Pooping habits can be different for each person, but there are certain facts you must know about pooping. If you are worried about your poop or pooping habits, here are a few facts you must learn so that you don’t worry for the wrong reasons.
1. It’s Not Necessary To Go Only Once A Day
It is completely fine if you are pooping twice or thrice a day. On an average, people go to the toilet once or twice a day, but many people go even thrice a day. If you are feeling fine and there is no trouble while pooping, you don’t need to worry about the number of times you go pooping. However, if you are suffering from an upset stomach and this is the reason you are rushing to the toilet, then you must take necessary precautions.
2. Pooping Regularly Is Normal
If you go to the toilet daily at a specific hour of the day, it just means that you have a healthy digestive system. However, if you don’t, you still need not worry about it. You can poop at any time of the day. Although it is common to visit the porcelain throne every morning, it is perfectly alright if you go in the afternoon, evening, or even late at night.
3. Pooping After Meals Isn’t Always Troublesome
Do not worry if you feel like going to the toilet every time you eat. Pooping after meals is a reflex common in babies, and in some people, this reflex action never goes away. It is perfectly normal to rush to the bathroom after a meal as the stool you pass after a meal is not from the food you had just eaten but from a meal you had taken before. However, if your poop texture and smell isn’t normal, it might mean that you are not absorbing fats well and you must check with a gastroenterologist.
4. Coffee Stimulates Your Bowels
Caffeine present in coffee helps in stimulating your bowel movements. It contracts your gut which helps in pushing the stool towards the rectum. So, it is common to have your morning cup of coffee and then, rush to the toilet.
5. Periods Can Make You Poop More
While you are on your monthly cycle, you experience cramps and bloating. If you have noticed, you might be even pooping more. It has been found that periods and more poop has a lot to do with your hormones. This is because, when women menstruate, the hormones called prostaglandins trigger the uterus to contract. This can sometimes get into your bowels and lead them to contract as well. These contracting bowels make you visit the porcelain throne more than you do during the rest of the month.
6. Vacation Constipation Is Normal
Many of us tend to worry about not pooping when we are on a vacation: this is perfectly normal. It has been found that many people experience a condition called vacation constipation. This is because your colon dries out due to various reasons such as dehydration, sitting on the plane for a few hours and experiencing change in the atmospheric pressure, eating tons of fatty foods or fried foods, or just adjusting to a different time zone, to name a few.
7. Take Your Sweet Time
While some of us like to take our newspaper to the toilet, some of us are quite fast in pooping. This is completely alright as anything between 5 to 20 minutes taken to poop is considered normal. This is because the colon knows when it gets empty. However, if you are taking a lot of time and are still not able to poop well, you might be constipated. In such a case, you might need to visit a gastroenterologist.
With all these facts right, you will surely let many poop worries go.
