In Search of a Good Poop

A friend of mine who started the Paleo diet has complained about being a little constipated lately.  After looking at her intake, I deduced that she wasn’t getting enough fat intake and vegetables in her diet.  I found this post from Mark Sisson and though it might be a good read for my subscribers:

This is a very common complaint. The two major factors that come into play with your clingers are stress and diet. Stress causes all kinds of digestive trouble. Think about times you’ve been anxious or nervous – you feel it in your gut right along with your sweating palms and racing heart. Prolonged or chronic stress can create stubborn stools. Diet is also important to consider. If you are eating sugar, carbs, processed meats, and missing out on copious veggies, fresh fruit, nuts, and healthy fats, you are at risk for constipation. Dairy and wheat are often causes of internal cement, so lighten up the load by sticking to a diet like Mark’s.

Aim for 6-12 servings of veggies and 1-2 servings of fruit. There is no good reason to overdo fiber. Excessive fiber intake can increase appetite and interfere with healthy digestion, mineral absorption, and elimination. Interestingly, what many folks don’t realize is that increasing fat intake can help with constipation and regular bowels. Try eating more olive oil, fish, avocados, nuts, and flax seeds. Buy DHA-enhanced eggs. And take two or three fish oil pills daily. We promise, it’ll help. And cut out that blasted soda!

You can read the rest of his article ‘here’, which gets into more detail of your poop and what is a good poop compared to bad poop, even down to the colour..

Related articles

• Poop: the cure of the future? (chriskresser.com)
• For Best Toilet Health: Squat or Sit? (foodconsumer.org)
• The Squatty Potty Toilet Stool (squatty potty.com)