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How Long Poop Stays in Your Body May Impact Your Health, Study Finds

I did quite some experimenting with this.

Fruit moves fastest and green leaves. Meat, cheese, oil and fats slowest.

But we often eat combinations: and the slowest component of your food determines the speed of the whole.

Also: it's a one lane road and "over taking" is not possible.

So, eating a fast moving meal after a slow moving meal results in the fast mover getting stuck behind the slow mover.

Hence I start my day without and slow food (only fruit, herbs, green leaves, spices, ginger => usually a smoothy); and end the day with slow food (oily food, nuts, seeds, beans; usually combined with green leaves as we need a lot green leaves).

YMMV

4 hours agoflossly

There have been alternative (often mad) health proponents who have insisted upon only eating fruit in the morning for years - similar(ish) reasons. I think there is probably something to it.

4 hours agomrroryflint

I remember this being a thing in some Tony Robbins book!

4 hours agokonradb

Whole fruit also has a lower glycemic index due to the fiber. This slow release of sugar helps reduce insulin resistance and balance out hormone response in general.

Hormonal imbalance is severely underrated as a root cause of common mental health issues like anxiety, depression, etc.

Having fruit in the morning is a little boost without the guilt. Adding in some light exercise, like walking, also helps prime the day. It even gets easier to wake up early for all this the more regularly it's done. It's one big reinforcement cycle for healthy habits.

2 hours agosublinear

I mean the most obvious reason is fibers

3 hours agooulipo2

Isn't slow food going through your body during sleep something that'll impact your sleep quality?

When you wake up you are basically fasting so your body is ready to take a hit. Slow food will go through your body faster when you eat it in the first half of your day.

2 hours agogchamonlive

Interesting.

A great opportunity to add "YMMV"

4 hours agox______________

Your Movements May Vary?

3 hours agoBallas

YBMMV

2 hours agoanonu

Did it!

4 hours agoflossly

I don't disagree with your findings, but here's the model I use:

- Fiber: ^

- Dairy: v

- Coffee: ^^

- NSAIDs: vv

- Ice cream splurges: vvv

3 hours agoboring-human

My breakfast routine for ~40 years has been coffee, muesli, coffee, yoghurt, coffee, fresh fruit all served with plenty coffee.

3 hours agoarethuza

Eating bitter greens can cause the body to secrete more bile and that speeds up fat digestion.

3 hours agoCTDOCodebases

yeah my mileage is i eat fruit and i get cramps and the squirts for the next two days.

as I've gotten older my ability to consume fruit, onions, garlic and most dairy (and coffee :-( ) has been taken away from me. its really a miserable experience for someone that enjoys eating new and interesting things all the time.

36 minutes agosenectus1

Have you found that coffee speed things up?

3 hours agoandsoitis

I have, but I think any stimulant would do similar. I no longer smoke, but that did it too.

an hour agosublinear

n=1

But interesting nonetheless, thanks for sharing your findings.

4 hours agolordgrenville

I have a small following of people how also saw improvements doing this.

Then, I did not come up with this myself, but found a lot of anecdotals in this direction.

And... I comment on a real science piece that seems to be making similar claims.

4 hours agoflossly

Or just don't eat meat and cheese at all

2 hours agoalpineman

Better for the environment too.

an hour agomcv

The best thing for the environment is dying. You stop wasting resources and start fertilizing the soil.

an hour agoflyinglizard

Only a Sith deals in absolutes.

4 minutes agodanielbln

> It's a one lane road and "over taking" is not possible.

Best poop-related comment I've seen.

2 hours agovogelke

For me i drink close to a gallon of water a day and that truly cleans me out daily.

2 hours agopaul7986

Just to be clear I thought the typical advice has been fiber -> protein -> carbs, for blood sugar reasons, you're saying to frontload fiber/carbs & backload proteins for easier digestion? That is interesting, I wonder what studies there are on this.

3 hours agocalf

What do you mean, the human stomach is absolutely not a "one line road", your comments lacks the basic biological understanding. What you're describing is a good generic diet and maybe that's why it feels good but please learn a bit more about the stuff you are expetimenting on.

4 hours agoaltmanaltman

I did not mention stomach. I meant the GI-tract as a whole.

I've used food coloring and indigestibles (like corn kernels) to do experiments on whether meals can "overtake" or "merge" or "join" with other meals into poops.

