What is Normal 💩
Healthy poop can be as varied and as unique as the individuals who make it. But there are a few general rules to follow if you want to assess your poo artistry for optimum health.
Color
The poop emoji has one thing right — the brown coloring. Bilirubin, which is a pigment compound formed from the breakdown of red blood cells in the body, gets the credit for this oh-so-lovely shade of brown.
Shape
A somewhat loglike shape is how most poop should come out due to its formation within the intestines. However, as we’ll get to later, there are a variation of shapes that poop can have.
And when they differentiate from the log/sausage shape, that’s when your poop is trying to tell you something’s up.
Size
Poops shouldn’t come out in small pellets (something else we’ll get to later) but instead should be a couple inches in length, comfortable and easy to pass.
Consistency
Anywhere between a firm and soft consistency is pretty much normal. If it sways one way or another, it could suggest some digestion or fiber issues.
Length of time (how long it takes)
A commonly heard joke is that when someone takes too long in the bathroom, it must mean they’re pooping. A healthy poop, however, should be easy to pass and take only a minute to push out.
That said, some people do spend a bit more time on the toilet, so as a general rule, a poop should take no more than 10 to 15 minutes.
Type 1
Appearance: Hard and separate little lumps that look like nuts and are hard to pass
Indicates: These little pellets typically mean you’re constipated. It shouldn’t happen frequently.
Type 2
Appearance: Log-shaped but lumpy
Indicates: Here we have another sign of constipation that, again, shouldn’t happen frequently.
Type 3
Appearance: Log-shaped with some cracks on the surface
Indicates: This is the gold standard of poop, especially if it’s somewhat soft and easy to pass.
Type 4
Appearance: Smooth and snake-like
Indicates: Doctors also consider this a normal poop that should happen every one to three days.
Type 5
Appearance: These are small, like the first ones, but soft and easy to pass. The blobs also have clear cut edges.
Indicates: This type of poop means you are lacking fiber and should find ways to add some to your diet through cereal or vegetables.
Type 6
Appearance: Fluffy and mushy with ragged edges.
Indicates: This too-soft consistency could be a sign of mild diarrhea. Try drinking more water and fruit juice to help improve this.
Type 7
Appearance: Completely watery with no solid pieces.
Indicates: In other words, you’ve got the runs, or diarrhea. This means your stool moved through your bowels very quickly and didn’t form into a healthy poop.
Black
If you’ve had licorice, iron supplements, or bismuth medications (such as Pepto-Bismol), that could be the explanation behind black stool. If you haven’t had any of that, black poop could be a sign of bleeding in the upper gastrointestinal tract.
It may seem like red would be a more likely color for this sort of concern, but since it’s taken a while to travel down, it’s older and therefore darker.
Green
Like we mentioned, hints of green are actually quite normal. But when it’s pretty much turned from brown to full green, it means one of two things. Either you’ve added lots of green foods like spinach to your diet, or your stools passing through you too fast. When it doesn’t pick up as much of the brown-tinting bilirubin, it has more bile salts that turn it this color.
Pale, white, or clay-colored
If your poop is a chalky light shade, it probably means you’re lacking bile. Bile is a digestive fluid that comes from your liver and gallbladder, so if you’re producing white stool, it probably means your duct is blocked.
Pale poop could also be a side-effect of certain medications like anti-diarrhea medicine. Either way, if it continues, you should probably consult a doctor.
Red
You’re probably not surprised to hear that red poop can mean bleeding, either due to hemorrhoids or to bleeding in the lower intestinal tract. If your stool is red, though, there’s no need to immediately fret.
There are other less-serious reasons for the change in color. Foods like beets, cranberries, red gelatin, or tomato juice can turn poop red as well.
Yellow
Greasy, stinky, yellow stool is typically a sign of too much fat. This could also be a direct relation to a malabsorption disorder like celiac disease, where your body isn’t absorbing enough nutrients.
Color of 💩
Only rarely does stool color indicate a potentially serious intestinal condition. Stool color is generally influenced by what you eat as well as by the amount of bile — a yellow-green fluid that digests fats — in your stool.
What does it mean when your 💩 floats?
Every now and again, when you take a look in the toilet bowl, you’ll see poop bobbing like a toy sailboat in the bathtub. As alarming as this seems, all it means is that the stool is less dense than the others that sink.
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One potential reason for this lack of density can come from an increased amount of gas or water, as one study found.
It’s also possible that malabsorption is, once again, the reason for a floating turd. If this is the case, the other abnormalities previously mentioned, like slight constipation, would also be present.
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Hemorrhoids, also called piles, are swollen and inflamed veins in your anus and lower rectum, similar to varicose veins. Common in both men and women of all ages, about 75% of us will experience hemorrhoids at some point in our lives.
The most common symptom of internal hemorrhoids is blood on stool or toilet paper after a bowel movement. Hemorrhoids do not always cause pain, but once they are prolapsed (protruding from the rectum), they are often painful and uncomfortable.
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Imagine the plumbing in your bathroom backing up…. The waste has to go somewhere! The same is true for your colon 💩. Toxic waste needs to be released or it will recirculate into your body and eventually cause disease!
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I am a certified colon hydrotherapist. Using an FDA approved device and filtered water, a small tube is inserted rectally. A slow infusion of water fills the colon, softening stool and loosening parasites and gas. Once the pressure builds, a valve on the device is opened allowing the water and waste to flow through tubing and out through plumbing.