5 Hacks for Healthy Poops
Pooping is definitely something we don’t think a lot about. We often just feel the urge to go and just go. But what if the “just go” part isn’t so easy.
Let’s talk about what we can do to achieve those healthy and easy, effortless poops.
Chillax
Watch your stress. Sounds so simple right? If you had a dollar for every time someone told you that you would be $1 richer right now.
Stress can really hit our digestion hard even when we aren’t consciously aware of how stressed out we are. This is because have something called a mind-gut connection. The mind-gut connection is a two lane highway which means how we feel affects our gut and our gut can affect our mind. Have you ever felt that drop in your stomach right as a squirrel dashes in front of your car? That right there is a perfect example of a mind-gut connection.
When we are stressed it can cause all types of crazy things to our gut. The two biggest things that stress can do to your gut is constipation and diarrhea.
Fiber
An oldie but goodie. You’re going to see fiber on every list out there about gut health. This is because fiber is what I call one of the unsung heroes of our bodies. We don’t credit fiber enough.
Fiber is one of the many things that gives us healthy poops. Thing of eating fiber as a workout for your body. Really. Fiber is like an internal strength workout. The more fiber we eat the better the workout.
Women should be shooting for 25 grams a day and men up to 38 grams a day. Honestly, a lot of us are nowhere near that number, myself included.
A quick tip is to imagine everything you have eaten for the day and then picture all of that food on a big plate split up into each food group. Ask yourself, is half of your plate filled with fruits and veggies. If it isn’t then you have some work to do. Fruits and veggies are two of the best sources of fiber.
Water
This hack goes in line with eating fiber. Whenever we eat more fiber you want to drink more water. It helps to move things along in the body
We all kind of already know to drink more water the harder part is drinking enough. Start with your 64 oz of water a day. This is a good starting point but depending on exercise, weather, and weight that number can go higher.
Try adding mashed fruit to your water for some flavor. Or one of my favorites is getting a sparkling water and mixing with a little fruit juice like grape juice.
Bacteria
Our guts literally have tons of bacteria. The bacteria is actually really healthy for us and we are still learning exactly what all that bacteria does for our body. There is research showing how the bacteria plays a role with our mind-gut connection, digestion, weight, and even blood sugar.
We want to make sure we are feeding our gut bacteria. Foods that feed that bacteria are prebiotic foods. They are a lot of prebiotic foods and a few examples are asparagus, bananas, onions and garlic.
Also make sure to feed our gut probiotic foods which are actually the good bacteria. You will find probiotic rich foods in fermented foods like yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, or kombucha.
Food Sensitivities
Lastly, if you start eating tons of asparagus because you just read it on this post and you start finding your not having those healthy and effortless poops than you might consider food sensitivities.
Food sensitivities can be a cause for why we can’t seem to achieve those easy, effortless poops even though we are eating all the “right” things. Everyone has different foods that they might be sensitive too.
So if you feel like you are eating all the right things and still struggling with healthy poops start using a food diary. Record what you are eating and record your pooping schedule. Sounds weird but it can be extremely helpful. See if you can notice a pattern with what you are eating and how you are pooping. You might be able to pick up and realize that oh whenever I eat oats in the morning I get great poops but if I eat oats with coffee then I don’t.
I have free food diary in my food sensitivity cookbook. You can download here to get started!
Amanda is a pizza loving registered dietitian nutritionist specializing in mindfulness and gut health. She quickly realized that gut health goes beyond the gut; it is also about honoring our gut feelings. She is the creator of The Mindful Gut™ which uses science and strategy to help people improve their gut health.
