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Title: Scoop on Poop
Source: [None]
URL Source: http://www.webmd.com/digestive-diso ... lideshow-constipation-facts-10
Published: Apr 26, 2015
Author: WebMD
Post Date: 2015-04-26 02:06:05 by Tatarewicz
Keywords: None
Views: 61
Comments: 7

WebMD... Despite what you might have heard on the morning talk shows, healthy stool comes in all sorts of shapes: curvy, sausage, snake-like, and more. How it looks depends on how much fiber and water you have all day, as well as how fast things move along in your colon. See your doctor if your stool looks thin and narrow like a pencil for several weeks. This can be a sign of a GI (gastrointestinal) problem.

If you don’t poop every day, dangerous toxins can build up in your body.?

This myth is so widespread that some people are obsessed with regularity -- over-relying on laxatives or using risky colonic machines. But your colon is pretty good at fighting bacteria. After all, its job is to get rid of toxins.

Besides, you’re probably more regular than you think. Three or fewer BMs in a week is a sign of constipation. So don't be concerned unless you go less than every other day, have pain, trouble going to the bathroom, or there's a change in how often you go.

Ever feel energized or elated after a BM? There’s a reason. Passing a large stool can stimulate the vagus nerve in the brain. That triggers a drop in your heart rate and blood pressure. This whole bathroom event can cause you to feel a tad lightheaded and giddy.

Digestion is a poky process. It usually takes about a day before a meal starts showing up in the toilet. And it can take up to 3 days before it’s fully digested.

Of course, food rushes through much faster when you have diarrhea. Your body may not be able to absorb much fluid or many nutrients. That's why people with ongoing diarrhea are at risk of dehydration and malnutrition.

Food that’s digested in the lower intestine creates excess gas in the form of hydrogen or methane. This gas makes stool less dense and more likely to float. Floaters are pretty common and generally nothing to worry about.

See your doctor if you have floating stools for more than 2 weeks. You may have trouble absorbing nutrients because of celiac disease or another GI problem.

Healthy stools come in a variety of colors, including yellow, tan, and green. The most common causes of an unusual stool color are medications or foods. Tomatoes and fruit punch can turn stools red; spinach and leafy vegetables can make them green; and grape juice can darken things to black.

Color changes can signal a problem such as bleeding (red or black), liver problems (white or gray), or diarrhea (green). Tarry, sticky, black poop can be a sign of bleeding or an injury in the stomach or parts of the intestine. The blood isn't red anymore because it's partially digested. Always get this checked out by a doctor. Keep in mind that black poop also can be a sign of less interesting things, like eating beets or taking some medications.

Hold your nose. Most of us burp or fart about 14 times a day. Gassiness is typically caused by air that gets swallowed while eating or drinking or undigested carbs in the digestive tract. See your doctor if you regularly clear rooms or if you have gassiness along with bloating. You may be lactose intolerant or have another gastrointestinal disorder. Of course, poop should be stinky! It contains all sorts of nasty things: undigested foods (similar to rotten vegetables), gas, bacteria, water, and salts. Most of the bacteria in there are good -- they help digestion. But viruses and some harmful bacteria also can be passed in stool. The bad smell naturally warns us to stay away.

Like many high-fiber fruits and vegetables, prunes (which are really dried plums) encourage regular bowel movements. Prunes are also high in sorbitol, a natural sugar that acts as a laxative. Studies suggest that prunes may help more with constipation than using fiber supplements.

Hemorrhoids, swollen blood vessels in the rectum or around the anus, often bleed when you strain to push out a BM. Red-streaked TP also can be caused by tiny tears in the lining of the anus called fissures. Both of these usually go away on their own. Still, you should always get rectal bleeding -- minor or not -- checked out.

One often overlooked cause of blood on toilet paper? Wiping too hard. Try a lighter touch and softer TP.

During a fecal transplant, donated stool is injected into a person’s colon. More than 90% of the time, healthy bacteria from the donor stool start to grow in the patient’s colon. These good bacteria get rid of an overgrowth of bad bacteria called Clostridium difficile or C. diff.

More Reading on Digestive Health

Myths and Facts About Constipation Foods That Cause Diarrhea High-Fiber Super Foods

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#1. To: Tatarewicz (#0)

Excellent piece -- needed subject. Anybody who manages to eat and drink so as to keep their poop clean, odorless, fast and easy will I think be way ahead of the game and feel better. (Don't tell anybody, but if my paper shows up pristine I reuse it. Think of the trees and, well, waste that would be saved if everybody would!)

"Death begins in the colon."

