is just fibre, dead and live bacteria and mucus.

Some foods are easily broken down during digestion and turn into poo while other foods, like carrots, are harder to digest and that’s why sometimes when you dare look in the bowl at what you’ve just done you can still see what you had for dinner.

The perfect poop is actually an S-shape according to Mehmet Oz, MD, (who you might recognise from The Dr. Oz Show). To get that perfect log-style poop shape, you have to eat loads of fibre. If you don’t, it’s more likely to come out pebbly or in bits. And if it comes out pencil thin, you might want to go and get yourself checked because that’s one sign of possible rectal cancer.

But the crux of my search was to find out why some poo floats and some poo sinks? As you can probably imagine, a lot is down to diet.

Poo should sink. A healthy poo will fall out of you and drop to the bottom of the bowl awaiting the flush that will take it to its final resting place. A floating poo shouldn’t cause you concern but in some cases might need to be checked out.

Floating shits are caused by either gas or your body not absorbing nutrients as it should.

Sometimes your floater will simply be because you’ve had too many beans, cabbage or apples or drank too much milk and soft drinks. That’ll be the gas.

Sometimes your floater will simply be because whatever you’ve eaten has shot through you too quickly coming out a bit greasy and definitely smellier than usual. That’ll be the body not absorbing the nutrients.

Apparently this is caused by infections in your gut that go away in time and don’t need treatment.

However, and there’s a big however, some diseases cause floating shit and you should at least be wary of them.

Celiac disease, cystic fibrosis, short bowel syndrome and rare genetic diseases like Bassen-Kornzweig syndrome and biliary atresia all cause floaters.

But you only really need to go and see your doctor if it persists for around two weeks.

In order to prevent floating stools, you just need to check your diet. Next time you release a floater, think about what you’ve eaten recently and then if you give birth to another one next time you have that type of food, just avoid those foods in future. Simple as that, really.

And that, lads and ladies, is why some poo floats and some poo sinks. I’ve been enlightened. I hope you have, too.

Here’s What It Means If Your Poop Floats

It’s not exactly common, but we’ve all probably experienced the floating turd. So what exactly does it mean if your stool is not sinking?

“A floating stool is simply less dense than a sinking stool,” says gastroenterologist Neil Stollman. Doctors used to think this resulted from excess fat in the faeces, but one study in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests it’s actually extra air. Dr. Stollman says it could probably be either, though air is more likely.

Extra air in the stool could come from unabsorbed carbohydrates, like lactose or fibre, which ferment in the colon and release gas, says Dr. Stollman. This may be more likely to happen if you’re lactose intolerant or have just consumed a lot of dairy or fibre all at once. Sugary alcoholic drinks and artificial sweeteners can also make your poop gassier, says gastroenterologist Kenneth Brown.

RELATED: 7 Textures Of Poop And What They Mean

And if your poop contains more air or gas than normal, it will make it lighter—thus more likely to float on top of the water than sink to the bottom of it, like denser turds do.

Still, it’s possible that extra fat in your faeces can cause it to float, too. In this case, eating more fatty food than normal is likely the culprit, says Dr. Stollman. When your intestines can’t absorb all that fat, it’s excreted through your poop.

In rarer cases, fatty, floating stools—officially known as steatorrhea—can signal that your body is unable to digest and absorb nutrients, like fat, properly. This is called malabsorption.

If there are also drops of oil in the toilet, your pancreas might not be working properly to absorb the fat you eat, says Dr. Brown. And oil in the poop itself might mean the bacteria from your small intestine are growing outside it, breaking it down before you can.

RELATED: The $50 Product Promising To Help You Poo Better

Doctors can diagnose malabsorption through a faecal fat test, which literally measures the amount of fat excreted in your stool. If your floating poop is caused by malabsorption, you will probably have other signs as well, like frequent loose stool, extremely foul-smelling stools, abdominal cramps, and gas.

That said, in most cases, floating poop on its own probably doesn’t indicate any problem. “Very few people have consistent bowels,” says Dr. Stollman. Most changes are simply due to diet or medications. But if you notice a change for a month or more, talk to your doctor just to be safe.

This article originally appeared on Men’s Health

What Does It Mean When Your Poop Floats?

by: Yuri Elkaim

Talking about poop might be a little embarrassing. In fact, I wouldn’t recommend you do it at the dinner table.

But sometimes, what happens in the bathroom can tell an important story about your health. And occasionally what happens in there can be a sign you need to talk to your doctor.

But how do you know?

Here’s the truth: At one point or another, almost everyone has wondered if what goes on in the bathroom is normal.

