be ohnest about your bm

[jenjen]

hi, ok...i've gotta hear this...
how many of you are really having (the 'ideal') 2 - 3 bm's/day. i just cann't seem to get there! i have a good one around every 24 hrs :cool: (just being ohnest) and some times i have 2 more:rolleyes: but this is rare. some days i don't have any:eek: . yet i am eating 99 - 100% raw, think i'm getting enough fiber, lots of water and a fair amount of cultured foods.
i'm around 110 pounds, 5 foot 3 and don't eat a 'ton' of food. could this be it??!! does the 'ideal' # of bm's/ day vary depending on how much you eat??

would lloooovvvee to get some opinions. hope you are all well!
j

ps been raw for almost 4 weeks now.

[RowanC]

One good one each morning... good enough for me :D

[juliebove]

Everyone's metabolism is different. I have gastroparesis. That's damage to the vagus nerve and it means the stomach is paralyzed. In my case it seems, not all the time but sometimes. This can cause delayed stomach emptying. So how I am is not the norm. A person with a thyroid disorder will can have either very frequent BMs or infrequent. Certain meds can affect things. I don't think there is one perfect ideal.

[Solace]

HONESTLY...sorry I couldn't help myself:rolleyes: :) I have been having about 5 a day:eek: I am starting colonics next week, that should suck me dry for awhile:o

[RowanC]

Why in the world would you want to have 5 bm's a day? Only ones I know to have 5 bms a day are newborns and they're on a liquid diet!

This is one of the problems when people read a book or a website and decide somebody ELSE knows what's best for THEIR body.

Don't you folks know that ANYBODY can write a book?
ANYBODY can call themselves an expert?

Just eat right and listen to your body - it will have its BM when it's ready..

::sighing::::rolleyes:

[barose]

HONESTLY...sorry I couldn't help myself:rolleyes: :) I have been having about 5 a day:eek: I am starting colonics next week, that should suck me dry for awhile:o

Yikes! I never "go" at work (or anywhere else besides home unless I'm traveling) so 5 BMs would never fly with me. LOL

[rawererin]

tmi- be warned:
right now i'm going a lot, a lot, before when i was about 90% raw i tried the digestive stimulator from blessed herbs and it did nothing, then i went 100% raw, it's been a week now, and it's coming out real nice.... i guess!

[Solace]

Why in the world would you want to have 5 bm's a day? Only ones I know to have 5 bms a day are newborns and they're on a liquid diet!

This is one of the problems when people read a book or a website and decide somebody ELSE knows what's best for THEIR body.

Don't you folks know that ANYBODY can write a book?
ANYBODY can call themselves an expert?

Just eat right and listen to your body - it will have its BM when it's ready..

::sighing::::rolleyes:
It could be the chocolate......?.........hehe, you can't make me stop.:rolleyes: Anyways my understanding is, you should have a BM after every meal. You are getting rid of the last one. I have 3 Big ones and 2-3 smaller bms......:o

[jenjen]

wow solace, i think that sounds great. i'm no doctor or expert...but it just makes sense to 'go' after you eat. i wonder if your elimination track is at the optimum level. if so, congrats. i feel mine is a little sluggish.
thanks for all the comments guys,
j

[Rawmommie]

I have one like clockwork every morning, it's been like that since going raw. I never did get to the 2-3 times a day, occasionally I will go in the middle of the day too, but not usually.

[vgloveforlife]

I don't really think more bm's equals better. The body can lose too many nutrients that way and it also may mean that food is just passing through w/out digesting.

Anyway I have one every single morning and I think this is the ideal.

Edited to add that the only way I think more is best is when you are cleaning out and that should only be temporary.

[tinystrawberry]

I usually have about two a day. If i'm at my own home, i seem to have more than two, but sometimes just 1 a day.

[tinystrawberry]

oh
and i don't think too many BMs would cause loss of nutrients? why do you think this? please explain, i'm interested:p

[beanmonkee]

Disclaimer: I go into some icky detail in the following post. Be warned, and read with caution.

I'm just like Solace, except I don't think it's a good thing.

Going Raw hasn't changed my BM pattern much at all, though. Now, my bm's are softer, and frankly, grosser. I'm pretty sure mine is a lack of nutrient issue, too, because I often have undigested food in them (TMI, sorry). I used to have floaters all the time, too, but now only once in a while. I read that floaters usually meant that you are not absorbing the nutrients from your food.

