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Bowel movements are an important part of our health. However, speaking openly about it is often avoided to avoid potentially embarrassing or uncomfortable situations. While the stool is often used to make fun of it, it serves a much more generous purpose than that. Your bowel movements can be a rich source of information about the condition your body is in - and especially the health of your digestive system. It may seem unsanitary to study your poo, but it's a small price to pay for the important information you gain from it. If you have learned how to analyze stool, you can gauge the condition of your body before other symptoms begin to appear.

To step

1. Analyze the frequency of bowel movements. In healthy people, the digestive system should digest and excrete waste products about one to three times a day. Many people think it is normal to defecate two to four times a week, but technically this is called constipation. Defecating more than three times a day is also not an option, because there is diarrhea.
2. Analyze the color of your stool. Healthy stools produce light brown to brown stools. If your stool is unusually dark, it could indicate blood in the digestive tract. If the stool is pale, gray, or yellow, it could indicate a problem with the liver or gallbladder.
3. The color of your stool can be caused by your diet. Some foods give the stool a certain color. It can cause the stool to be very light or dark, or even have a weird color like orange. If the color of your poop cannot be explained by your diet, you should see a doctor as soon as possible.
4. Analyze the shape of your stool. If your stool shows healthy bowel movements, it will be in the shape of a straight banana. Very thin or flat stools may indicate a blockage in the gastrointestinal tract.
5. Analyze the outline of your stool. Healthy stools will have a small circumference - small enough that they can be relieved without pain and discomfort. If your stool is usually large and uncomfortable, you may be interolerant to lactose or casein. Both lactose and casein are found in dairy products. In some people this can cause digestive problems.
6. Analyze the length of your stool. If your stool comes out as small pebbles or short lumps, it could indicate a problem with the liver or gallbladder. In some cases, short pieces of stool can indicate a lack of digestive enzymes. There is no such thing as too long a turd; there's nothing wrong with long turds, provided they don't cause pain or trouble.
7. Analyze the consistency of your stool. Healthy bowel movements will produce stools that are well formed and packed. If your stool is watery or soft, it could indicate a bacterial or viral infection in your gastrointestinal tract. Hard, massive stools indicate constipation.
   • Sometimes your stool can be greasy and leave a film of film in the toilet. This type of stool may indicate that you are temporarily, or possibly permanently, unable to obtain nutrients from your diet. It can also be a symptom of an acute pancreatitis or another problem with the pancreas.
8. Analyze the smell of your stool. Although poop never smells good, healthy stools will not smell terribly. Excessively strong and foul smelling poo could indicate a problem with gastrointestinal toxicity. Sometimes foul-smelling stools can be the result of a poor diet or an excess of unhealthy bacteria in the intestines.
   • Foul-smelling stools will often be accompanied by symptoms of either diarrhea or constipation. If symptoms persist for more than a few days, see the doctor immediately.

Tips

• A good way to analyze your stool is to use your senses. Use your sense of smell to determine the strength of the smell, or listen to how hard the stool falls into the toilet water. An experienced listener can calculate the density, and even the weakness, of the poop as it enters the water.
• Do abdominal exercises to promote or stop the peristaltic movements of the colon. This can allow the blockage of hard stools to pass through the intestines. You can also just exercise regularly.
• The best way to determine the health of your stool is through the milk test. If you put a small piece of poo in a bowl of milk, healthy poo will break down and become soggy. This is because milk contains enzymes that break down stool. If it doesn't, then your poo is too sour. In that case, consider eating more foods that contain a lot of potassium, such as bananas.
• You can put on gloves to squeeze your poo. If the poo breaks down into crumbs, you should drink more water. If the turd breaks and more pieces come out, put the turd in a jar of water - take it to the doctor so it can be examined.
• A healthy person would generally only need to "wipe" three times. If you have to wipe more than three more times, tell your healthcare professional at the next checkup.
• If possible, try to close the toilet lid when you flush.