175. The Scoop On Poop: What Your Poop Reveals About Your Health

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Welcome to the elemental.

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I've been podcast.

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This is your host, Evan Roberts.

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And on this show, I break down

health topics from a simplified in

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holistic perspective, to give you

all some tools that you can take

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away from each episode and actually

start applying them to your life.

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And on today's episode, we're going

to get down and dirty with it.

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We're going to be talking with literally

poop, how poop looks, what it means,

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depending on how your poop looks as well.

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And, uh, whether you are constipated or.

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Maybe the exact opposite of that,

or, , what can help to get you

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into the right balanced state

that you might be looking for.

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And very quickly, before we hop

into today's episode, I wanted

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to mention that I have listened

to all of your guys's answers.

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, I posted on social media asking

questions on what were some of the

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topics, as well as formats of these

episodes that you all enjoyed.

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And I'm going to be trying

out a few new things here.

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So for my solo episodes,

they are going to be.

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A little bit shorter.

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I'm going to try to keep them

a little bit more condensed.

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So it's going to be packed with

information, but in a shorter

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amount of time so that we're

not eating up a ton of the day.

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Getting these episodes.

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Uh, into your ears.

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And then on the guest interview episodes,

we're going to keep those nice and long.

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, making sure we're getting down into

the nitty gritty with our guests

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and making sure we are providing

tons of information on those.

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So without further ado, let's go

ahead and jump into today's episode.

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So once again, all about poop.

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Um, honestly with me, this is a

common topic that I have spoken

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about and dealt with for a very.

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Large portion of my life.

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Uh, specifically because I dealt

with a lot of gastrointestinal issues

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growing up as a kid, I had a lot of,

I mean, what was labeled as IBS or

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irritable bowel syndrome, as well

as a lactose intolerance, which.

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More or less was correct, but, I also

had a tapeworm for who knows how long.

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So anyways, dealt with a ton

of gastrointestinal issues.

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And even to this day, as I am

a full grown adult now, Uh, my

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digestion is so, so much better.

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However, there is still room for

improvement and , one of the big

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things that I've gotten away from

was the stomach cramps and the

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pain that I used to deal with.

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And now, uh, I no longer really deal with

that, but rather now I'm just working on

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getting my stool, my bowel movements to

look perfect as they, as they should look.

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And, uh, that's what we're

going to get into today.

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So first off, I just wanted to

mention that your body is literally

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always communicating to you.

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In one way or another.

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You know, when we get skin rashes, it's

usually a sign that we're consuming

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something that's not good for us.

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That isn't reacting well with our body.

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Uh, when we are getting stomach pain

probably means that we're eating

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something that we shouldn't be eating.

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Uh, when we have a pain in our

knee, it might mean that we need

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adjustments in our body, right?

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So our body is always speaking

to us in one way or another.

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And one of those ways in

which it is communicating is

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the consistency of our stool.

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So I'm going to break down.

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There are, I believe it's seven

different classifications for stool.

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You can look these up online.

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Maybe I'll try to post

one in the description.

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Where it's a chart and it literally

shows you the different kinds of stool.

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At you can produce and, uh, yeah,

starting off, we are going to go.

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Essentially from very

extremely constipated to.

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Not constipated at all, rather,

uh, diarrhea on the other end.

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And so it starts off with

separate hard clumps.

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So basically like balls essentially

of just hard poop and so little,

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little pieces of them, uh, likely

you're not feeling fully relieved

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every time you're using the restroom.

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And so this would be very constipated.

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This would be on the

far end of constipation.

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You're probably only

using the restroom every.

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Couple of days, maybe, um,

three, four days even I could

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definitely be that extreme.

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And when you do go, it doesn't

feel like you are fully relieved.

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So that is the far end of constipated.

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Now moving our way into the

center, into where we want to be.

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Um, you're going to go from separate,

hard, low, uh, hard clumps to lumpy and

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sausage, like, so it's technically a

sausage form, but rather quite lumpy.

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It might even be a bit dry or

like with cracks all over it.

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And this is going to be still constipated,

like, but rather, maybe slightly

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constipated, not fully constipated.

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You might feel a little bit more

relieved when you do use the restroom.

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Maybe not fully relieved, uh, but

definitely a little bit better

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than the small, hard clumps.

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So this is going to be

slightly constipated.

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Then we're going to move into a normal

sausage shape with cracks in it.

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So now we have the, you know, typical

form of what we think poop comes in,

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which is the sausage shape, but this

is going to have some cracks in it.

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Uh, this is going to be normal.

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Uh, maybe a little bit towards the

constipated side, but still rather normal.

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And typically you would feel

rather relieved every time

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you do re use the restroom.

