There are so many misconceptions around what good digestion and elimination actually is and the primary reason for this is because so many folks have poor digestion and elimination that they’ve come to believe that what they experience is normal for 2 reasons…
One, they’ve never experienced anything different and two, because if they feel comfortable enough to talk about it, the people that they typically talk to have digestion and elimination issues as well and so they confuse what’s common with what’s normal.
Digestion is something that I keep a SUPER close eye on with all of my clients, no matter what their goal is because it always matters, it is a fundamental part of health…but why? Why is it so important?
We have essential nutrients that our bodies do not manufacture on their own and therefore we have to consume them via food in order to meet specific nutrient needs and so just on a super basic level, digestion matters because that’s how we fuel our cells, with nutrients contained in food.
Another big reason why digestion matters is because of inflammation. The two major types of inflammation are acute and systemic, you can think about acute inflammation like stepping off of a curb and rolling your ankle…your body senses the damage and so it swells up and it sends all sorts of goodies to your ankle in order to heal it.
Folks are really quick to crush anti-inflammatory drugs to bring down inflammation, but you actually want inflammation in acute scenarios because that’s how the body heals and so it can actually be counter-productive to take NSAID’s (non-steroidal anti-inflammatories i.e. Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Naproxen) in scenarios like this…your body knows what it’s doing, it’s very smart and oftentimes we just get in the way and quite literally hinder healing.
The second type of inflammation is systemic inflammation and systemic inflammation is more so whole body related and so your whole system is somewhat inflamed and it turns out that systemic inflammation stems from the gut or your stomach, meaning…
What you eat has the biggest impact on your systemic inflammation levels and so what are some examples of systemic inflammation…?
Let’s say that you eat something and you get joint pain, bloating, IBS, cramping, swelling, brain fog, skin stuff i.e. rashes, eczema, psoriasis, keratosis pilarsis…also all autoimmune conditions have an inflammatory root and because inflammation originates in the gut, the first whistle stop is addressing your diet, all of these symptoms are a manifestation of an inflamed body via nutrition.
Digestion also impacts energy levels because no one feels more energetic when they’re bloated, constipated, or they’re running to the bathroom super frequently.
Digestion can even impact sleep because of inflammation of course and also more apparently due to things like bloating, abdominal discomfort, constipation and diarrhea as well.
Also, quality of life. Our digestion plays a massive role in our sense of well-being because if you haven’t identified what’s causing your digestion issues, you don’t really know how you’re going to feel after eating a meal…are you going to be bloated or is your stomach going to hurt or are you going to go to the bathroom tomorrow morning or are you going to need to run to the bathroom in 5 minutes…?
Digestion is a really underappreciated area in terms of health of course, but also quality of life because for so many folks it’s so incredibly unpredictable…I used to be one of these people, I had quote unquote ‘IBS’...which is really just a fancy way of saying that you’re eating something or some things that your body doesn’t like…that’s really it!
Fortunately, all of these digestion issues are solvable…
I have 100% control of my digestion and I’ve helped a countless number of my clients resolve their tummy troubles as well…you can have this control too and we’re going to cover how to gain said control in this article!
What has the biggest impact on our digestion…? What we eat and what we drink…shocker right!?
Nothing grinds my gears more than when folks come to me with digestion issues after seeing a gastroenterologist that told them that what they eat doesn’t matter and how they’re just going to need to rely on drugs for the rest of their lives…first of all, that is absurd and secondly, it makes zero sense logically, but unfortunately folks believe these people…and it’s just like a mechanic telling someone…
‘Ahhh it doesn’t matter if you put gasoline in your tank or windshield wiper fluid…it makes no diff’…obviously it does, what we put in our stomachs impacts our stomachs…it’s not a crazy concept, in fact what we put in our stomachs impacts our entire body, hence systemic inflammation!
What we eat impacts every single organ and cell, including our brains, folks often don’t think about how what they eat impacts things like cognitive function and emotional regulation, but it does, big time!
