A team of researchers confirms that the frequency of our bowel movements says a lot about our overall health, and that there is indeed an optimal daily number of large commissions.
- The composition of intestinal microbiomes would be “a revealing sign of the frequency of stools”, according to a study carried out on 1,400 people.
- Beneficial gut bacteria (those that ferment fiber) appear to thrive optimally when the frequency of needing is once or twice a day.
- Volunteers who reported “a high-fiber diet, increased hydration and regular exercise” tended to follow this ideal toilet-visit schedule.
Science has given its verdict on a subject that concerns everyone without exception. The frequency of bowel movements seems to have an influence on a person’s overall health, and there is indeed an optimal number of trips to the toilet: once or twice a day. This is the conclusion of a new study published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine.
The impact of stool frequency on the intestinal ecosystem
To arrive at this figure, researchers at the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) in Seattle, USA, examined the clinical and lifestyle data of more than 1,400 healthy adults: blood tests, genetic information, intestinal microbiome… The participants were divided into four groups, based on the self-reported average frequency of their stools: constipation (one to two times per week); low normal (three to six times per week); high normal (one to three times per day); diarrhea. The aim was to identify potential links between the number of times they had to go to the toilet and health status.
“Previous work has shown how stool frequency can have a big impact on the function of the gut ecosystem.”scientists explain in a communicated. When stool sits in the intestines for too long, microbes consume all the available dietary fiber and end up fermenting the proteins, producing toxins that can make their way into the bloodstream. “Chronic constipation, they specifyis associated with blood levels of toxins known to cause organ damage, prior to any diagnosis of disease [neurodégénérative, rénale…].”
Once or twice a day is the ideal rhythm for large commissions.
The researchers also discovered that the composition of the participants’ gut microbiomes was “a telltale sign of stool frequency”. Thus, beneficial intestinal bacteria (called anaerobic, those that ferment fiber) seemed to thrive optimally when the frequency of needs was one to two times per day. Not surprisingly, the volunteers who reported “a high-fiber diet, better hydration and regular exercise” tended to follow this ideal rhythm of big commissions.
While health professionals too often consider irregular stools as a simple “nuisance”, The team of scientists hopes that this study will shed more light “the risks of poor management of the frequency of needs”which can be the cause of many chronic diseases, even in healthy populations.
