TED-Ed C1: Why you shouldn't worry about pooping once a day

How often do you poop?

You might have heard you should have a bowel movement once a day.

But the truth is that if you poop anywhere from three times a day to three times a week,

you're completely and totally normal.

Hey there, it's Dr. Jen Gunter.

As an ob-gyn and pain-medicine doctor,

I end up talking to my patients about poop more than you might think.

Overall, I hear a lot of anxiety about it.

Some people worry about not having a bowel movement once a day,

even though it's a phony metric.

Other people struggle with constipation.

Often, they don't get the treatment that they need,

and they can even turn to dangerous solutions,

such as colon cleanses.

But for all the poop talk, there's one word I don't hear enough - fiber.

Let me take you through the journey from food to poop.

Digestion actually starts in the mouth.

Chewing breaks the food down into smaller particles.

As you eat, your food mixes with saliva,

which moistens the food, and has enzymes that start to break down those starches and fats.

Contractions in your esophagus push the food to your stomach,

where acid and gastric juices and enzymes further break the food down.

The food then travels to the small intestine,

where fats, proteins, carbohydrates and micronutrients

are further broken down, with help from the pancreas, gallbladder, liver and the microbiome,

so they can be absorbed across the small intestine and sent to the liver for processing.

What's left moves to the large intestine or the colon,

which has three main jobs:

absorbing water and electrolytes,

producing and absorbing vitamins

and forming and squeezing the material, now called stool, towards the rectum.

When the rectum is full, it sends a signal to the brain,

and the brain takes into account whether it's a socially acceptable time to poop,

and if it is, it sends a signal to the anal sphincter muscles to relax.

And boom, you know what happens next.

This process involves more than 10 organs

and typically takes anywhere from 24 to 120 hours in healthy people.

So it's helpful to think of poop as exactly what it is -

all the stuff that doesn't get digested in this process.

It is water, bacteria, dead cells and mucus,

all glommed together with fiber.

Fiber is amazing.

It affects the digestive tract from top to bottom.

It is very simply a carbohydrate the body can't absorb.

While other carbs are broken down into sugars,

fiber passes by, sort of moseying along, doing all kinds of cool things.

High-fiber foods physically take longer to eat,

so they help us pace our meals.

The bulk also slows down digestion,

especially in the stomach, and makes you feel full longer.

Fiber also draws water into the stool, keeping it soft.

Scratchy, hard stool is, to put it mildly, unpleasant.

It also increases bacterial mass.

The water and bacteria together increase the bulk of the stool,

which helps it move along.

Fiber also slows absorption of sugars into the bloodstream

and reduces absorption of fats and cholesterols.

And as fiber collects in your colon, it feeds all your good gut bacteria,

helping you maintain a healthy microbiome.

Fiber is associated with the reduced risk of diabetes, heart disease,

several gastrointestinal conditions and even certain cancers.

And yet, most of us aren't getting enough of it.

For example, in the US,

the vast majority of adults aren't eating the recommended 28 grams of fiber per day.

In fact, the average American just gets 15 grams of fiber a day.

So how exactly do you get more fiber?

The generic answer is to eat more whole grains, fruits, vegetables and legumes.

But I want you to consider some more specific fiber-rich foods that I personally love:

pears, raspberries and blackberries, avocados and artichokes,

high-fiber cereals, whole grains - my favorite is farro - lentils,

kidney beans and chickpeas.

Almonds, pistachios and sunflower seeds are other options.

When in doubt, reach for those.

And happy pooping.