4 hours agoflossly

that's the most insane thing i read today. kudos to your curiosity

3 hours agojahller

Adding debug prints to your diet.

an hour agoflyinglizard

Food coloring is a liquid dye. It will mix with whatever chyme it encounters in the stomach and small intestine, dyeing a large portion of the stool. It does not prove that food stayed in a single-file line.

Also, again the GI-tract as a whole is also not a "one-lane road".

Please educate yourself and do not do "experiments" on yourself. A good place to start learning more would be: https://accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/book.aspx?bookid=691 if you're intrested.

an hour agoaltmanaltman

I will add an anecdote that from observation, two people on the same diet over long periods can have significantly different poop frequencies, and differing regularity.

YMMV. It's not just determined by the food intakes, there are individual factors.

At a guess, these individual factors start with 1) genetic component to reactions to substances such as lactose and to caffeine. 2) Gut microbiome.

In other words, saying "change diet and you can change the poop schedule" is true, but "with this diet you will definitely get this schedule" is not.

3 hours agoSideburnsOfDoom

"Linked" not "caused". So it may be that someone with Parkinson's just happen to have slower rates.

an hour agodeepsun

Headline is megaclickbait. The research is about how healthier gut microbiomes correlate with improved pooping and nothing about how it impacts your health.

30 minutes agofny

This is why I suspect that GLP-1 agonist medications have the potential to cause a cascade of negative consequences for the health of some people. One of the mechanisms is slowed gastric emptying which leads to decreased motility of the small intestine as a side effect. They do tell people to drink more water to counteract this. It just seems like trading one set of problems for another so hopefully doctor and patient will carefully weigh the benefits versus the risks. We shall see.

an hour agodustractor

Consumption of dairy and products are a relatively fast and painful solution for personal system purges within 30m but entirely depends on how processed they are.

an hour agoiszomer

you may evaluate the concept of a milk enema, dramatic and rapid defecation ensues in comparison to a saline enema

an hour agoDaedalusII

I wonder if this explains in part the purported health benefits from cofee. One thing people claim makes hard to quit cofee habit it's that they can't take a shit in the morning anymore.

an hour agoQem

More fiber, more plants. I know individuals that eat "only vegetable on the burger" Oats, grits, or smoothie for early day Mine:Fruit smoothie with oats Starches, leafy greens, for midday Mine:roasted sweet potato on a salad Legumes and tree nuts for dinna Mine:Chickpea sauce over roasted veggies with pasta, or cashews.

The goal is more than 13 plants a day and your movement will be very consistent

2 hours agofibermaxxx
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an hour ago

I wonder how Ozempic affects this because it slows down gastric emptying.

an hour agophyzix5761

https://gut.bmj.com/content/72/1/180

The study. It basically says that this is something one perhaps should consider in clinical settings and that the speed of fecal matter might be a worthwhile direction for future inquiry.

"Altogether, a better understanding of the complex, bidirectional interactions between the gut microbiota and transit time is required to better understand gut microbiome variations in health and disease."

It does not say 'this is a sign of health and that is not'.

4 hours agocess11

I'm surprised there's no mention of hot drinks in the morning.

4 hours agojonatron

I wonder what this means for GLP 1 drugs that slow digestion.

4 hours agodevolving-dev

Actual outcome data shows that they're a net benefit, and it's not even close.

2 hours agoandreareina

And if I flip flop between both?

4 hours agohhh

stress-induced

nobody dumps during their first two days of boot camp

an hour agonacozarina

If the writer ingested a lot, very little came out.

4 hours agobeardyw

this post needs an enema

an hour agoGrp1

I find I can't keep it down for more than a few minutes. I guess I can eat all the poop I want and stay healthy then?

an hour agobregma

Sooo.... Another reason to drink coffee/yerba mate? Although the latter also supposedly stimulates release of GLP1, which slows down "the release"

2 hours agopawelduda

Eat lots of fibers and water, and you'll poop like a cow.

3 hours agofeverzsj

... Would that be good? I mean that soft flat pancake thing they produce. My general approach so far was to aim fora not too soft, not too hard kind of poop. Like a one that slides out of you with minimal wiping needed afterward. Like what would be the gold standard for poop consistency?

19 minutes agoiammjm

No shit

4 hours agosans_souse

In that case you really should go and see a doctor ASAP.