I'm thinking of doing a parasite cleanse, but I don't know what else I can do. Take enzymes? Suggestions anyone?

[RawVee]

For all of you interested in our digestive systems (and your poop!), I highly recommend Dr. Elizabeth Lipski's book, Digestive Wellness. It explains exactly how our entire system works, both in health and in dis-ease. And there's a whole chapter on bowel movements and what is "normal," etc. Here's her site:

http://www.lizlipski.com/

[beanmonkee]

RawVee - I second that book recommendation. I just had symptoms of so many things that she described, that I didn't know where to start.

[LightLover]

if you don't mind I keep them for myself..:)

ll

[LoveLife]

I have 1 in the morning..and then sometimes one at night too..actually b4 I went raw I used to have one after almost every meal..I find that this way is so much easier and pleasent:p ..beanmonkee I believe that a floater means u have excess fat in your bm...that's what makes it float..

[Morn]

I generally eliminate once a day. My schedule is irregular so the time of day can very. But mostly a little time after I awake.

Before raw it could be once a week!:eek: So for right now I am happy with once a day!

[Ireland]

Meanwhile, back at the outhouse, things seemed to be piling up. :D

[eatyourbroccoli]

berries!

berries berries berries. especially blueberries. thats the only thing keeping me going. :p i cant believe the good its done

[Mialsse]

I'm still having bm issues over here. I'm not going nearly as much as I *think * I should be. I had some tea last night to help things along, so I did have to go when I woke up this morning ... but today is the 6th day since the last one. I was never really "more regular" before going raw, but there was never a 6 day span between (2-4 maybe). I don't know what it is, I just hope my body sorts through it all soon. :confused:

[RowanC]

IAnyways my understanding is, you should have a BM after every meal. You are getting rid of the last one. I have 3 Big ones and 2-3 smaller bms......:o

My grandad would say, "Awwwww horsefeathers! They're full of prunes!"

LITERALLY!

I think as long as you're eating right and having one nice big S-curved fluffy poop a day, you're doing fine! ::grinning:::

[Eva]

830ish every morning, healthy size, not difficult to release or like diarrhea. :D

When I first started raw, I had 2-3 BMs per day, but I think that I was eliminating excess that had been hanging out waiting to be released from my colon. :)

I have heard a lot of talk about colonics these days, I'm considering doing one of those soon as my energy is not what I would hope for. I think there could be even more stuff hanging out, just taking up space in my interior. Ew.

[RawVegan4Health]

I have 2 to 3 a day, like I'm supposed to. I can credit raw for this. I was not this way before!:o

[puffysmom]

When i first started Raw i was eating lots and lots of nuts. I was going all the time it seemed. I only have a handful of nuts now and i no longer have that problem. I usually do a good one daily and I am happy with that. Much better than when it seemed to be a constant thing....almost.

[pianolady]

I was severely constipated all my life and suffered terribly from Hemmorroids, even having a hemmorroidectomy about 7 years ago. Don't even mention it!! It was terrible and didn't solve a thing. But now!!!! It's like night and day difference. I go every day without trouble and sometimes 2 or 3 depending on what I'm eating. If for nothing else, I'd stay raw to avoid the agony of excruciatingly painful bowel movements. What ever my problem was, and I tried every remedy I ever heard of, this has solved it and I'm so thankful.

[RowanC]

Me too, pianolady, I had that terrible hemmrhoidectomy! Gosh, I had honestly forgotten about it. Never had hemmrhoids, just woke up one morning with a walnut sized ball on my anus.. painful does not describe it. It was a twisted hemmrhoid. Naturopath said surgery.

I thought I'd never poop again... dang, that was a painful recovery.

Yup.. that's ONE good reason to stay raw@!:eek:

[Solace]

Ok..........well mine BEFORE were not regular hard tiny etc... After' getting RAW for awhile they were GREEN and infrequent. Now eating the same foods 5 months into my RAW, they are light brown medium softness and not floating:o They look like I am digesting everything quite well. I do a lot of juicing and smoothies more than harded foods, that may be WHY ? :rolleyes: :D Happy poooop trails tooo all !

