How does it work that we eat few times a day, but usually we poop only once?

Is the colon somehow programmed to buffer the waste until the time is up and then dumps it all further?

Got this thought when observing my dog who eats twice a day (morning and evening) and more or less poops twice a day (morning and evening).

  • MTK@lemmy.world
    14·
    1 day ago

    Science time!

    Fast for 24 hours then use an anal douche. This should completely clear your digestive track.

    Now eat for the next 24 hours while measuring everything you eat. Every time you poop make sure to measure it, either my measuring the poop directly (poop in a bowl?) Or by measuring the difference in weight after you poop (be sure to first pee as to not measure liquids)

    Now fast for another 24 hours while continuing to measure your poop. By the end of it you should have to total weight you eat and the total weight you pooped. For most foods you can probably reduce the weight by half to account for liquids (most will be pee, some will be in your poop, this will depend on the liquidness of your poop)

    Now you will probably notice a few things:

    1. you poop a lot less mass than you consume, this is because you turn a lot of it into energy.

    2. there is a lot of water in food

    3. you probably poop more than you think (one dump can be quite big in comparison to a meal when removing liquids)

    Enjoy!

  • jet@hackertalks.comEnglish
    1151·
    3 days ago

    I’m no poopologist, but I’ll give it a shot!

    Your output, is incredibly, incredibly, incredibly, dependent on your input.

    People who eat a strict carnivore diet, famously, have very little and infrequent poops.

    People who have a fiber-rich diet, and eat spicy food, think about curries, have frequent and powerful poops.

    People who eat a lot of fat, more fat than they can process, will have more fatty poops. In fact, this is one way to determine if you are eating enough fat in your diet, if your poop is dry and clumpy, you need more fat. If your poop is fatty, you need less fat

    All of this is also moderated by your gut biome, whether it’s changing or fed. If you make any serious diet changes, you can expect an odd pooping schedule for the first week or two. Until your gut biome completely adjusts. I’ve seen a paper where it indicates total gut biome adjustment to a radically new diet can take up to 9 months

    A lot of modern processed food, in order to try to be “healthier”, is difficult, or not impossible, for the body to process. That means it goes from the input to the output very quickly. Lower transit time, is healthier because you’re absorbing less of the nutrients when you’re eating a bad diet, but it means more poop

    On the whole: fat, and protein, are almost totally absorbed by the stomach. Grains, carbohydrates, fiber, anything from a plant, The domain of the intestine… And since these are not perfectly absorbed, they have more outputs.

    Fun fact, poop is brownish, because that is your old blood cells getting removed!!!

    • Joshi@aussie.zone
      35·
      3 days ago

      I have a medical degree and came here to say something much less comprehensive.

      Please accept your honorary degree in Poopology!

    • peoplebeproblems@midwest.socialEnglish
      9·
      3 days ago

      if your poop is dry and clumpy, you need more fat.

      Ok, I’m gonna need info on this. Because it does appear to check out, but I’ve always been told it’s lack of fiber and not enough fluid (which is impressive because I drink my 3-5 liters a day).

      Which also makes me wonder, what am I not eating that has fats in it?

      • jet@hackertalks.comEnglish
        9·
        3 days ago

        Typically super dry poops mean something is deficient in your diet, so your stomach / gut is really wrangling every last drop it can get from your food. Make sure your eating some highly bioavailable food like liver, eggs to ensure your getting all your micronutrients.

        Fiber can help, but its not necessary, its famous for reducing transit time, it doesn’t fix the first problem, but the poops will be more frequent. (natures broom as some would say)

        If your eating more fat then your gall bladder can provide bile for, the excess makes it into the intestines, resulting in lubricated poops. This is one possible scenario as well.

        If you have other gut issues, like ibs, chrones, lactose intolerance (which happens in lots of adults who don’t even realize it!!!), etc - just removing the irritant can fix the issue. Elimination diets are good ways to experiment with different foods (carnivore is the gold standard elimination diet - often used by people with severe / chronic gut issues)

        I’m not sure how drinking water would really help, assuming your not dehydrated… Perhaps the theory is the water can overwhelm the intestines ability to absorb? Maybe… depends on transit time, overall electrolyte balance, sweat, etc… if your pee is already clear and not yellow at all, you have enough water

        (Again not a poopologist - I swear it on my endoscope, not medical advice, just spit balling)

        • peoplebeproblems@midwest.socialEnglish
          2·
          3 days ago

          The dehydration is a consistent problem for me. But, I’m looking into this fats thing. I have IBS-C, and since I started taking Wegovy, it’s gotten much worse, but the fat in my diet has also decreased a ton.

          Which isn’t great because fat can fill you up more than what I used to eat. Unfortunately I can’t stand eggs and liver, it’s a texture thing i don’t really understand.

          One thing I know works very well is any cream pasta sauce. Which makes me think it’s time for experimenting.

          • jet@hackertalks.comEnglish
            2·
            2 days ago

            Wegovy is a massive complicating factor! It has a big impact on your outputs.

            Good luck on finding the right food for you!

