Does your poop tell a story of your health?

How often you have a bowel movement has a real impact on your long-term health, according to a new study in the journal Cell Reports Medicine . There are health benefits associated with one to two bowel movements a day, which researchers at the Institute for Systems Biology, who did the study, deem the “Goldilocks zone.”

The institute team collected data from 1,400 healthy adults who were involved with the consumer wellness company Arivale and who agreed to participate. The data included blood chemistry, gut biome, genetics and data on lifestyle, among other things.

The self-reported information on bowel movement frequency was sorted into groups: constipated (one to two bowel movements a week), low-normal (three to six a week), high normal (one to three a day) and diarrhea, according to a news release from the institute.

The institute said that “once categorized, the team looked for associations between bowel movement frequency and factors including demographics, genetics, gut microbiome, blood metabolites and plasma chemistries.”

They next compared how often people had bowel movements to factors such as genetics, gut biome, demographics, blood metabolite and plasma chemistries, per the study.

Age, sex and body mass index were “significantly associated” with how often people poop. Younger people, women and those with lower BMI tend to poop less often. And that matters because it impacts “gut ecosystem function,” according to lead author Johannes Johnson-Martinez.

When stool spends too much time in the gut, the dietary fiber is consumed by microbes. Then they “ferment” it into short-chain fatty acids that are beneficial, but the ecosystem then ferments proteins, producing toxins that can enter the bloodstream, he said in the release.

While the “Goldilocks zone” of bowel movement frequency was associated with better health, both those with constipation and those with diarrhea were more apt to have protein fermentation, which is associated with problems.

Bowel activity and health

Both a group of blood metabolites and plasma chemistries were also linked to bowel habits, highlighting the potential for an association with chronic disease risk, the study said. Certain protein fermentation byproducts known to damage the kidneys were found in the blood of those who were constipated, while those reporting diarrhea had higher risk of liver damage based on their chemistries.

Those who eat a diet with plenty of fiber, drink adequate fluids and exercise regularly were much more likely to have regular bowel movements and be in the Goldilocks zone.

Per the institute’s release, “Chronic constipation has been associated with neurodegenerative disorders and with chronic kidney disease progression in patients with active disease,” said Dr. Sean Gibbons , institute associate professor and corresponding author of the paper. “However, it has been unclear whether or not bowel movement abnormalities are early drivers of chronic disease and organ damage, or whether these retrospective associations in sick patients are merely a coincidence.”

The study, he said, showed that in a group of people who are healthy, constipation is linked to blood levels of toxins from microbes that are known to cause organ damage before a disease and its symptoms are noticed.

The researchers also believe that how often people poop could be connected to anxiety and depression.

Alcohol and gut health

Other studies have looked at gut health and alcohol use. In January, The New York Times reported on some of the limited research on alcohol’s effect on gut health. Some of the research showed that people who drink a lot are more prone to a “leaky” gut, which can release toxins, since the gut’s lining is supposed to keep food, microbes and toxins inside the digestive tract. Alcohol can weaken that lining.

When the bacteria and toxins get into the bloodstream, it can lead to liver inflammation and damage, Dr. Cynthia Hsu, a gastroenterologist at the University of California San Diego, told the Times.

Evidence is less clear for moderate drinkers, but the researchers interviewed by the Times suggest that cutting back or stopping alcohol consumption is not a bad idea, given other proven health problems. “We do know that alcohol can cause acid reflux, stomach lining inflammation and gastrointestinal bleeding and can increase your risk of several types cancer, including those of the esophagus, colon and rectum,” Dr. Lorenzo Leggio, a physician-scientist who studies alcohol use and addiction at the National Institutes of Health, told the Times.