[domestic goddess]

I'm sorry...I am just laughing my heinie off over here! A whole thread about...POOP! Only on RFT...:D

[Lay-Lay]

I have 5-7 BM a day. Everyone is different and at different health levels and no one's idea of health is the same as someone elses. I used to be very unhealthy and went 6 months constipated. After starting raw foods after 6 day I had my first BM and they slowly became more regular after that. Love whatever level your on. :D

[babyphat1989]

i found some very interesting facts about BM, thought it would be appropriate for this thread.

Stool Analysis

The shape, color, frequency and behavior of our stools is a wonderful indicator of health. The ideal stool is at least two inches in diameter and twelve inches long, but of course it depends on how much fiber we eat. Some foods have a very fast transit time so the stool stays very thin, this is not a bad thing if you know that foods are causing this. If you are prone to thin stools no matter what you eat, then that indicates a colon with strictures preventing the formation of thicker stools.

Stools should be formed but loose, mostly uniform in color, and sink to the bottom of the bowl but slowly.

If you can tell what you ate by looking at a stool, it wasn’t digested completely and this causes many complications over time. Some foods never do digest completely, including whole flax seeds, sesame seeds, and corn as a protein-starch combo food is tough to digest, and salad greens. So don’t worry if you see these occasionally. Think about chewing your food more thoroughly, cooking the foods rather than eating them raw, or putting them through a blender.

A stool that totally floats on the surface is either mostly vegetable fiber that is full of trapped air, or full of undigested fats. Fat floats, as does wood. A sign that it’s fat making the stool float is a slick, shiny coated appearance. This proves that the fats you ate were not completely digested. This could be due to eating too much at one time for your digestive power; eating fats with something that prevented their emulsification such as fruit or starch; having a congested liver that doesn’t produce enough bile; having bile that is full of fat so it is ineffective as a dissolving agent. Digestive enzymes, lecithin, carrots, apples, beets and liver management are called for. If it was a one-time deal due to enjoying some treats, don’t worry about it.

A stool that is very compact, hard, indicates that not enough water is being drunk. If the stool is thick then the feces were very slow in transit so that all of the fluids had time to be absorbed. If the stool is grainy, or shaped into little balls, you have eaten very badly and should do an enema or fiber plus laxatives to get it all out of you properly, as the little balls can clog the appendix and cause appendicitis.

Stools should be rather brown, or red-brown, or dark brown. Gray colored stools indicates a severe lack of bile due to a stone or gunk clogging the bile ducts. This should be attended to immediately.

Other colors such as green or orange represent the foods or which microbes went to work to fully digest the foods and aren’t a worry. Green is sometimes bile full of cholesterol that moved so fast it didn’t have a chance to turn brown. Yellow indicates various toxins and a very fast transit time. Certain foods will color stools, beets and carrots especially. Carrot juice will cause orange stools. A lack of toxins such as after a liver flush will also cause orange stools temporarily.

Dark, tarry stools, black stools, indicates blood in the feces. Bleeding can be due to Crohn’s or parasites or lack of good microbes.

If bright red blood is seen, this is a recent bleeding in the rectal area and can be due to hemorrhoids or old fecal matter coming off the intestine like a scab that comes off before the skin is healed. Avoid fiber for 1-3 days, enjoy a liquid diet, and let your intestines heal. Aloe Vera juice is very healing in this case.

Stools are often accompanied by a bit of gas; this is normal and to be expected. If the flatulence happens more often, such as in between bowel movements, and you haven’t eaten any vegetables rich in organic sulphur such as broccoli or cabbage, then the gas indicates poor digestion and fermentation. Foods that are not completely broken down by chewing or the stomach’s gastric juices go into the intestines in large enough pieces that your microbes have to do a lot of work to break them down further. The food then ferments as it is eaten by yeast and propagates more yeast. This creates gas. Eating a fruit dessert after a high-fat/meat meal causes this problem.

It helps to get to know your average transit time. For instance, if you eat breakfast and dinner and don’t have a bowel movement until the next morning, your average transit time is 12-24 hours -the number of hours since your last breakfast and dinner. This should be your slowest transit time, your bowel movements should be at least once a day unless you’re fasting.