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If your stool is looking like this, and

then we're going to move into the very

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sweet spot, which is an absolute, smooth

sausage shape and with no cracks on it,

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just smooth and sausage, like, and that

is going to be right in the sweet spot.

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That is.

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Quote unquote, basically normal.

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Now of course everyone's

body is different.

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So how your stool looks can vary

depending on obviously what you're

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consuming and, um, you know,

just your body type essentially.

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But this is kind of the ideal form that

we're looking to achieve every time.

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So the normal is that

smooth sausage shape.

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Now we're going to move into the other

side of this, which is a loose stool.

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So not constipated at all, but rather,

um, the opposite you're going probably

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quite frequently and it is quite runny.

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So.

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Now we move into soft

blobs with clear cut edges.

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Uh, I would just say we're

putting everything in a bubble

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here, but rather this is saying

that you need more fiber now.

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Of course.

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Everyone's body is different.

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So this is just a broad

statement, but typically this

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means that you're lacking fiber.

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If you have these soft blobs

with clear cut edges on them.

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And then moving on even further, we have

mushy consistency with ragged edges.

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So there is still some shape to.

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Uh, your stool, but it is very mushy.

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And, uh, this would typically mean that

you do have some inflammation in your gut.

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Uh, as a, you know, as

opposed to just eating fiber.

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Uh, to stiffen up your stool.

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So this would be now

moving into inflammation.

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And then if we go one step further, you

have liquid consistency, no solid edges.

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It's essentially just diarrhea.

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And that is going to be as well.

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A high state of inflammation,

probably a form of leaky gut as well.

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Uh, there's many, many things that

could be the cause here and the kind of

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like what you're actually experiencing.

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So we're going to give some

broad statements here, though.

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To kind of help you get your stool,

looking like the nice, smooth sausage

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shape that we want to kind of shoot for.

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So if you were a person who deals with

a lot of constipation, honestly, there

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are so many different things that

could be causing your constipation.

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That we're just not going to have

enough time in today's episode.

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And it could really just vary

depending on your lifestyle.

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But some of the kind of overarching

like themes or, uh, typical issues

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that people have here is usually

dehydration is like one of the

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first ones that people go towards.

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If you're not consuming enough water.

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Uh, your stool can become very dry

and you can become very constipated.

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It could be hard to,

uh, to use the restroom.

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So hydrating staying hydrated is

a great way to ensure that you're

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getting enough liquid and fluid into

your body to avoid that constipation.

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So that would be the first place

to start is with some water.

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Uh, you can also increase your fiber

if you do not have a high fiber diet.

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And a lot of people think that

this is kind of counterintuitive.

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Uh, but there are some people who

actually find that they do not have

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enough fiber in their diet and by

actually consuming fiber connect,

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actually help with their constipation.

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So that is also something to try.

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Of course not a medical doctor here.

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So this is all trial and error.

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Um, I don't see a ton of downside

in trying to increase your fiber,

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honestly, as a whole society, we

typically don't get enough fiber.

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Um, so probably a good place

to start is with some water,

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maybe including some fiber.

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And if you are severely constipated,

um, I don't know if doctors

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wouldn't necessarily recommend

this, but one thing that you can do.

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Is, you can consume a magnesium

and you can consume magnesium

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in just normal amounts.

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But honestly, if you did just a little

more magnesium than you might've wanted.

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Um, It can cause you to have

diarrhea because it does pull

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that water into the intestines.

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Uh, that's not something

you want to rely on.

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It's not something you want to do all the

time, but if you are severely constipated

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and you just have not gone in a long

time, Um, maybe you take some magnesium.

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Maybe you go a little bit heavy on the

magnesium, not too much, but a little

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bit extra, or just simply take some

magnesium and that will help you to

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stay regular, uh, hopefully as well.

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And it'll, you know, by pulling

in liquid into the bowels, um, and

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helping to move everything along.

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So.

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If you're on the constipated side,

those would kind of be my three

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things up your magnesium intake, stay

hydrated and maybe try some fiber.

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Now, if you're in the sweet spot,

keep doing what you're doing for

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the most part, unless you have

just a really terrible diet.

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Um, you might want to switch that up

and you might just be blessed with

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some great digestion, which is awesome.

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Um, but of course we want to shoot

for having a pretty healthy diet here.

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And then if you're going on to the other

spectrum, which for full disclosure

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is kind of where I am and where I was,

uh, I've obviously gotten a lot better,

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but is the lack of fiber or form.

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Uh, to my, to my stool.

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So for me personally, I have absolutely

found that increasing my fiber intake

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has greatly increased my, um, ability

to have normal stool bowel movements.

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Now I go at least once a day,

typically, um, That's a very common

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thing for me, maybe even twice a day.

