Al G Smith

Healthy families need healthy toilet habits but there is quite a bit of misunderstanding about toilet regularity. Here is a recent question that earned ‘Best Answer’ approbation:

Q. Hey What’s wrong with me…I always need to go to the toilet after meals all the time….?

A. The longer you ’sit on it’ – i.e. wait to go — the more liquid is absorbed through the bowel walls and the more compacted it is likely to become — hence resulting in constipation.

It is always best to go when ‘nature calls’ and not wait — if possible This reduces chances of constipation and increases likely ease of going.

It is not unreasonable to want to go after meals. The whole digestive system ‘kicks in’ when you start to eat — from saliva production in the mouth, to acid production in the stomach, to peristaltic motion in the bowel (the waves of movement that help to move the food along the bowel to the ‘exit’!)

Other things that can trigger ‘movement’ such things as taking a warm drink of tea or coffee when you wake up…the caffeine again can kick-start the ‘motion’.

Your body is quite likely to get into a ‘routine’ when it ‘expects ‘ to go — and can be a bit difficult to ‘re-train’…

But in essence:
Hanging on to your ‘poo’ is bad for several reasons:
- Possible constipation (as mentioned)
- Resulting in straining - leading possibly to piles (haemorrhoids).
For example

You should ‘go’ when the need arises and, although it is often not realized, it is normal and healthy to go as many times as you eat (makes sense doesn’t it!) So three meals a day…three ‘poos’ a day!

MANY folks go far less often (constipation is a real issue — as can diarrhoea be)..and it is well known that up to 80% of people consuming a Western diet have severely impaired digestive processes.

You should ‘listen to your body’ and also keep well hydrated (again, most people are in a constant state of dehydration) — we really NEED to drink about 2 to 3 liters of good clean water a day (preferably natural, mineral water). This can help a lot with the problem of constipation…

But the problem of poor digestive system, stemming from reduced levels of healthy (good) bacteria in the bowels that are needed for efficient digestion also needs dealing with. For this it is worth considering a good probiotic product (that is NOT a silly little yogurt drink, by the way). There’s a useful article about probiotics here:
http://www.gonando.com/probiotics.html

Poor gut health is probably one of the MAIN pre-cursors to serious health challenges in later life so getting and keeping a healthy system whilst you are young is REALLY important. (fascinating video about what we ought to eat to keep the gut health here too: http://www.gonando.com/alkaline-foods.ht…)

So…keep on going!

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