Now before we dig into some of the specifics, I want to relay the most important point of this article to you right now and that is to honour your body, meaning…
Even if a food is considered quote unquote ‘healthy,’ that doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily healthy for you, for example…
Let’s take eggs, eggs are loaded with nutrients, they’re super healthful generally speaking, but if you eat eggs and they upset your stomach, honour that…don’t think that just because they’re under the ‘healthy’ category that they can’t be an issue for you as an individual on a personal level and…
This applies to every single food…including things like vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, …anything, even if you deem it ‘healthy!’ If you don’t digest something well, it’s not for you. Now, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s off the table forever, but at least for right now, it’s better that you skip it.
For example…
I’ve worked with clients and discovered that they’ve been sensitive to eggs, tomatoes, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, garlic, onions, eggplant, peanuts, almonds, cashews, shellfish, gluten, dairy, coffee, apples…all sorts of things!
Having said that, there are absolutely foods that tend to be an issue for more people than not, however just because something is more of a rare intolerance, doesn’t mean that it can’t be an intolerance for you because if you’re that person, you’re that person!
Okay, now that that’s out the way…poop, what’s normal and what’s not?
Technically anything from going number 2, 2-3x per week all the way to 2-3x per day.
It’s worth mentioning that we’re not talking about constipation and/or diarrhea here, we’re talking about healthy elimination so, within that context, 2-3x per week all the way to 2-3x per day.
So what may increase it? Eating more food volume is going to increase it, makes sense right!? Also, eating more fiber because we don’t actually digest fiber fully and that’s why it adds quote unquote ‘bulk’ to our stool, so if your fiber intake is super high, you’re probably going to go to the bathroom more frequently and/or your stool is going to have more volume to it.
On the other hand if you’re not eating very much fiber and/or you’re eating fairly low food volume, you’re probably going to go number 2 less frequently and when you do go, there is going to be less total stool.
Fiber can be a tricky one because for some folks fiber improves their digestion and for other folks it actually makes it worse. Personally, my digestion is far better with less fiber in my diet and I know that that might sound crazy, but fiber is not an essential nutrient despite what some folks might tell ya!
More fiber is not always the answer, more fiber is not always better for everyone…for some people it actually backs them up, for others it upsets their stomachs and bloats them a bunch! Some folks literally eat 0g of fiber per day and have incredible digestion and elimination…there is no one-size fits all in terms of fiber intake!
Specifically in regards to constipation, folks tend to think…’I’m constipated so I need more fiber’ and this can often actually make constipation even worse!
Folks with constipation quite often have far better outcomes by not increasing fiber, but by actually decreasing fiber…I know that sounds wild, but it’s true, the science backs it up and so does my personal experience with clients.
As a general rule, folks that eat more veggies, fruit and essentially carbohydrates are going to have more stool volume and folks that eat less veggies, fruit and carbs are going to have less stool volume. Neither one is necessarily better than the other, but rather the priority should be your digestion as an individual, so whatever eating pattern that results in the best digestion for you is the best fit!
Now as far as your stool specifically, I attached something called the Bristol Stool Chart below and this has 7 general types with picture examples of what you want your stool to look like. So everything from type 1, which is severe constipation to type 7, which is severe diarrhea.
As you’ll see, type 3 or 4 is what we’re after…that is the goal, that is a classic sign of good digestion and elimination and without getting too graphic, ya want your bathroom trips to feel and appear like soft serve ice cream…quite the visual, I know!
It shouldn’t be a struggle, you shouldn’t have to ‘breathe through it’ or strain in the slightest…you shouldn’t need to run to the bathroom because ya can’t hold it either, it shouldn’t just come out of you involuntarily.
And interestingly enough, it shouldn’t actually smell that bad and if it does, it’s a sign of poor nutrition…stool isn’t meant to smell really bad…the better your diet is, the less it will smell.
If you hit the bathroom, you should be able to go in there less than 5 minutes later and not even know whether ya went number 1 or number 2…that’s normal, it’s not as common as we’d hope, however that is the default state for good digestion and elimination…everyone can achieve this, even folks with IBS, crohns, ulcerative colitis, diverticulosis etc.
So now that we know what good digestion is, how do we get there?
