Regular Bowel Movement

The frequency of defecation is not necessarily a sign of constipation.

A regular bowel movement is normally considered essential for good general health. But in most cases less frequent bowel movements are common and not necessarily a cause for concern. Bowel or defecation habits vary from person to person, but there are about 7 common causes of constipation. 

The frequency of defecation is not necessarily a sign of constipation. The sign of constipation is more apt to be the consistency of the stool or feces and the amount of difficulty of elimination or a bowel movement.  It is of much greater importance that bowel movements are regular and soft than that they are frequent. A fairly regular bowel movement that passes with no straining or pain is most important.

Your bowel movement can tell you a lot about your health. This may not be a topic you would typically talked about at the dinner table or a cocktail party, but actually most people are somewhat obsessed with it. We should be interested the appearance and/or its condition. The general health or state of your gastro-intestinal tract or GI tract and the the quality and quantity of its output is a great barometer of the health of your body. The GI tract is a rather high tech processing unit. It metabolizes all of the nutrients you take in and eliminates all of the body's waste that are generated. What comes through it, the bowel movement or stool is reflective of how well or how ill the body is.

Hard and Dry Feces

The amount of time (intestinal transit time) it takes for the food you eat to make its way through the gastro-intestinal system and then exit into the toilet will have an impact on the consistency of your stool. Intestinal transit can vary greatly. It depends on your general health and diet. For a person in generally good health and eating a healthy diet, the intestinal transit time will be about 12 - 24 hours. The average American will have a intestinal transit of 40 to 45 hours. The longer the waste or stool stays in the GI tract, the more fluid is re-absorbed into the body and the stool becomes harder and dryer.

There are certain medications, such as blood pressure drugs, antidepressants and anti histamines—that can slow down the GI tract. Constipation or irregular bowel movements, which has a myriad of causes, will lead to even harder, drier stools (since you're going less often, your stool will stall in the system and the fluid is re-absorbed. For some people, consuming a diet high in dairy products can be a cause of constipation. So, if you are experiencing problems going and have dry, hard-to-pass stool when you do finally go, try reducing your dairy intake for a week or two to see if that helps. Then again being dehydrated can also lead to this problem. If the body is lacking in water, your system will draw it, and conserve it, from wherever it can find it.

Little Lump Feces

The ideal or perfect stool looks like a torpedo—it should be large, soft, fluffy and easy to pass. But, when conditions are less than ideal, the stool may become more like little deer pellets. As discussed above, transit time may be part of the issue because slow-moving stool will lose fluid, making them less fluffy and lumpier. A lack of fiber in the diet may well be to blame. Beware, if you're following a weight-loss plan (such as Atkins) that focuses on increasing protein and decreasing carbohydrates. These type of diets will leave you with a diet that's low in fiber, and since fiber holds on to fluid, a lack of it will lead to harder, pellet-like poops that may be more difficult to pass.

To liquid or Soft

Normally your body secretes about eight liters of fluid during the course of a day. This comes from the stomach, salivary glands and pancreas—to help your food get broken down and make its way through the digestive system. If conditions are normal, and the GI tract is healthy, the majority of that fluid is absorbed along the way, resulting in those sought-after soft, fluffy stools. Now, if food that is being digested passes through too quickly, there isn't enough time for all of that liquid to absorb, and the stool emerges in a too-soft state. The reasons for such super-quick transit could be caused by several things, but could include a sudden increase in fiber in the diet, or a bacterial or viral infection. If there is an infection, the body will produce toxins which cause water to be released. This will cause things to move very quickly through your system because the body wants to get rid of them.

Pencil Thin Stool

Thin may be in and the preferable state for many things such as figures, cell phones, television screens—but when it comes to a bowel movement, thin is definitely not a good thing. Thin stools could be an indicator of colon cancer, or its precursor, polyps in the colon. If there is a mass in the colon that creates a blockage, anything that needs to be pushed past that mass will become thinner. If the stool is thin on a consistent basis, it is something that should be looked at by your doctor.

Stool Color

Normal stool can come in a range of colors. Your diet and/or medications will determine the color. If your bowel movement an unhealthy hue, particularly if it's pale or grayish in tone, this could indicate problems somewhere along your digestive tract. The liver excretes bile to help break down fats in you diet, and that same bile also adds color to the stool. If there is a blockage in the liver, or in the tubes through which the bile travels, the stool may take on a too-pale appearance. If you are suffering from a pancreatic disorder, the stool might look more gray because it will be lacking the color imbued by the digestive enzymes produced in that organ.

A regular bowel movement may be a little different for each individual, but some regularity in the bowel movement is important to your general health.