For instance: you might wonder, what does it mean when your poop floats? (We’ll get to that, hang on!) Or, how often is too often (or not often enough?)?

And are there any nutrition tips you should incorporate into your diet to help make pooping, well, a little more pleasant?

Ayurvedic medicine practitioners believe that healthy poop is a sign of overall health and vitality.

According to Hippocrates, the father of the modern medicine, all diseases start in the gut.  Healthy gut elimination – or a good poop – is the crux of good health.

What Does it Mean When Your Poop Floats?

How your stool looks can tell a lot about the health of your gastrointestinal (GI) tract. You can tell things about the foods you eat, your GI system’s overall health, and whether you might be experiencing any abnormalities.

Here are just some of the things to look for in your poop.

1. Poop Color

You’d be surprised how much you can tell by the color of your bowel movements.

Normal stools range in color from light brown to dark brown.

Sometimes foods such as beets, licorice, and green leafy vegetables can stain the stool, causing it to be a different color.

Also, medicines such as aspirin or iron supplements can also impact its color.

The good news is: These are normal occurrences and resolve on their own.

There are many diseases and conditions, however, that can affect the color of your stool.

Hemorrhoids, bleeding anywhere in the GI tract, liver disease, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), gallbladder disease, celiac disease, ulcerative colitis, cancers or tumors, diverticulitis, etc. are some of the conditions that may impact the color of the stool (1).

Green stool indicates waste has moved rapidly through your system, not allowing bile (an important part of the digestive process) enough time to disintegrate in the tract.

Yellow stools can indicate a gallbladder issue.

A black or tarry stool is called a melena, and is a sign that there is bleeding the GI tract. However, taking iron pills can also stain stools black.

Red or maroon-colored stools also indicates bleeding somewhere in the GI tract.

White stools can be an indicator of a pancreatic problem or a problem with absorbing fat.

Clay-colored stools are a sign of liver disease, where not enough bile is getting mixed with the intestinal content.

2. Poop Smell

There are a number of reasons for your bowel movements to smell bad.

Among them: what you ate, undigested fats or animal proteins, how long the food has being hanging out in your intestines, or any infections you might have.

Generally, though, you know what smells normal for your stool. Any sudden changes in the smell that don’t resolve themselves quickly should be evaluated.

When you notice your stools smelling worse than normal, it can indicate problems such as celiac disease, lactose intolerance, Crohn’s disease, pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer, malabsorption disorders, intestinal infection, a disturbed gut flora, cystic fibrosis, or a short bowel syndrome (2).

3. Poop Frequency

The frequency of normal bowel movements varies. Some people will go to the bathroom one to three times a day, while for others, three times a week is normal.

Frequency largely depends upon the amount of fiber you’ve eaten, how much fluids you’ve ingested, peristaltic movement (the involuntary wavelike contractions of your esophagus, stomach and intestines to move the digestive process along), and how active you’ve been.

IBS can also play a major role in the frequency of bowel movements.

When you go less often than normal, it’s called constipation, and is often accompanied by hard-to-pass stools (3).

Generally, more than three days without a bowel movement is considered worrisome, because it puts the stool at risk for becoming hardened or impacted in the intestines (4).

Poop that is loose, watery, and occurring more than four times in a day is categorized as diarrhea and can lead to dehydration and electrolyte imbalances in the body.

[Related: The Best Homemade Electrolyte Drink]

4. Floating or Sinking Poop

A normal, healthy poop should pass easily through the rectum and sink in the water because the contents are dense as compared to the water.

When your poop floats, it means there is too much gas.

That can be caused by changes in your diet or a malabsorption of fat.

5. Consistency and Length of Poop

Healthy stools resemble a ripe banana in both consistency and length.

If your bowel movements are very large, it can be a sign that the waste has been sitting too long in your bowels.

On the opposite side of things, small, hard pellets can indicate inadequate water and fiber intake.

Meanwhile, narrow or pencil-thin stools may sometimes occur and may resolve on its own. But, if thin stools are associated with other gastric symptoms like too much gas and bloating or pain in the abdomen, then it may indicate a scarred or narrowed colon.

People suffering from IBS can also have thin stools.

You may find the Bristol Stool Chart (below) helpful. It’s a medical aid used to classify the form of human poop into seven categories.

6. Gas or flatulence

Flatulence, wind, or gas is a normal occurrence and its presence is an indicator of a non-obstructed GI tract.

Normally, a male experiences flatulence 14 to 25 times a day while a female passes gas 7 to 12 times a day.

