Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Aleksandr Zubkov/Peter Dazeley
Topics: Health
Mia Williams
A doctor has now revealed how often you should be going for a number two to be considered healthy.
Bowel habits are something we tend to keep on the down-low, either out of embarrassment or awkwardness. But the truth of the matter is - we all do it, well… hopefully.
Some people go after every meal, while others may find themselves only going a couple of times a week.
Those who feel the need to poop after every meal shouldn’t worry, it’s called a gastrocolic reflex, and it’s a normal process.
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Gastroenterologists claim that as long as the poop is ‘smooth and snake-like’, it should be healthy.
There might be a problem, however, when certain foods urge you to race to the bathroom instantly after consuming them. This could indicate Irritable Bowel Syndrome, otherwise known as IBS.
Other factors could be anxiety, celiac disease, and certain food allergies, which could be playing a part in causing an overactive gastrocolic reflex.
This reflex usually occurs within 15 minutes of eating, causing the stomach to expand and allowing nutrients to absorb.
When food enters the stomach, it triggers the release of hormones called cholecystokinin (CCK) and motilin, which are both produced in the small intestine.
CCK activates the release of digestive enzymes from the pancreas, which helps to digest your fats, proteins, and carbs.
Following this, it prompts the gallbladder to contract, and release bile into the small intestine. This slows down the emptying of the stomach.
The key takeaway is that everyone’s digestive system moves at its own rate, thus meaning that bowel movement frequency varies from person-to-person.
It can typically take between 10 and 72 hours for food to cause a bowel movement.
Another reason people may go to the toilet more frequently than others is due to how much fibre and coffee they consume. These have a laxative effect and can make you poop more often.
Doctors say that healthy bowel movement frequency can range anywhere between three times a day to three times a week.
But this also depends on the quality of the stool that is passed.
Speaking to Yahoo, Dr Christine Lee, a gastroenterologist at Cleveland Clinic, said: “If the quality of the bowel movement is not great, then some people will need to go two to three times back to back in a matter of one to two hours.
“Despite going to the restroom multiple times, this would still ‘only equal one good-quality bowel movement’.”