How Often Should You Poop? Science Has an Answer

Key Takeaways

• A new study explored the relationship between bowel movement frequency and gut health.
• Researchers found that people who pooped one or two times a day had an optimal balance of gut bacteria and fewer markers in their blood suggesting kidney or liver damage.
• To improve pooping frequency, investigators recommend staying hydrated and eating more whole foods, especially plants.

Pooping may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about things you do to stay healthy. But a new study suggests that your bowel movement frequency might play a role in your gut health and your risk of certain chronic diseases.

That's because when you poop once or twice a day, your gut microbiome - the trillions of bacteria and other microscopic organisms that live in your digestive tract - contain the optimal blend of beneficial bacteria and the lowest levels of harmful bacteria and toxins, according to study findings published this week in Cell Reports Medicine .

Researchers Looked for the ‘Goldilocks Zone' of Pooping

To understand the impact of pooping frequency on gut health, researchers examined data on more than 1,400 healthy adults sorted into four groups: constipated people who defecated only once or twice a week; individuals classified as "low-normal" with three to six bowel movements weekly; people described as "high-normal" with one to three bowel movements daily; and those who had diarrhea and went four or more times a day.

Certain beneficial types of fiber-fermenting gut bacteria, often associated with health, appeared to thrive in people whose poop habits were in what researchers described as a "Goldilocks zone" of bowel movement frequency - going once or twice a day.

Meanwhile people in the constipation group had elevated levels of protein-fermenting bacteria, while people in the diarrhea group had higher levels of bacteria in their upper gastrointestinal tracts.

The researchers also tested the subjects' blood for certain toxins produced by gut microbes, which can be linked to organ damage. They found that individuals with constipation had more evidence of markers in their blood associated with kidney damage, and that individuals with diarrhea had more evidence of markers for liver damage.

"In a generally healthy population, we show that constipation, in particular, is associated with blood levels of microbially derived toxins known to cause organ damage, prior to any disease diagnosis," says the senior study author Sean Gibbons, PhD , an associate professor at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle.

What the Study Does and Doesn't Reveal

"Aberrant bowel movement frequency may be an important risk factor in the development of chronic diseases," Dr. Gibbons says. "These insights could inform strategies for managing bowel movement frequency, even in healthy populations, to optimize health and wellness."

The study has some limitations. For starters, it wasn't a controlled experiment designed to prove whether or how bowel movement frequency might directly impact the gut microbiome or the development of any specific health issues or chronic diseases.

Rigorous experiments involving larger groups of people and a mix of healthy and chronically ill individuals are needed to determine whether there are direct connections between bowel movement frequency, gut health, and specific medical issues, says W. Florian Fricke , a professor in the department of microbiome research and applied bioinformatics at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany, who wasn't involved in the new study.

"That being said, the study identified factors associated with higher bowel movement frequency that could be used to make recommendations if an increased bowel movement frequency would be the goal," Fricke says.

How Can You Get on a Healthier Pooping Schedule?

"The gut microbiome eats what we eat," says Dr. Gibbons. "In our study, we saw that higher fruit and vegetable intake was associated with more optimal bowel movement frequency.

"Beyond our study, prior work has shown that proper hydration, a diet rich in whole foods - especially plants - fiber supplementation, probiotics, and exercise can also help to maintain proper bowel movement frequency," he says.

Fricke echoes the advice to eat more fruits and vegetables, and also recommends reducing snacking. "These are common-sense dietary and lifestyle factors that would be recommended for everyone, not just individuals with low bowel movement frequency," he says.

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Sources

1. Johnson-Martínez J et al. Aberrant Bowel Movement Frequencies Coincide With Increased Microbe-Derived Blood Metabolites Associated With Reduced Organ Function. Cell Reports Medicine . July 16, 2024.

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Lisa Rapaport

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Lisa Rapaport is a journalist with more than 20 years of experience on the health beat as a writer and editor. She holds a master's degree from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and spent a year as a Knight-Wallace journalism fellow at the University of Michigan. Her work has appeared in dozens of local and national media outlets, including Reuters, Bloomberg, WNYC, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times , Scientific American , San Jose Mercury News , Oakland Tribune , Huffington Post, Yahoo! News, The Sacramento Bee , and The Buffalo News . … See full bio See Our Editorial Policy Meet Our Health Expert Network