What Your Poop Might Be Saying About Your Health

Have you ever wondered how they lived without toilet paper back in the days of old? The thought of using a leaf on some consistencies of poo just seems incomprehensible and down right messy. If you're a visual person I'm sure this is leaving you with an image of disgust but, the truth is that poop can tell you a lot about your health. Back in the days of old when people munched on crunchy vegetables and fruit and nuts and berries, their stool was more than likely non-messy and shot out clean as a bean. There would be very little residual left to wipe up. But in our day and age with all the processed, fatty, greasy, chemical added foods our poops come out resembling just that, drippy and greasy and leaving a mess to clean up. So, here are a few things that will tell you about yourself regarding what your outtake in the toilet is.

Although the majority of your poop is water, about 75%, the rest is 'other stuff' such as dead stuff ...dead bacteria along with live bacteria, undigested food pieces, fiber, mucous, proteins and salts and other material waste that is being eliminated from your body.

Healthy Poop Explained: Oprah has begun to have Dr. Mehmet Oz, a Turkish-American thoracic surgeon and author, appear on her show fairly regularly. During one episode Dr. Oz made a comment regarding poop. He explained that a healthy person should be producing poop that is more or less "shaped like an S, you don't want pieces." He has also stated that "At the end of the day you can analyze your body really effectively by looking at what comes out of your body." Dr. Michael Levitt, Author of the book called "The Bowel Book" states that healthy human stool resembles the shape and consistency of an unripe banana. (Although not the same color of course.) Healthy poop will be a golden brown color, almost odorless and close to 18 inches in length.

A very healthy individual will also poop out what they eat on a regular basis and ideally 3x a day, however, most healthy people will only poo once per day.

So, what exactly does the consistency, smell and color of your poo say about you? Let's take a peek!

First of all poop will smell worse if you eat foods or drink liquids that are processed with chemicals, artificial coloring and other non natural material. By eating natural foods you may reduce the odor a great deal. Also, according to the PooNurse, poop of meat eaters usually smells worse than that of vegans. Poonurse is an RN with 25 years experience in labor and delivery. Her qualifications include seeing a lot of poop, and owning a computer. PooNurse also states: Incidentally, I change about 10,000 diapers a day at work. The baby's first poop is called meconium. While tarry, black, sticky and yucky to look at, it does NOT STINK.

What about the color of poop, what does that tell us?

Red, very dark red or black: this may be an indicator that you ate a bunch of stuff with red color to it such as watermelon, cherries, licorice, beets. If your poo is black and tarry it may be due to taking iron pills or Pepto Bismol But if your stool remains black, you may have bleeding in your upper gastrointestinal tract or a bleeding ulcer. Bloody streaks on the outside of your stool may come from hemorrhoids or if you are constipated and straining to much red blood may appear.

-White or pale - If your poop is light grayish or white and also crumbly, this can mean you are not getting enough water into your diet. It may also indicate that you consume antacids or calcium supplements. If you have had a barium sulfate milkshake for an X-ray you may have white poop. You could also have simply consumed a very large amount of pale foods such as rice. A white or pale stool may also be an indication of problems with the gallbladder or liver. Pale stool may also be shiny or greasy, float, and really stink. This may be due to undigested fat in the stool

-Yellow poop may mean your food is passing through your digestive tract way to fast and may be seen in people with GERD. (Gastro esophageal reflux disease). Insufficient bile output. Bile salts from the liver gives stool its brownish color. When bile output is diminished, it often first appears as yellow stool. It can be indicative of something more serious such as a contagious disease called Giardia.

-Green - You may drop out green poop if you eat a diet heavy with leafy green vegetables, consume too much food that contains coloring such as in ice cream, cake frosting, jelly beans, M&Ms and the like. Green poop can also be caused by excess iron in the diet, or even from diet supplements or natural supplements that are very rich green such as barley, or spirulina. Regarding foods rich in iron, if you body doesn't absorb it all, the iron will literally stain your poo green. You can also have slimy green poop when you have a stomach virus and mucus gets all mixed in with your poo.

Babies can have light green poop if they have excessive sugar in their diets. Even infants can have this is their caretaker gives them karo syrup or sugar water.

What about poop consistency?

- Pellet poop- Typically this will indicate that you are somewhat constipated. Your poop remains too long in your intestine and then falls into bits of hard pellet like pieces. You really should increase your water intake and fiber and fruit!

- Very Loose Stools - You may have loose stools if you are in the process of losing weight. Caffeine can also cause loose stools. As a matter of fact, many things can cause loose stools! Too much Vitamin C, magnesium, sickness, and a degree of bad food, antibiotics, chemotherapy, and the list can go on. Milk may prolong it and if you have it all the time to where it is concerning, you should have your doctor check you out to rule out Irritable bowel syndrome.

This article is not to replace a doctor's diagnosis as to why your poop may be a certain way. If you have a dramatic change in your stool that is consistent, see your doctor! While this article does portray accuracy in some brief explanations as to why your poo may be yellow or pellet like, it may not be your diagnosis as there are also diseases that can cause stools to be funky. If you're uneasy about it, see a doctor!