No Stupid Questions @lemmy.world sznowicki @lemmy.world 1mo ago

If we eat three meals a day, why do we poop only once?

How does it work that we eat few times a day, but usually we poop only once?

Is the colon somehow programmed to buffer the waste until the time is up and then dumps it all further?

Got this thought when observing my dog who eats twice a day (morning and evening) and more or less poops twice a day (morning and evening).

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Everything from 3 times a day to once every 3 days is normal. It depends on how much you eat, how much of it your body can absorb, your fiber intake and some genetic variance too.

Your intestines aren't a conveyor belt, things don't constantly move. There are multiple muscles acting as a valve between different sections. Based on the factors above your body decides when to push stuff to the next section including the exit.
Speak for yourself. I've pooped three times before I'm even out of the house.
- I have so many queations.... Do you work mornings? Night shift? Maybe work from home?
  
  Nah, I poop when I wake up, then second time after having my coffee and third time before leaving.
  
  I only shit during worktme during the week. No need to waste my free time when i can get payed to shit.
  
  Maybe me works both morning and night shits
  
  I usually have to poop 2-3 times after I wake up, the 1st time is usually a dud, then the moment I step out of the bathroom is when things loosen up and I can actually go.
  
  Then sometimes a 3rd time after I've moved around a bit more getting ready.
...You poop only once?
- Ever.
  
  Everybody gets one.
- In fairly certain there are days I lose track of many shits I took.
- some people poop 3 times daily, others 3 times a week, both are considered normal.
I don't usually eat more than once or maybe twice a day but often still take more than one shit.

Everyone's bowels are bitty different.
Yes, your colon is a poop buffer.
How much you poop is going to vary based both on your body and your diet. Ive read anywhere from 3 times a day to once every 3 days can be normal.
- 3 times a day is normal? that sounds torturous!
  
  It shouldn't take longer than a minute...
  
  Id agree. Swapped all my carbs to higher fiber carbs a bit ago and I'm still upset when I have to shit twice a day, I could be happily wasting that time instead of having to shit again.
  
  Almost as bad as once every 3 days!
- This 2-4 times a day means you have a healthy digestive track. Anything less than once a day is cause for concern.
  
  Who are you? The poop police?
  
  I'm at every two to three days now cause I just can't be fucked to eat much of anything
Maybe you poop only once. Everything between three times a day and every three days is in the normal range. If you find yourself within this range, congratulations, you are a boring pooper.
- Important note: it's good to be a boring pooper
Once a day? You're not eating enough fiber.
no poop knife for this guy, amiright?!
I'm 2-3 times a day. it was 5+ until we figured out my body hates gluten
- Unless you are celiac, its likely FODMAPs your body hates. There is a correllation between the amount of gluten and FODMAPs in food that makes watching gluten get part of the picture, but you're missing the whole picture and thus likely not completely regular yet. FODMAPs are in most things. Onions are concentrated FODMAPs and so is tomato sauce.
  
  My doc gave me this initially https://www.ibsdiets.org/fodmap-diet/fodmap-diet-chart/ but there are others you should cross reference for more food item coverage.
  
  I have to admit. Onions, garlic and mushrooms were haaaaard to remove. Ive turned to Miso and a lot of japanese and thai food with the onions removed from any recipes to get this right.
  
  But now I'm down from 5 poops to 1 poop a day.
  
  Additionally "FODMAP" is a huge umbrella.
  
  Most people don't have issues with every type in that umbrella. A full FODMAP diet is usually too restrictive for people to get the most out of their diet, and isn't recommended for most. Ideally you go full FODMAP for a month, then start reintroducing foods until you know which kinds bother you.
  
  Sometimes it can be as simple as eliminating sugar alcohols for the lucky.
  
  I’m about to try this diet to get to the bottom of it, but I think onions/garlic seem to be a problem. It’s not that bad a condition, but I’d like to at least be able to know when I’m signing up for indigestion.
  
  I'd be more miserable without that food than I am with gastro issues. Fuck that.
  
  I admire your abilities. I still have to learn how to cook without garlic or onion. I keep saying 'this is the last one' but now I'm feeling like one of those smokers who can't quit.
Science time!

Fast for 24 hours then use an anal douche. This should completely clear your digestive track.

Now eat for the next 24 hours while measuring everything you eat. Every time you poop make sure to measure it, either my measuring the poop directly (poop in a bowl?) Or by measuring the difference in weight after you poop (be sure to first pee as to not measure liquids)

Now fast for another 24 hours while continuing to measure your poop. By the end of it you should have to total weight you eat and the total weight you pooped. For most foods you can probably reduce the weight by half to account for liquids (most will be pee, some will be in your poop, this will depend on the liquidness of your poop)

Now you will probably notice a few things:

you poop a lot less mass than you consume, this is because you turn a lot of it into energy.

there is a lot of water in food

you probably poop more than you think (one dump can be quite big in comparison to a meal when removing liquids)

Enjoy!
- OK, but I'm using your bowl.
- You could also just measure without fasting over a full week and compare averages. Assuming your diet is consistent.
Humans have a really good digestive tract for getting nutrients out of food. So you take a lot of the mass of the food you eat and use it in your body as energy or building material. As such your poop has significantly smaller mass because it's made up of all the stuff you're body can't use after it's pulled out so the good bits.

As for dogs my understanding is they have a shorter digestive tract to allow them to eat the nasty stuff does seem to like without getting sick so they are probably less efficient at removing nutrients and poop more proportionally to what they eat.
Because we are taught by society to not poop at work.

Naturally we poop way more often, and naturally we ate more often too.
- Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime, that's why I shit on company time
  
  Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime
  
  If only the inequality gap were this small...
  
  Elmo boogieing on the potty is what I see in my head
- Society must have taught me poorly because I poop at work as frequently as my body tells me to
- Because we are taught by society to not poop at work.
  
  LOL I must have been sick at home during that lesson...
- We live in a society
Maybe you poop only once.
- Hell, I've been pooping for years!
  
  Then it's probably time to wipe.
Because we store poo for later shits
So my kids poop 1-2 times a day, normally lunch time then evening time.

My partner is once a day.

I'm more like 2-3 times a day, normally morning and then just before bedtime.
Just poop while you eat to save time
Just wanted to point out that the colon is ~~LIFO and not FIFO~~ FIFO and not LIFO wow I need more caffeine
- I feel like that can't be true, but I have nothing to disprove it
  
  You're right, I mixed it up. I feel like if it was LIFO that there would be meals that would never come out, ever.
I would guess (without knowing for sure) that it's because your body absorbs a part of the food, so you poop out less mass than you eat.

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