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Now I was reading online that they said

you can they say going anywhere from, uh,

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at least once a day to anywhere at around

three times a week is considered normal.

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I think three times a week is

constipated person personally.

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Uh, that's very little for an entire week.

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I think the sweet spot is probably

somewhere around once a day.

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Um, I personally wouldn't want

to have my stool sitting in side

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me for multiple days at a time.

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Uh, you typically want to be

somewhat regular every day, at least.

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So that you're moving things along

and having a solid digestion as well.

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Um, with constipation

for women specifically.

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Uh, this can also be a.

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Cause for, uh, higher levels

of estrogen because estrogen is

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being, uh, re there's a re uptake.

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I believe that takes place

when, uh, women are constipated.

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So high estrogen levels can occur.

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Uh, from being constipated.

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So that's also something to watch out for.

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But for people who getting back to the

loose stool, who need to, uh, solidify

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up their stool more than it already is.

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Then yeah, definitely increasing the

fiber is going to be very key here.

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And this can be hard obviously

because we live in a world where

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it's kind of harder to get fiber.

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It's very easy to.

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Have meals that honestly are very

delicious, but lack a lot of fiber.

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So trying to get more

fiber is very important.

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, this is typically going to take

place in, things like vegetables.

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So increasing your vegetable intake is

one great way of increasing your fiber.

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Uh, I know that people also take

things like psyllium husk, for example,

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that's going to have a lot of fiber

and it's going to help you to, uh,

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go to the restroom as well, possibly.

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So that's definitely something

you can do is finding a high fiber

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supplement, or honestly, in my opinion,

the best way to do it is just eat

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foods that have higher fiber in them.

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That's going to be a great way of

kind of solidifying your stool.

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And also it's going to be typically a

healthier diet because it means you're

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including more vegetables in your diet.

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And then another thing that I've

actually found quite a bit of benefit

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with is, well, there's two things.

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One of them is a pre pro and

post biotic, or even just at

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least a pre and a probiotic.

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Um, A lot of people only

know about probiotics.

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There are three different kinds.

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It's a preapproval and a post

biotic not going to get super

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into it, but nonetheless.

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I like taking a pre approa

and a post biotic all in one.

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I take the one from ritual.

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I really enjoy.

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Uh, the way it makes me feel and it

has helped with my digestion, but

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then the other thing that really

helps with my digestion as well.

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Is, uh, a digestive enzyme.

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And so I typically use the digestive

enzymes from, uh, bio BiOptimizers,

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I believe is how you say their name.

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Uh, BI and then optimizers.

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So anyways, I really like, uh, the, the

digestive enzymes from there as well.

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They seem to really help to.

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You know, solidify my stool and

really just make me very normal.

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Uh, they, they slow down

my frequency as well.

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So it's really been a pretty big game

changer by including the pre-pro and

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post biotic with the digestive enzymes.

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I don't take the digestive

enzymes every single day.

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I kind of alternate the

days in which I take them.

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Uh, but yeah.

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And then aside from that is really

just including more fiber in your diet.

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If you include more fiber in

your diet and I mean, really

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include more fiber, like eat.

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A good amount of vegetables.

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In your diet.

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Uh, especially ones that are higher

in fiber that will or should make a

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pretty big difference in your digestion.

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Now, the other part of that is

if you have loose stool, you

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probably also have a leaky gut.

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And so that's going to be

something that you're also going

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to want to look into fixing.

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Um, once again, don't have the

time for it to on this episode

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right now, but definitely check out

leaky gut and ways of healing that.

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And that should definitely help out

with, uh, getting you to be more

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normal in terms of your stool and

bowel movements and your frequency.

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So anyways, that is

going to do it for today.

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I hope this was beneficial and I hope

now you have a better understanding of

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what your poop is trying to tell you.

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And.

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Next time you, uh, go ahead

and take a look at it.

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You can now have a better understanding

of if you are, you know, feeling very

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constipated and you need more of that

water, maybe some fiber or magnesium,

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or if you need to include more fiber in

your diet, as well as maybe a digestive

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enzyme and a pre-pro and post biotic.

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Okay, that is going to do

it for today's episode.

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I hope you enjoyed it.

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And I hope you found some benefit in it.

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And hopefully these shorter episodes are

going to be very beneficial for everyone

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and quick and easy listens for everyone.

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I love chatting it up with

y'all every single time.

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I hope you guys found this

beneficial and looking forward to

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seeing y'all on the next episode.

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I will be coming in with

some more short episodes.

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And I also have a few guest

episodes come coming up very

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soon, super excited for those.

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So anyways, I hope you all

have a great rest of your day.

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You know, the motto of the show.

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It's do everything with good intentions

and connect to your elements.

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RD all have a great one,

much love everybody.

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Peace.