If you’re frequently passing very foul-smelling and experiencing bloating or abdominal pain, it might be worth checking with your doctor for evaluation.

How is Poop Made?

It sounds kind of icky, but the moment we start chewing our food, the process of breaking it down to form waste begins.

Saliva in your mouth starts breaking down carbohydrates for digestion. The chewed food then reaches the stomach where hydrochloric acid starts breaking down proteins.

By the time the partially digested food reaches our intestines, bile, pancreatic enzymes, and other enzymes continue to further break down the food so our bodies can absorb necessary nutrients.

As the food enters our intestines, it resembles a pulp mixed with water.

The small intestine absorbs all the necessary sugars and nutrients from the food and the large intestine absorbs the fluid from the poop.

The leftover content consists of undigested food, waste, debris, and dietary fiber that cannot be absorbed. It then moves into the colon, where it remains until a normal bowel movement occurs.

What Should You Eat for Healthy Poop?

Healthy bowel movements depend largely on what you eat and drink.

Getting enough fiber and fluids is vital for a soft, easy to move bowel movement.

According to the American Gastroenterological Association, almost 20 percent of Americans are constipated, mainly due to a poor fiber intake.

On an average, an American consumes 15 grams of fiber in a day, while 25 grams per day is the recommended amount.

The good news is that it’s easy to add fiber to your diet.

Fruits:

Most fruits are rich in fiber. Fruits should be eaten whole, along with their skin, if possible.

Fruits like pears, apples, plums, a cup of berries, etc. provide 6 to 8 grams of fiber.

Try this: Tropical Paradise: Strawberry Coconut Smoothie

Vegetables:

Vegetables are also laden with fiber and should be consumed daily for adding bulk to the bowel content.

It is recommended to eat 5 to 6 servings of fruits and vegetables daily to ensure a good bowel movement.

Sweet potato is rich in fiber and one small baked potato gives 3 grams of fiber.

Try this: 3-Ingredient Paleo Sweet Potato Waffles (or Pancakes)

Legumes and Beans:

Rich in both fiber and protein, one cup of beans provides a whopping 10 grams of fiber, which puts beans at the top of the heap when it comes to adding bulk to your diet.

Beans can be added to salads, soups, curries, pasta, or can be prepared as baked beans.

Try these: 10 Mason Jar Meals That Make Healthy Eating Easy

Pseudo Grains:

Pseudo grains – like quinoa, amaranth, and buckwheat – are rich in insoluble fiber and are excellent bulk-forming foods.

Be sure to substitute all refined flour, rice, bread, pasta and cereals with pseudo grains, not only for the fiber but also for the extra protein and nutrients.

Try this: Autumn Quinoa Salad 

Nuts and Seeds:

Nuts and seeds are a powerhouse of nutrients and fiber.

Among nuts, pecans, walnuts and almonds have maximum fiber content. An ounce of almond has 3.5 grams of fiber, pecans have 2.7 gm and walnuts have 1.9 gm of fiber.

Dry roasted seeds like pumpkin seeds, flaxseed, sesame seeds, etc. are packed with fiber in their husk. One ounce of pumpkin seeds gives 5 grams of fiber and one tablespoon of flaxseed delivers 2.8 grams of fiber.

Add them to salads, soups, and cereal bowls.

Try this: Fiber Starter Breakfast Bowl

Dried Fruits and Prunes:

Dried fruits like figs, goji berries, raisins, apricots and prunes contain more fibre than fresh fruits and can be chewed or added to cereals, cakes, and bread and other dishes.

Try this: 4­-Ingredient Homemade Fruit Roll­-Ups

Fluids:

Fluids or water allows the stool to be moist and soft and makes defecation easier. So, drinking adequate amounts of clean and purified water is essential to maintain the softness of the poop.

Try these: 7 Refreshing Detox Water Recipes to Cleanse Your Body and Burn Fat

What Does Blood in Your Stool Mean?

Blood in your stool indicates rectal bleeding or active bleeding in the GI tract. The blood in the stool may be bright red, maroon or black in color.

Bleeding in the stomach will be visible as black and tarry stool, because by the time the stool is defecated the blood turns black due to the action of enzymes and the transit time.

Maroon color may be a sign of intestinal bleeding, while bright red blood may be a sign of active rectal bleeds.

Bleeding can be due to a number of conditions like ulcers, tumors or cancers, perforations, hemorrhoids, parasitic infections, or fissures.

It should be immediately evaluated by a physician.

Poop Health Can Mean Good Health

Healthy bowel movements are vital to help your body eliminate waste, debris, bacteria, and toxins effectively.

