Nobody likes to be constipated or have less than stellar poops. Am I right? When things are feeling backed up or not moving like they “should be” we can feel bloated, gassy, toxic, and even our moods and body can be affected with all those re circulating toxins.
Perhaps you have not been around a lot of ‘poop talk’ but as a nutritionist I have grown quite accustomed to talking about this kind of stuff. It’s like water cooler talk except I work solo most often, so that would be weird. Talking about bowel movements (BM’s) is so normal to me I gotta check myself before I wreck myself and keep my poop and bowel health convos for the right the people and places! Ex: Let’s not talk about it at the dinner table.. Unless you want to I mean? That’s cool too. Heck if your bowels and digestive system are working well, you should see dinner in 18-24 hours later anyway ?
I digress, the reason I feel that talking about BM’s is essential is because the health of our digestive system and our GUT is integral to our overall health. Each day that we are eating and taking in food and toxins, we must be expelling and processing these toxins at a solid rate of speed. As one of my teachers has often said “If we are not detoxing, we are retoxing”. We need our colon moving well and processing the junk OUT in order to have a healthy detoxified bod.
TOXINS IN = TOXIN OUT
Do you deal with inconsistent BM’s and digestive issues?
Well today we’re going to explore how to get you pooping like a champion! Awards and accolades are coming your way! You can thank me later ?
Note: If you have chronic digestive issues, that may be something that you should consider exploring further with a doctor, Naturopath and/or Holistic Nutritionist. IBS, Chrons etc are all conditions that can often be supported with diet, lifestyle techniques and supplementation. Today’s tips will still be valuable but make sure to explore things further and get yourself on a personalized program!
How to Poop Like a Champion
Ideally we’d like to have one daily BM if not a couple. Your food should take about 18-24 hours to travel from the stomach, get broken down and move through the small intestine and then down into the large intestine (colon) for excretion. If you’re not excreting daily or if you’re having less than impressive little rabbit poops, or even watery stool that is a sign that your bowel movements are not on point.
Contributing Factors
There are a lot of factors which can affect the health of our gut and our digestion such as:
- diet (lack of fibre, eating too much junk food)
- gut flora balance
- food sensitivities
- drugs and medications
- gut permeability or
- just plain old poor digestion.
All of these factors affect our digestion and the quality of our stool.
But in order to get you started today, here are a few things you can implement that can make a HUGE DIFFERENCE in your bowel movements.
Let’s get rolling!
How to Poop Like a Champion Action Plan:
Hydration:
A lot of people are constipated due to a lack of hydration. Our colon needs fluids in order to lubricate things and keep them moving out of the colon. Drinking water and fluids like herbal teas (8-10 cups per day and more if you are active) is essential to moving that colon machine on the daily. Eating plenty of water rich fruit and veggies is also a great way to add fluids into your day.
Lubrication:
Lubricating the colon is a game changer. I’ve noticed that a lot of people tend to eat more red meat, white grains than they need to and less healthy fats and veggies. Healthy fats are essential for the quality of our poops and if you want to poop like a champion you need to get on the healthy fats train.
Healthy fats help to keep things in our colon moving smoothly like a well greased machine. Sorry for the visuals, but increase your healthy fats and watch the quality of your BM’s improve. A choir may sing and doves may fly.
Add more healthy plant based oils (olive oil, sesame oil, avo oil, coconut oil) and healthy fats such as nuts, seeds, avocados, hemp, flax, chia and cold water fish such salmon to your diet to support your colon health.
BONUS: Healthy fats are good for your brain too! And if you colon is moving well this can also support better moods and less toxicity ?
Fibre:
Fibre is essential to creating a good bowel movement and most people are not consuming enough 30-40g/day. The two kinds of fibre that we need are solube and non-soluble ex: oatmeal has lovely soluble fibre in it while celery has more non-soluble roughage fibre.
Having a mix of both is what helps to grab toxins in our colon, create that bulk that we need and move things out the door. Flax, hemp seeds, whole grains, apples and other fruits along with plenty of veggies will add wonderful fibre into your diet.
Remember – EAT MORE FIBRE EVERY DAY! Snack on fruits, veggies and add chia, flax, hemp to your breakfast!
Additional Helpers:
- I won’t get too deep into the supplement area, but I wanted to mention a couple. Aloe vera juice is amazingly soothing for an irritated gut and Magnesium (citrate) is also very relaxing for muscles and can help bring more water into the colon = better BM’s. These are game changers!
*(always talk with your doc or natural health practitioner first, if you’d like to add supplements to your routine) - Take a probiotic to ensure healthy bacteria in your gut
- Fancy Tip: (Take Mg on your travels along with probiotics and you can say adios to travel constipation)
- Try digestive support such as digestive bitters and digestive enzymes (speak with your doctor first if you are pregnant or breastfeeding)
- Reduce and process your stress! The gut is the 2nd brain, and if we are not consistently processing stress, it can affect the functionality of our gut.
I haven’t shared a recipe in a while so here is a tasty recipe that is rich in veggies and healthy fats!
This broccoli salad is also very liver supporting as it includes cruciferous veggies (broccoli) and lots of fibre from the veggies and nuts/seeds. Enjoy!
Broccoli Salad Recipe
Dressing:
- 1 cup cashews soaked
- 1/4-1/3 cup water (for desired thickness)
- 1.5 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic chopped
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- Dash of pepper
Salad:
- 1.5 broccoli crowns chopped into small pieces
- 1/4 red onion diced
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup walnuts chopped
- 1 tbsp hemp seeds
How to make:
- Soak cashews in water 2-6 hours (or overnight), drain and add to blender. Add water and the remaining salad dressing ingredients to blender and blend until smooth. Add more water if needed to thin out dressing.
- Chop broccoli, red onion and walnuts and add to mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients to mixing bowl
- Mix up vegetables and pour dressing over. Mix up salad and serve cold. It can soak for a bit in dressing as well, and becomes more flavourful!
I hope that you enjoyed today’s blog – remember to share it if you found it valuable ?
And if you’d like to take your health to the next level then consider getting yourself booked with me soon for a Fall Discovery Session. Book your spot HERE.
Peace and fantastic doo doo’s,
References:
Balch, 2010, Prescription for Nutritional Healing, New York
