Quote Originally Posted by OakLeaf View Post

I think it's one of those things like BMI, where they define "normal" based on a median of a population that's overall pretty unhealthy. I know when I'm eating healthy (most of my calories from vegetables) I usually have a BM three times a day. And yeah. Exercise. Peristalsis only does so much (particularly if someone's eating a low fiber diet that takes a lot of muscular energy to propel). A lot of moving stuff through the bowels comes from external stimulation by body movement.
I agree--"normal" may not necessarily be "ideal". Given the lousy American diet (not enough fiber) and lack of exercise, the average frequency of BM is lower than is probably optimal. Inactivity is well known for contributing to constipation--that's largely why hospitalized patients are pretty much automatically given a daily stool softener while they're there--they're not moving much, so their bowels aren't either. For a couch potato, the same kind of thing would happen. We could say that the average American is full of cr@p!!

To the poster who had the issues with Vicodin, yes, opiate meds are NOTORIOUS for stopping people up. I was always taught that patients taking these should also take a stool softener to offset the problem--somebody apparently didn't give you that message!