    • prole@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      7·
      3 days ago

      I can confirm that gut biome is big… Back in my 20s, I seemingly wiped mine out halfway through a course of antibiotics, and it took years to get back to something somewhat normal.

      • nocturne@sopuli.xyz
        4·
        3 days ago

        I eat mostly meat, starches, and veggies and poop between three and five times a day!

        You sure eat veggies and poop a lot! How many times a day do you eat meats, and starches?

        • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          3·
          2 days ago

          Now that I think about it, I don’t eat a crazy amount of meat! Once a day, usually chicken or beef. Not every day though, especially if I’m hanging out with veggie or vegan friends.

          I eat rice, potato, or noodles multiple times a day! I love rice and pasta soooo much.

          The thing I eat the most is cheese, for sure. I eat tons of cheese every day. But I’ve heard that makes someone poop less? My body is strange hahaha. I drink a lot of beer, so maybe that’s part of it?

  • rekabis@lemmy.ca
    211·
    2 days ago

    The rectum is considerably larger than your mouth, and can hold a lot more shit.

  • Dasus@lemmy.world
    37·
    3 days ago

    I don’t usually eat more than once or maybe twice a day but often still take more than one shit.

    Everyone’s bowels are bitty different.

    • Routhinator@startrek.websiteEnglish
      7·
      2 days ago

      Unless you are celiac, its likely FODMAPs your body hates. There is a correllation between the amount of gluten and FODMAPs in food that makes watching gluten get part of the picture, but you’re missing the whole picture and thus likely not completely regular yet. FODMAPs are in most things. Onions are concentrated FODMAPs and so is tomato sauce.

      My doc gave me this initially https://www.ibsdiets.org/fodmap-diet/fodmap-diet-chart/ but there are others you should cross reference for more food item coverage.

      I have to admit. Onions, garlic and mushrooms were haaaaard to remove. Ive turned to Miso and a lot of japanese and thai food with the onions removed from any recipes to get this right.

      But now I’m down from 5 poops to 1 poop a day.

      • Paige@lemmy.ca
        2·
        1 day ago

        I’m about to try this diet to get to the bottom of it, but I think onions/garlic seem to be a problem. It’s not that bad a condition, but I’d like to at least be able to know when I’m signing up for indigestion.

      • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
        3·
        2 days ago

        Additionally “FODMAP” is a huge umbrella.

        Most people don’t have issues with every type in that umbrella. A full FODMAP diet is usually too restrictive for people to get the most out of their diet, and isn’t recommended for most. Ideally you go full FODMAP for a month, then start reintroducing foods until you know which kinds bother you.

        Sometimes it can be as simple as eliminating sugar alcohols for the lucky.

        • Routhinator@startrek.websiteEnglish
          1·
          2 days ago

          Yep. I found I could handle the little bit of blackened onion required for making Pho broth, but a traditional french mire poix 50/25/25 mix of onion/celery/carrot is far too much and we needed to get creative with green onion and leek in place of white onion and celery. Generally we use asian broths and soups more now. I cannot have my favoured sauteed mushrooms anymore but some mushroom based umami bomb in a soup or on a piece of meat is ok in small doses, and I can handle some tomato sauce once or twice a month, but not with onion in it, and no more pizza.

      • Omega_Jimes@lemmy.ca
        2·
        2 days ago

        I admire your abilities. I still have to learn how to cook without garlic or onion. I keep saying ‘this is the last one’ but now I’m feeling like one of those smokers who can’t quit.

        • Routhinator@startrek.websiteEnglish
          2·
          2 days ago

          As @Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works brought up in his comment, the FODMAP umbrella is huge and everyone is a bit different. Its a process of removing them all and then adding things back slowly and carefully, trying them multiple times to see and test your tolerances. Also, white onion and the white parts of green onions and leeks are bad, but the green parts are ok and much lower in fodmap, so you can get onion flavour other ways. Green pepper is another one that can be combined to give this flavour with a lower fodmap footprint.

          • Omega_Jimes@lemmy.ca
            3·
            2 days ago

            At one point I laid out the plan to isolate my trigger foods, but I’ve never been in a stable enough place that I can be picky eating. Working roasting shifts, moving around etc, makes it a pain to take care of my diet. I’m closer now to stability, but I’m going to university 30-40 hours a week and working 35-45 hours on top of that. Eating is more of a calorie thing than a thing i plan to do.

  • De_Narm@lemmy.world
    66·
    3 days ago

    Everything from 3 times a day to once every 3 days is normal. It depends on how much you eat, how much of it your body can absorb, your fiber intake and some genetic variance too.

    Your intestines aren’t a conveyor belt, things don’t constantly move. There are multiple muscles acting as a valve between different sections. Based on the factors above your body decides when to push stuff to the next section including the exit.

  • schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de
    39·
    3 days ago

    Who is “we”? Speak for yourself, I usually poop after most meals; if I’ve eaten a lot or very spicy or fatty things, I might even poop more than once for the same meal.

  • gigachad@sh.itjust.works
    26·
    3 days ago

    Maybe you poop only once. Everything between three times a day and every three days is in the normal range. If you find yourself within this range, congratulations, you are a boring pooper.