What Can Your Stool Tell You About Your Gut Health?

Most people tend to shy away from bathroom talk, but in integrative medicine, we lean in for it because it can offer many clues about your gastrointestinal health. Specifically, your stool is a valuable tool in assessing the status of gut health. Your providers can learn a lot about what might be going on just from discussing your stool’s shape, consistency, and frequency. You might be thinking, “yuck!”, but we encourage you to read on and learn more, especially if you are one who has been experiencing stomach upset with no relief. Your poop might have a clue!

To begin, it is important to introduce a useful tool we will be referencing: the Bristol Stool Form Scale. This scale was developed to be used as a reference for clinicians and patients to aid in determining gut transit time based on the visual classification of a patient’s stool. This helps providers to determine how fast things are moving along in the digestive tract. We provided an image of the Bristol Stool Form Scale below.

Published on Research Gate

The classification of stool Type 1-7 is indicative of the water content in your stool. This is because water absorption occurs in the colon. If the gut is passing things too quickly through the colon, your body does not have enough time to absorb water. This results in diarrhea which is classified as either a Type 6 or 7 on the stool chart. If the gut is moving slower than normal, too much water can be reabsorbed and lead to constipation. Constipation is indicated as a Type 1 or 2 rating. Types 3-5 are categorized as normal bowel movements. One interesting study has shown that there is a correlation with gut microbiota population density with lower type ratings on the Bristol Stool Form Scale. While there is a need for follow-up studies to determine a cause and effect relationship and give good clinical guidelines, this finding is exciting because it shows that gut motility may have an impact on the gut microbiome. The validity and reliability of this stool chart have been studied for effective clinical use in patients with constipation, healthy patients, and even IBS with diarrhea. For those that may have other bowel ailments, do not fret, your stool can still offer important clues.

The Bristol Stool Form Scale provides a lot of information but we can go even deeper into analyzing the visual consistency of your stool. Two more significant clues to consider are color and the presence of undigested food. Normal stool has a wide variety of colors. Concern should arise if stool appears to be bright red or black in color as this could signify the presence of blood. We recommend talking to your medical provider if you notice these colors especially if you had not recently eaten anything red or black, as stool color can change depending on what you have recently eaten. Normal stool should also have minimal undigested food. The remnants of food in stool can signify a lack of digestive ability, especially if coupled with chronic diarrhea or other abnormal bowel occurrences. We recommend discussing this issue with your medical provider to ensure proper digestion.

Lastly, another indicator of healthy digestion is the regularity of elimination. It is ideal to have a bowel movement at least once per day, but each individual is unique and ‘regular’ for two different people can mean different things. Regularity is key. Bowel movement regularity is important for the excretion of digestive material. A backup can cause pain and discomfort. Integrative medicine providers are well versed in addressing gut motility dysfunction. We recommend a consult with an integrative provider if you suspect you may be constipated. Relief is possible!

PIM wants to hear from you! Have you checked out your stool recently? Do you find this article helpful? Share your thoughts in the comments below or on our Facebook and Instagram!

Are you curious about digging deeper into your gut health or are already working with a doctor to address a condition but want a more comprehensive, empowering approach to medicine? Schedule a 20 minute free consultation or an appointment with Zoie Phillips, MSPA, PA-C or Lynda Sherland, CRNP, FNP-C today! Not quite ready to schedule and have questions? Quickly get in touch with us today!

References:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/apt.13746

https://gut.bmj.com/content/65/1/57?papetoc=&utm_source=trendmd&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=gut&utm_content=consumer&utm_term=0-A

https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/ss/slideshow-poop-type-color