Assess your stool in 3 ways
Should you regularly check your stool? The answer is “yes,” because this allows you to easily and continuously assess your health. The physical appearance of your stool can tell you a lot. That’s not surprising, since the digestive system is central to the proper functioning of your body.
In a previous blog we already discussed the Bristol stool chart to evaluate your stool. (In short: The chart shows 7 different types of stool. Types 1–3 indicate different degrees of constipation, types 5–7 are considered different forms of diarrhea, and types 4 and 5 are optimal or normal.)
If your stool looks healthy, then:
- Your “core” muscles are strong enough;
- bowel movements are good;
- you eat enough fiber and other nutrients;
- your hormonal balance is in order;
- you are not under excessive stress;
- your gut flora is balanced.
If your stool does not look healthy, then:
- You may need to adjust your diet;
- You may be experiencing too much stress;
- You may need to drink more water;
- You may have a food intolerance;
- You may need to exercise more.
In addition to the Bristol stool chart, you can also use the following 3 methods to further evaluate your stool and digestion:
Test your stool in 3 ways
1: Questionnaire
- How often do you go to the bathroom?
Ideal = 1–3 bowel movements per day.
- What is the bowel movement experience?
Ideal = quick and painless, without excessive straining or panic about finding a toilet in time.
- What is the color?
Ideal = brown. But this may depend on what you eat.
- How does it smell?
Ideal = nothing overly foul.
- Does your stool sink or float?
Ideal = both. Observing only floating or only sinking over a period of time can indicate the ratio between fats and fibers in your diet.
2: pH value of your stool
With a simple pH strip you can learn a lot about the state of your digestion. Ideally, the pH should be between 6.7 and 6.9. A pH lower than 5.5 is considered too acidic; a pH higher than 7 is too alkaline.
A low pH may indicate poor absorption of carbohydrates or fats, while a high pH may indicate antibiotic use, inflammation, or an imbalanced gut flora.
To perform the test, simply hold a pH strip against a moist piece of stool. Make sure the stool is not in the toilet water. Then compare the strip’s color with the supplied color chart.
3: Transit time test
The transit time of the intestines indicates how long it takes for the food we eat to travel through the digestive system and be excreted. This test can help assess whether the transit time is too slow (constipation) or too fast (malabsorption, meaning poor absorption).
In hospitals, this test is performed with dye capsules, but you can also do it at home with beets, sesame seeds, or corn kernels. These foods are easy to spot in your stool.
To perform the test, eat either one teaspoon of sesame seeds, or 5 tablespoons of corn kernels, or 5 tablespoons of beets on an empty stomach. Note the time you ate them and the time they appear in your stool. With sesame and corn, look for whole seeds or kernels; with beets, look for a red/purple color.
An optimal transit time is 12–48 hours. Longer than 72 hours indicates constipation or an underlying condition. Faster than 12 hours indicates poor absorption. In men, transit time is usually faster than in women. For a reliable assessment, it’s best to repeat the test 3 times and take the average.
