When it comes to bowel movements, there's a lot of misconception of what regularity means. And very little understanding about why good bowel movements matter.
Healthy bowel function usually means a daily bowel movement (at least 3 times weekly, or up to 3 times daily) with a complete evacuation of a full stool that is easy to pass. The most common time for a bowel movement is in the morning, around 30 minutes after breakfast.
Here is a helpful chart - what stool type are you? Bristol Stool Chart
SIGNS OF BOWEL DYSFUNCTION:
Painful or spasmodic bowel movements.
Blood (bright red or dark/black)
Mucus (slimy coating)
Pieces of food in your stool frequently
Feeling of an incomplete evacuation (needing to go back to the toilet to pass more)
Taking more than 1 minute of sitting on the toilet in order to pass the stool
Not being able to hold the stool long enough to get to the bathroom / take off clothing
Do you have any of the above? Let's work on solutions!
Sometimes bowel transit time is sped up (leading to looser, more frequent stools) or slowed down (leading to too harder to pass, less frequent stool). A feeling of incomplete evacuation suggests constipation, even if stool is loose or easy to pass. I can work with you investigate causes
and to improve the function of your migrating motor complex.
Stress has a major impact on bowel function - both speeding things up (anticipatory stress & diarrhea) and slowing things down (too busy to go, holding). Let's work on your stress resilience.
WHY BOWEL FUNCTION MATTERS:
Our bodies work to remove our daily toxic exposures and this detox happens primarily through bowel movements (which involves the entire digestive tract, liver and pancreas working to properly absorb nutrients and expel waste). Our skin is another emunctory that may show signs of our digestion not keeping up with it's toxic burden (ie. rashes or pimples).
Anyone interested in supporting their body's detox function must ensure they are having regular bowel movements, otherwise toxins that the liver processes may simply be reabsorbed.
Work on your bowel function at any age to improve your body's ability to absorb nutrients and detox waste.
Talk with me about how to safely support your bowel movements (ask me about fibre: which types and how/when to use it).
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