When a problem with your bowel movements occurs, it can result in a toxic build-up in the body or dehydration.

If you’re concerned about your bowel habits, it’s important to see your doctor for evaluation.

Get Back on Track

What you eat plays a huge role in healthy poop and restoring balance in your gut.

Check out my free 1-Day Detox Plan, which is designed to detoxify your body in 24 hours using healthy and tasty “cleansing” meals. Click the banner below to get it for FREE.

Poop doesn’t sink

* Ghost turd It happens when you feel like you’re about to poop, but as soon as you get your butt on the toilet, nothing comes out of you.
* Turd “Ghost 2” So you look back into the toilet to proudly contemplate your work, but the poop is gone.
* Poop “perfection” It happens when you poop, wipe and see that toilet paper is cleanliness itself, well, at least wipe your nose.
* The turd is “wet” Despite the fact that you have wiped your ass fifty times already, it is still wet.And then you decide to shove a piece of toilet paper into your panties and leave the toilet, carefully hiding your inconvenience.
* Poop “for an encore” Having pook, you already start to pull on your pants, but at exactly half of the process you realize that you have something else to say.
* Turd “exhaustion” It happens when a seemingly simple act turns into a terrible process due to its excessive stress, and the veins in your neck swell and the blood rushes to your face. With your fists clenched and your teeth clenched, you can hardly fall to the floor in exhaustion.
* Island-type turd This happens when the pooping process becomes so large that the shit protrudes above the water in the toilet, forming a small mound of land. And you have to press the button twice so that all this mass is carried away into the sewers.
* Poop “explosive” This type is accompanied by the release of gases of unprecedented volume, such that all the inhabitants of the premises adjacent to the toilet are surprised: is it a thunderstorm or a volcanic eruption?
* Alcoholic turd Usually occurs after a night of heavy drinking.It is characterized by smears that remain on the inner walls of the toilet bowl. It is black in color, extremely smelly and has a hard texture.
* Turd “I want, but I can’t” When you feel that it’s about to start, and you, in anticipation of happiness, rush onto the toilet, but time passes, and you still can’t, and in the end you decide: to hell with him, I’ll come later . ..
* Turd “difficult labor” When it climbs, but it hurts so much that you involuntarily think that it was only the goveha who stood across the aisle.
* Turd “splashes” We get out (better to say – flies out) such a weighty and so fast turd that falling into the water splashes our ass, forcing us to swear.
* Turd “spell” What comes out of you, of an incomprehensible color, either yellow or green, which suggests that the devil must have settled in my ass.
* Top Color Poop This is the type that does not smell at all.
* Poop “spy” This is the case when after having pulled the rope, and it would seem, goodbye, my love, but the poop suddenly comes back for no reason.
* Poop “exhibition version” Well, it is so gigantic in size that it is hard to believe that a human being can create such a thing. The creator has a habit of leaving his creation in the toilet for everyone to appreciate it, and in no case does he throw toilet paper into the toilet – God forbid ruining or obscuring his work with something.
* Poop “falling apart” It looks quite solid and solid, but as soon as you press the button, it falls apart into a thousand small pieces.
* Cinnamon Cloth Turd This is the case when the turd manages to stain your underwear.
* Turd “Dracula” That terrible case when there is blood on the toilet paper.
* Turd “stalactite” This comes out in one continuous mass, and no matter how you twist your ass, it does not want to come off. It hangs for a few seconds, and you start shaking your thighs impatiently.
* Turd “surprise” This happens when you think that you can completely restrain yourself and the toilet will wait.But … what is it? You fucked up !!!
* Turd “Santa Claus” This turd is of such incredible size that you involuntarily ask yourself a question: I wonder how it will manage to crawl into the sewer after you press the button.
* Titanic Turd This is the type of turd that, even if you try to sink it, will still stay afloat.
* Rainbow Turd This turd contains at least seven different colors.
* Turd “a subject for pride” You have been fighting one on one with this turd for so long that when you still manage to squeeze it out of yourself, the first thing you do is to tell about your battle to one of your friends.
* Diet turd In this case, so much shit comes out of you that you lose three kilograms at once.
* Poop “ritual” Always happens at the same hour and so every day, year after year. A stable habit is developed: I will not fall asleep if I do not relieve myself at exactly 22.30.
* Turd “growling” This turd is so big that it is unlikely to come out of you until you grunt.
* Turd “stuck” This turd remains on the toilet bowl and cannot be flushed away by the water.You have to nudge it with a small piece of paper.
* Poop “anonymous” This appears in the toilet in a completely mysterious way, and no one acknowledges their authorship.
* Suicide Poop This one is trying to disappear into the sewers before you press the button.
* “Musical” turd You think that this is just a bunch, but having published it, you understand that accompanied by a musical tirade, a turd also came out of you.
* Turd “So what now?” It happens when you, having finished the case, discover that there is no paper.And you have to use a newspaper or magazine that you have a hand, a stocking or a sock, and even a cardboard tube from a roll of toilet paper, painstakingly peeling it layer by layer, crumpling and straightening this surrogate several times in order to get at least something resembling in its softness and the texture of toilet paper.
* Turd “Leaning” This is a hard, elongated turd, which, having fallen out of the priests, “rises on the butt” and is held in this position until the very moment of draining.
* Poop “in milk” Due to inaccurate aiming, it does not fall into the toilet bowl and flaunts somewhere on the rim.
* Turd “tenderness” It is curled up in such an intricate pretzel that makes you feel touched by the whims of the universe, and you immediately jump out of the toilet in search of an easel with paints or, in extreme cases, a camera. 90,000 Rostovites, returning from the seas, warn: poop floats on the beaches!

