How often you have to make poop and other doubts of digestion

“Both going to the bathroom three times a day and three times a week enters normal.There is constipation when the depositions are made with a frequency less than three times a week, something that affects women more than men, ”says CuidatePlus Ángela Quintas, a degree in Chemical Sciences, Master's Degree in Dietetics and Human Nutrition, and authorFrom the book entitled The Secret of Good Digestion (Planet).

Against what many people believe, the solution to being constipated is not in the use of laxatives, since they can cause a bad absorption of fundamental nutrients such as fat -soluble vitamins, iron or calcium."The first thing to do is check our diet to see if the fiber contribution - supported by fruits, vegetables and whole grains - and liquids is enough," says the writer.The average fiber consumption in the western world does not exceed 10 or 15 grams per day.Increase it to 30 grams (gradually to prevent gas formation) increases the volume of deposits and reduces the time they remain in the colon.

To avoid being constipated, in addition to ingesting fiber -rich meals and drinking a lot of water, it is important to practice sports.Extra aid can be, when sitting on the wader, placing a small bench under the feet and slightly tilting the body forward.Putting your feet in the morning while having breakfast quietly can also work.

"The reason that constipation affects the woman more than the man (in a proportion of two to one) can be the menstrual cycle," says the expert in dietary and human nutrition.During menstruation and ovulation hormones are revolutionized and sometimes make women strive.In other women the opposite can happen, that in these periods of the month they have more frequent and much softer consistency, because the decrease in estrogens results in fluid retention in the colon.

The effect of coffee on an empty stomach and other curiosities

One of the curiosities that you tell in your book is that “when drinking coffee on an empty stomach, caffeine stimulates the neurons of the enteric nervous system that we have in our intestine.These give the order to produce contractions of the intestine's muscle walls, giving rise to the need to go to the bathroom ”.

Con qué frecuencia hay que hacer caca y otras dudas de digestión

As the author says, when it reaches adulthood, poop becomes a great taboo.To the point that the design of many of the waders used in Spain makes “the feces disappear in a hurry without us as hard.This is the French Váter model, whose hole is in the back ”.On the other hand, the German and Anglo -Saxon toilet model facilitates its inspection.

So, should we pay more attention to our cacas?Indeed, he states fifths, pointing out that “we should all look at them without shame because they give us information about our state of health.There are many cases of colon cancer that are diagnosed in a first stage because patients begin to see blood in their feces ”.

If you wonder why the guts sound, how many has the answer: “Our digestive system makes noise not only when it is empty and we are hungry, but also when we are doing digestion.These noises, known as Borborigmos, are produced by intestines as they drive food and gases through peristal movements.Since the intestines are hollow, these movements can produce noise similar to those of a water pipe ”.

When the balance of the intestinal microbiota is broken

“Within our digestive system (from the mouth to the anus) we have beneficial and other harmful microorganisms.If they remain in balance, it is said that the intestine is in eubiosis.When that balance is broken, we talk about intestinal dysbiosis and has consequences, ”says the nutrition expert.

The rupture of the balance between beneficial and harmful bacteria can favor the appearance of a long list of digestive pathologies: diseases such as diarrhea, constipation, meteorism or abdominal swelling, irritable intestine syndrome, bacterial or sibo, irritable colon, allergies and intolerancesFood, type 2 diabetes, obesity, oversight of Candida Albicans, Helicobacter pylori ...

Regarding the aforementioned excessive fungi growth in the digestive system, fifths points out that “stomach candid is more difficult to diagnose than vaginal and mouth candid.Patients are usually women who really want to eat sweet in a uncontrolled way throughout the day, suffer from joints and strong smells bother them a lot.The itching in the anus can be another symptom of candidiasis in the stomach ”.

What would be the treatment in those cases?Stop feeding that candid, regardless.In addition, it is convenient to use some probiotic and prebiotic strains to repair the microbiota.

Decalogue for a happy intestine

Quintas offers these 10 recommendations to improve intestinal health:

  1. Evitar el abuso de fármacos como antiinflamatorios, cortisona, ácido acetilsalicílico e inhibidores de la bomba de protones.
  2. Tomar antibióticos solo cuando sean estrictamente necesarios, nunca sin prescripción médica y siempre acompañados de un probiótico para proteger la microbiota.
  3. No olvidar incluir la fibra en la dieta.
  4. La hora de ir al baño debe convertirse en un hábito.
  5. Reducir el consumo de azúcar y alimentos ultrprocesados.
  6. Llevar una alimentación variada, rica en frutas, verduras, legumbres, harinas integrales, proteínas bajas en grasa y aceite de oliva, etcétera.
  7. No obsesionarse con un exceso de higiene. Dejar a los niños que se manchen en el parque.
  8. No abusar de las grasas.
  9. No fumar.
  10. Mantener el peso a raya.