Not a very nice title, but appropriate for what I want to discuss here. My cousin Annalisa wrote an epic posted in a private Facebook group about her son Chris this week. And it is connected to several things that I want to say here.
Little Chris (he’s ten years old) was beaming with pride because of his bowel movement. As he explained to his mom, it was exceptionally large, and exceptionally clean, and he deposited it without any effort or mess.
This is how a human is supposed to dispose of solid waste. A truly healthy digestive system that has a proper balance of good microbes will make bowel movements easy, clean, fast, and regular.
My little cousin was fully aware that his daily kefir was responsible for his epic poop, and that is even more important. He sees the connection between healthy eating and a healthy body, and he went on to explain to his mom in great detail about the benefits of kefir and the differences he is seeing in his body and bodily functions.
I wish I could teach this to all children (and adults!).
There should be no need for toilet paper; although I would always advise using some just to be sure 😉 A few more tips – it should be firm but not hard, it should not float, and there shouldn’t be anything crazy looking unless you are doing a detox. It should look like #4 on the Bristol Stool Chart above. (Bristol Stool Chart on Wikipedia)
Floating is a sign that you are not digesting all the fats and oils, and that is not such a bad thing, but let’s you know that you need to make some adjustments in your diet to help you digest the fats better. Less fat is not the answer – getting your enzymes and bile functioning properly is.
Healthy diets consist of anywhere from 30% to 85% fat. Yes, that high number is correct, as healthy fats contain tremendous nutrition; especially the animal fats. However, do not consume processed fats (canola oil, vegetable oil, etc.), as they are denatured and rancid, and do a lot of damage to the body. [Download our One Page Guide for Cooking with Healthy Fats & Oils]
When we go to the toilet most of the solid waste that we expel is actually not from what we eat. It is from the dead microbes and their waste products. Yes, that is correct, and that is how our body works. We cannot consume food without that huge population of microbes (bacteria, yeasts, viruses, etc.) that live in our gut and help make us who we are. In fact, our human cells are greatly outnumbered by our microbial cells. So if you want to be a healthy human, you need to make sure that the microbial balance in your gut is healthy. You are your gut biome.
So drink lots of kefir, along with all the other great probiotic foods that you can get, because that is one of the most powerful ways to keep your gut biome healthy.
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