NeoconsNailed  posted on  2015-04-26   2:32:19 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#2. To: NeoconsNailed (#1)

but if my paper shows up pristine I reuse it

I use one-aught steel wool & a brass wire brush.

Scrupulous pop-chute care pays off in the end.

"If ignorance is truly bliss, then why do so many Americans need Prozac?" - Dave McGowan

randge  posted on  2015-04-26   16:25:07 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#3. To: Tatarewicz, NeoconsNailed, Randge (#0)

Lettuce, and other vegetables are the best thing for the human GI, along with plenty of water, of course. Roughage, they used to call it. Skins seem to be the best, that's why prunes are such an effective laxative, huge amounts of fiber.

corruptissima re publica plurimae leges - Tacitus

Dakmar  posted on  2015-04-26   17:35:21 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#4. To: Tatarewicz (#3)

I agree with you about yogurt. Type of bacteria vs human body type vs diet vs altitude even are likely more important than the single study your post started with.

corruptissima re publica plurimae leges - Tacitus

Dakmar  posted on  2015-04-26   17:40:06 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#5. To: Dakmar (#3) (Edited)

Skins are often where the most intense nutrition is, but skint fruits give you the same fibro-regulationistical effect.

Hard to imagine iceberg lettuce being of any value, but what do you know, internet pundits seem to consider it as high in fiber as other makes (very). Is it celery or cucumbers whose food value is so low it gets burned up in the act of eating it?

NeoconsNailed  posted on  2015-04-26   21:19:02 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#6. To: NeoconsNailed (#1) (Edited)

You could eliminate paper altogether with a bidet. I kind of have to go that route because of a prolapse. Hand cleaned with 20 seconds of sudsing, necessary before using catheter for bypassing enlarged prostate.

Then there's this problem:

Minnesota City Suing Makers Of ‘Flushable’ Wipes Clogging Sewer Systems © Kimberly-Clark US 01:05 27.04.2015(updated 06:05 27.04.2015) Get short URL 26240 The city of Wyoming, Minnesota, is suing six wet-wipe manufacturers, arguing that its products marketed as “flushable” are clogging plumbing systems and costing the city loads of money.

The city of Wyoming is pointing to costly damages they say are being caused by residents using the wipes.

“These flushable wipes do not degrade after flushing,” the lawsuit reads. “Rather, the flushable wipes remain intact long enough to pass through private wastewater drain pipes into the municipal sewer line, causing clogs and other issues for municipal and county sewer systems and wastewater treatment plants, resulting in thousands, if not millions, of dollars of damages.”

Wyoming, may be the first city to take class-action status on behalf cities facing sewer-system issues caused by the flushing of wet wipes.

Good Shot © Vine Throwing Out Trash, Ninja Style - Precision Perfect A post made on the Facebook account of Wadena, Minnesota, states “A wipe labeled flushable only means they will fit down the piping within your home.”

Cities argue that these wipes travel beyond private wastewater drain pipes and wind around pumps at lift stations causing wastewater to reach higher elevations. They also state that these wipes get caught in screens creating large clumps known as “Polar Bears.”

The lawsuit filed this week in federal court by Wyoming, Minnesota, urges companies including Kimberly-Clark to cease marketing products as “flushable,” and “sewer-safe.” It also seeks the creation of a fund to compensate cities for the costs of removing wipes from their sewer systems.

According to Bob Brand, Kimberly-Clark’s director of external communications, the company conducts "extensive testing” on products it calls “flushable” such as Kleenex Cottonelle FreshCare, which is labeled with the words “SafeFlush Technology” beside an image of a wipe going down a toilet.

Trade groups supporting the industry making wet wipes argue that the plumbing-related problem being faced by cities result from the flushing of wet wipes that are not marketed as flushable. These items include cheap baby wipes which are meant to be wrapped in disposable diapers and discarded in the trash.

Dave Rousse, president of the Association of Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, says the industry expresses empathy for issues that non flushable materials are causing for wastewater operators.

However, he maintains certain companies are not to blame.

“We take great exception to any effort to blame flushable wipes for the problems being caused by nonflushable wipes,” Rousse told the Star Tribune.

Read more: sputniknews.com/us/201504...415799.html#ixzz3YU0IFDmx

Tatarewicz  posted on  2015-04-27   0:35:40 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#7. To: NeoconsNailed (#5) (Edited)

Is it celery or cucumbers whose food value is so low it gets burned up in the act of eating it?

I've heard celery, but no one gets fat on a 100% fresh vegetables diet.

corruptissima re publica plurimae leges - Tacitus

Dakmar  posted on  2015-04-27   19:36:31 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


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