Delicately wondering

[shootingstar]

Article on constipation and how to reduce it:
http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/healt..._webmd_sohcure

I'm abit surprised by what the article says that having a bowel movement only 3 times per week is still normal.

I just wouldn't feel physically well. I start to worry abit when nothing happens after 2 days.

And of course, certain regular forms of exercise helps. For some reason, yoga is highlighted in article.
I never cared about my lower "plumbing' processes until I got into cycling.

[Crankin]

I wouldn't feel well, either. But everyone is different.
I had a lot of problems with this when I was younger. Weirdly, after I had children, it disappeared.
Yes, cyclists do seem to talk a lot/have concern with about bodily functions....

[snapdragen]

This became an issue after being on vicodin, I wasn't aware that it was one of the side effects. I was miserable!

[OakLeaf]

EW, I read that a few days ago, must've been where they got the info for the Oprah show.

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.

[shootingstar]

EW, I read that a few days ago, must've been where they got the info for the Oprah show.

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.

Hmmm...it's one of those things most people don't talk much about unless it's monitoring their babies or when they get very old/very sick/ill. All the talk about body cleanses, etc., would not be necessary if people were regular in BM, ate food closest to produce, had right fibre in diet, etc.

Maybe it's more chic /easier to talk about body cleanses in conversations with others, but not address regular, natural ways how the body gets rid of toxins/waste by improving diet long-term & exercise.

[Jolt]

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!

[Crankin]

Well, for some reason, this was not an unusual topic of conversation in my house, growing up, nor now. My husband and I like to joke that cycling is the automatic "cleansing activity." No matter how short of a ride I am going on, I always "go" before a ride. Sometimes more than once. It doesn't matter the time of day, or if I have gone earlier. Most of it is nervous energy for me, but when my husband mentioned the same thing happened to him, I wonder if it is our body's way of getting rid of stuff before we are out in the middle of nowhere.
Jolt, I agree. Most Americans are full of cr@p. I am pretty sure the only reason I had issues with this as a kid and teen was because I ate hardly any fruits or veggies. In fact, when I was 5, I had to be put on a special diet and take some awful chocolate looking medicine (I remember my mom shoving it down my throat from a spoon) because I was living on bread and butter and milk, which wreaked havoc with my digestive system, to say the least.

[badger]

the article's no longer there, so I don't know what it said, but I've had problems with it all my life. I'm mostly vegetarian and eat probably double the amount of vegetables the average people eat. I also eat high fibre cereals and brown rice. Yet I still have trouble being regular.

The only time I was was when I was taking Kefir, but it was kind of going the opposite spectrum where I was going much too much.

For me I know it has a LOT to do with anxiety in general every day life.

But the worst is when I travel. I plug right up and it gets really uncomfortable after a while.

[OakLeaf]

I used to be like that. It was awful. Don't know if it was just having to get used to frequent travel, or being more diligent about exercise in the road, that made the difference.

[ny biker]

Okay, we have information from an expert. Bodily functions are a favorite subject of Gene Weingarten, who is a columnist for the Washington Post. This week for his online chat, he took a poll of his readers which included questions on frequency of farts per day and poops per week. In commenting on the poll results, he says that he interviewed experts for a book he wrote years ago on hypochondria, and the average is 7-8 poops per week. However he also points out that the "normal range" is wide.

The transcript from the chat is here. Just so you're warned, Gene and his readers do not mince words. Also be careful about clicking on the links that he provides in his chat, because some may be not safe for work or may be blocked by your firewall.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...072801766.html

The poll in question is the Low-Brow poll. You can click on the "Continue" button at the bottom to see the results, and it's not necessary to actually take the poll.

(Previous online chats with Gene have delved into the phenomenon of poop-shame, from which many women apparently suffer. This is the reluctance to go in a public restroom due to embarrassment. He's also discovered that women flush with their feet, and he finds this fascinating because evidently men don't do this.)

[OakLeaf]

Bah. Men don't flush at all with those swirling urinals.