This year, poop is swimming in sea water practically along the entire coast.

Previously, this was only in Abkhazia: there, enterprising local residents set up houses on the very seashore, and since there was no question of any sewage system, the pipes from under the toilet bowls were brought directly into the sea – to the beaches.So they appeared periodically among the bathing poop.

Shall we talk about the danger lurking in this? It can be anything from hepatitis to common E. coli. Especially if the water is warm. In Abkhazia, in the high season, it can reach up to 30 degrees higher. The water temperature is approximately the same on separate beaches of Adler and Sochi. People complain that even in the capital of the Winter Olympics, human excrement was found on the beach.

In Crimea, this has not been observed before, although places such as, for example, Koktebel, should someday “explode”.The thing is that in recent years of Ukrainian lack of control and total bribery, huge guest houses, sometimes entire villages, have been set up right at the edge of the sea. There is no centralized sewerage system. Those who are more fearful have dug drain pits, but this is a stench, especially in summer. What scares off customers. And many buried the pipe and took it to the beaches.

So the decision of Aksyonov, the head of Crimea, to demolish illegal buildings on the coast is mainly dictated by this: the beaches of Crimea began to sink in the city …not. Not everywhere, of course, but where guest houses have come close to the sea.

This summer turned out to be extremely hot, and the water temperature even in the cool Crimea now reaches 27-29 degrees. Bacteria – expanse.

And therefore – in no case do not swallow the water yourself, do not allow children to dive near the shore. If you know how to swim, it is better to swim to a depth where the concentration of feces should be at least a little lower.

Dmitry Deinogo

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Snake danger: how to protect yourself from vipers in a summer cottage

A viper avoids a person and attacks only if it feels danger: for example, if you step on it, touch it with your hand while working in the garden. If a viper has bitten, you need to try not to panic and calm down, recommends Peter Davydov, deputy chief physician for the medical department of the A.S. Puchkov.

“Fatalities from a viper bite are extremely rare and are usually caused by an anaphylactic reaction caused by an allergen contained in the venom,” the doctor explains.

Therefore, a viper bite is very dangerous for children and people suffering from allergies.

If the snake is attacked, you should immediately take any antihistamine medication at the usual dosage and drink as much water as possible to relieve the allergic reaction. If the bite fell on an arm or leg, you need to treat the wound with an antiseptic, put a clean bandage on it, and fix the limb. You can apply a splint to slow down the lymphatic drainage at the site of the bite and the spread of the poison, and then immediately go to the doctor: there the patient will be injected with an antidote.

A person feels a burning pain, swelling at the site of a snake bite, the skin acquires a red-blue tint. Nausea, vomiting, dizziness may occur.

It is impossible to treat the wound with a hot iron (despite the savagery and uselessness of the method, it is quite common “among the people”), to pull the limb with a tourniquet.

“The application of a tourniquet will lead to even greater damage to tissues in which blood supply is already impaired due to poison,” says Peter Davydov. “Subsequently, this can lead to necrosis.Moreover, the tourniquet does not stop the absorption of the poison in any way. But it is advisable to apply cold to the bite site. Cold reduces excessive vasodilation. “

It is strictly forbidden to drink alcohol when bitten by a snake – it expands blood vessels, accelerates the absorption of poison and increases the load on the body, taking alcohol can lead to a more pronounced vascular reaction and even collapse.

Most doctors also do not recommend suck the poison of the viper, despite the fact that they recognize the effectiveness of this method in the first seconds after the bite.