Posted on 07/08/2025 6:06:15 PM PDT by BenLurkin
A study published in July 2024 investigated how often 1,425 people went number two, and compared those stats to their demographic, genetic, and health data.
Pooping too often or too rarely were both associated with different underlying health issues, while the healthiest participants reported pooping once or twice a day – a 'Goldilocks zone' of bowel movement frequency.
The study, led by a team from the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB), investigated the bathroom habits of people who were "generally healthy" – that is, with no history of kidney or gut issues like kidney disease, irritable bowel syndrome, or Crohn's disease.
These participants self-reported how often they dropped the kids off at the pool, and the researchers organized them into four categories: constipation for those reporting one or two bowel movements per week; low-normal for three to six movements per week; high-normal for one to three movements per day; and diarrhea for four or more watery stools per day.
The researchers also analyzed patients' blood metabolites and chemistry, their genetics, and the gut microbes present in their stool samples. The team then looked for possible associations between bowel movement frequency and these health markers, as well as other factors like their age and sex.
In general, those who reported less frequent bowel movements tended to be women, younger, and with a lower body mass index (BMI). But even accounting for these factors, people with constipation or diarrhea showed clear links to underlying health issues.
Bacteria usually found in the upper gastrointestinal tract were more common in stool samples from participants with diarrhea. Their blood samples, meanwhile, showed biomarkers associated with liver damage.
Stool samples from people with less frequent bowel movements had higher levels of bacteria associated with protein fermentation. This is a known hazard from constipation.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencealert.com ...
By examining my careful records of fifty years of bowel movements with information on size, consistency and time of day cross referenced with my food intake over the previous 24 hours my doctor was able to diagnose my OCD.
LOL...makes me damned irritable.
The more I eat the more I poop
So there’s a problem with the frequency that “The Browns got to the Super Bowl ”
Best euphemism i have never heard before!!!
If done properly in the morning, a second is not needed.
While this may important information for some, it’s a little TMI for sharing toileting habits with internet FRiends. JMHO.
LOL!
“my doctor was able to diagnose my OCD”
LOL! Good one.
What do an astronomer, and a proctologist have in common?
I am waiting for my wife to get off the phone to tell her that one.
About the only time I have had that problem is when I worked too hard and did not drink enough. I set the alarm on my watch and call for a water break every ninety minutes when we are working outside.
Drink plenty of water to keep the flush moving.
What goes in needs to come out be liquid or solid.
I imagine the worst job in the world is processing Colo-guard samples.
I sent mine in a couple weeks ago. I didn’t song the cutesy jingle while I was taking the box to UPS.
They spend their days studying black holes?
There once was a doctor named Hannibal,
Who won worldwide fame as a cannibal
By eating his mother
His father and brother,
And his two sisters, Gertrude and Annabel.
I wonder if he had digestive problems.
“Family? No. They all passed.”
Thank you Sheldon
you win the thread
They both make their living looking at Uranus.
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