First of all, I have never recommended food sensitivity testing to any of my clients because the accuracy of said testing just isn’t there, so here’s what we do instead…
We implement a food diary and track everything that they’re eating and drinking and next to each meal they write down how they felt digestion wise within 30 minutes of that meal. We also track bathroom trips generally speaking and how they feel as a whole.
Then, I look at their food diary along with their digestive symptoms and pattern recognize what may be causing the issues, we implement changes, continue to track and we figure out exactly what food or foods are causing the problems!
Can it be tedious? A little…but the question is, do you want good digestion or not? Now you may not want to get this granular and that’s okay, it’s completely your choice, however this is not only the most effective method, it’s the only method that works practically speaking in the real world.
Now what are the most common intolerances meaning, what should you keep an eye out for…
First and foremost dairy…at least 66% of the population do not have the ability to digest dairy as adults, simple as that. Personally, dairy flares up my autoimmune arthritis like crazy…I still consume it from time to time if I really feel like a pizza or something, but it’s super rare simply because the joint pain and stiffness that I experience just isn’t worth it to me.
However, your symptoms may be less pronounced or even similar after consuming dairy-rich foods and you may still choose to eat them regularly, that’s your call…it is causing damage of course, however the payoff of eating delicious dairy containing foods may be worth the cost to you i.e. inflammation and whatever symptoms you experience.
The second biggest intolerance that I see is gluten and I think a lot of folks are aware of gluten these days…we’ve got celiac disease of course, these folks get crushed by eating gluten and then we’ve also got gluten sensitivity and this can manifest as things like joint pain, brain fog, digestion troubles, bloating, IBS-like symptoms, skin issues and the list goes on…
High FODMAP foods often cause troubles for people too and funny enough, dairy and wheat based products are high in FODMAP’s along with things like beans, lentils, certain veggies, onions and garlic…so again, just because a food is deemed ‘healthy’ doesn’t mean it’s going to be work for you.
So this is the process…eat foods, pay attention to how your digestion is impacted, make adjustments if need be and retest. Also…
Something that I’ve been examining A LOT over the last decade of working with my clients and even more so over the last 2-3 years is the digestion and mental health connection, for example…
When my clients eat funky foods that throw off their digestion, they are much more likely to feel feelings of depression and angst. I’ve also noticed this first hand in myself and it seems as though feelings of depression and anxiousness may actually just be inflammation in the brain via what we’re eating and drinking and one of the key questions around this is…
Is the primary driver of things like depression and anxiety actually what we’re eating and drinking as opposed to outside circumstances, situations, experiences or some sort of personal flaw that we believe ourselves to have because what do humans tend to do when they feel uncomfortable emotions…?
We alter our state…we eat funky foods, we drink booze and/or consume other drugs and it begs the question…
What’s coming first?
Would we be able to shake feelings of angst and depression much much faster if we simply stayed on track nutrition wise and chose not to consume alcohol and other drugs? It’s sort of like the chicken or the egg dealio…
I put a article together recently explaining what leaky gut is and if you haven’t read it I would highly recommend doing so, especially being that you’re reading this article because digestion is clearly something that you’re interested in. I’m also planning on putting an article together on something called ‘leaky brain’ because…
It seems that whenever we have leaky gut at play or essentially digestion issues, we also have an increased likelihood for inflammation in the brain because the gut is often referred to as the ‘second brain’…your brain and your gut are inextricably linked and this is why what we eat heavily impacts how we feel, how we think and what emotions we experience…
It’s almost as if depression and anxiety are autoimmune conditions…I’m beginning to think about them that way more and more nowadays, it’s really fascinating stuff!
I have clients that have been able to clear up their depression and angst by changing their diet…this is really powerful stuff! I’m actually hearing more and more stories about folks resolving formal diagnosis’ like bipolar disorder via diet…how exciting!!
So to sum things up…
First and foremost honour your body and if you’re keen on clearing up your digestion and elimination, implement the steps that I laid out via the food diary, pattern recognizing and retesting.
And just know that at one point, I believed that I was going to experience digestion troubles for the rest of my life and fortunately, it doesn’t have to be that way. I’ve had clients that have thought the same thing and they’re just shocked when a week into their program in some instances, they have zero bloating and their bathroom trips are better than ever…