For larger people who consume 2,000 to 3,000 or more calories a day, you should be having two bowel movements a day. If you’re not, you need to take a look at your diet. You may not be eating enough good raw oils, grains, vegetables - fiber - or foods with fast transit times. The ideal diet has a mixture of fast and slow foods. You may not have a strong liver or colon.

You should not have to strain to void a stool. Straining is very hard on the rectum and can cause hemrrhoids. It is better to do an enema or, ahem, go digging, rather than strain. Use a glycerin tab as a suppository, available next to the Fleet enemas at the drugstore.

If you find yourself constantly having to wait for the bowel movement to the point that you read the entire magazine rather than just a paragraph, you’re either eating badly or have a prolapsed colon or both.

Sitting upright is not the best position for a bowel movement and doing so our whole lives long can cause weakness. Use a stool or a commercial stand that is designed to go around the toilet bowl so you can crouch over it rather than sit. Or use a training potty on the ground. There's a yoga asana where you pretend to be sitting in a chair - this exercises and strengthens the muscles that support the colon and is a good aid to constipation.

When you begin bowel management, you may see things come out of you that are pretty amazing. I never had mucoid placque myself, but plenty people do. If you had a long history of constipation or eating the standard American beef diet, chances are good that you have mucoid placque. Even if a colonoscopy didn’t turn up anything, you could have it in your small intestine.

The columnar epethelium tissues that make up the intestines are lined with villi so that the surface area, although scrunched up to fit into your abdomen, is huge. The mucous layer is where the microbes live and is the first line of defense against toxins getting into the bloodstream, while allowing the good nutrients and water to enter. The mucous layer, once compromised by undigested foods or poisons, gets thicker in order to protect the epethelium and blood supply. After awhile, this layer of mucous gets so thick that it is “shed” and left to form a kind of striated rope. Over time, it will harden until it looks like tire treads. So if you see mucous that still looks mucosy it’s a pretty recent shed. The darker and dryer it is, the older it is.

This is the same thing as with the sinuses. Mucoid placque is like having intestinal boogers. ;)

[pianolady]

Wow!! Such info! Thanks, babyphat1989. All I ever wanted to know and was afraid to ask. :-)

[uk trout]

I have recently gone from a vegan diet to a totally raw food and smoothie diet. Before I was good for 2-3 times a day. Now I have slowed down to 1 or sometimes 2 per day. Does anyone have any idea why I would slow down on the better and more nutritious diet? It has been a couple of weeks and I dont know if this is temporay but I am concerned.

[sweet pepper]

Other colors such as green or orange represent the foods or which microbes went to work to fully digest the foods and aren’t a worry. Green is sometimes bile full of cholesterol that moved so fast it didn’t have a chance to turn brown. Yellow indicates various toxins and a very fast transit time. Certain foods will color stools, beets and carrots especially. Carrot juice will cause orange stools. A lack of toxins such as after a liver flush will also cause orange stools temporarily.


:D I guess I should have read a little further down - about BM's that is. Now I know why my BM's are green - thanks babyphat1989

Sweet Pepper

[sweet pepper]

Other colors such as green or orange represent the foods or which microbes went to work to fully digest the foods and aren’t a worry. Green is sometimes bile full of cholesterol that moved so fast it didn’t have a chance to turn brown. ;)


Just found this after posting my question!:D Thanks babyphat!

Sweet Pepper

[czpinky]

thnx babyphat1989...i was wondering y my poo has been so green lately. lol :)

[rawstrength]

I think floaters are just due to air in the stool, nothing to wory about.
I have one, sometimes two a day.

[Fee]

I too vary in number, sometimes one a day, on average twice a day and sometimes 4 times in 40 minutes! I have Immflamatory Bowel Disease and I find raw food really helps me and I no longer take any medication. I hate it when I dont go regularly though. Oh what a delightful topic...

[brownies]

I noticed an increase when I started including more flax in my diet.

It sounds like your doing everything fine though. Don't sweat it, every one is different.

[Colorawdo girl]

When I went raw and had mostly green smoothies for along time,I hardly went much at all.Poop is a waste product.In other words,what the body does not use.So say you are eating high nutrition and the body is using it all.,then there wont be much waste right? That was my experience.I did fine,felt incredible,no issues in my stomach or anything.Nice clear skin with the "glow".Sooooooooooo its individual.And only a prob if you see it is causing challenges by not having bowels move more.