The frequency with which we defecate says a lot about our health, research shows.
Researchers in Washington State examined the lifestyle habits of more than 1,400 healthy adults, including the number of bowel movements they had per week.
They found that the “perfect” number was one to two movements a day, and those who ate high-fiber diets, exercised regularly and were well-hydrated were most likely to fall within this range.
However, those who were constipated or had more than three bowel movements a day were more likely to have toxic gut bacteria linked to organ damage and mental health problems such as depression.
Researchers found that diarrhea and constipation could be linked to organ damage as well as mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.
Dr. Sean Gibbons, corresponding author of the study and associate professor at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, said: “Overall, this study shows how bowel movement frequency can influence all systems in the body and how aberrant bowel movement frequency may be an important risk factor in the development of chronic diseases.”
‘This knowledge could provide information for designing strategies to control bowel movement frequency, even in healthy populations, in order to optimize health and well-being.’
Researchers looked at 1,425 adults who were clients of the now-defunct wellness company Arivale.
About 83 percent of the participants were white, while 8.5 percent were Asian. They were between 19 and 89 years old and 65 percent were women. The average BMI was 27, which is considered overweight.
Participants reported how many bowel movements they had on average, and the team divided them into four groups: constipation (one to two bowel movements per week), low-normal (three to six bowel movements per week), high-normal (one to three bowel movements per day), and diarrhea (more than three bowel movements per day).
Researchers collected stool and blood samples and surveyed participants about their exercise, lifestyle and dietary habits, as well as their mental health and stress levels.
They found that age, sex and BMI were “significantly” associated with bowel movement frequency.
In particular, younger people, women, and those with a lower BMI had less frequent bowel movements.
Additionally, those who reported eating a high-fiber diet, staying well hydrated and exercising regularly were more likely to have healthier gut bacteria associated with the “Goldilocks Zone” of bowel movement frequency, or one to two trips to the bathroom per day.
However, constipated participants and those with diarrhea were more likely to experience protein fermentation in the gut, during which toxic bacteria break down carbohydrates and sugars.
The Bristol stool chart is often used by doctors in clinical practice to assess the health of a person’s bowel movements.
Johannes Johnson-Martinez, lead author of the study and a PhD student at ISB, said: “Previous research has shown how the frequency of bowel movements can have a major impact on the function of the gut ecosystem.”
‘Specifically, if stool remains in the gut for too long, microbes consume all available dietary fibre, which they ferment into beneficial short-chain fatty acids. The ecosystem then switches to protein fermentation, which produces various toxins that can enter the bloodstream.’
This process creates harmful byproducts associated with liver and kidney damage, as well as other chronic diseases, the researchers said.
“Chronic constipation has been associated with neurodegenerative disorders and with the progression of chronic kidney disease in patients with active disease,” said Dr. Gibbons.
‘However, it has not been clear whether bowel movement abnormalities are early drivers of chronic disease and organ damage, or whether these retrospective associations in sick patients are merely coincidental.’
‘Here, in a generally healthy population, we show that constipation, in particular, is associated with blood levels of microbially derived toxins known to cause organ damage, prior to any diagnosis of disease.’
Additionally, the team found that participants with mental health problems such as depression and anxiety were more likely to be classified as “high-normal” or “diarrheic.”
The study had several limitations, including that most participants were white and lived on the West Coast.
There was also “limited representation in the constipation and diarrhea categories, reflecting the ‘generally healthy’ nature of this cohort,” the researchers wrote.
The study was published Tuesday in the journal Cell Medicine Reports.