Q&A Wednesday: Fiber, Because Everybody Poops
How often should one go to the bathroom? ...
by Erika Nicole Kendall
Today, we’re talking potty time:
Q: Hi Erika, I love your blog, I like how you tackle issues of weightloss and workouts. There is an area you have never touched on, how often one should go to the bathroom (long call). You may wonder why am raising this…before you posted your Q&A on belly fat and the importance of fibre I used to do it once every two days, I would drink 12 glasses of water but I was always constipated….when you mentioned fibre.. That was my aha moment…I weigh 160 lbs and am 5 feet 4” but guess what? My waist is 35 inches…that seems to be due to lack of fibre.. If you could tackle the issue I believe it will help someone else. Thanks once more!
The "cookie"... if you don't know what I mean by "the cookie," you certainly will soon!
In simple terms, fiber is the stuff that pushes food through your digestive system. The Earth is intelligent. We get our nutrients from fruits and vegetables, right? Those fruits and vegetables come complete with the nutrients we need, coupled with the appropriate amount of fiber to help push the stuff through our digestive system.
But what is fiber? Fiber is a carbohydrate that is so indigestible, it manages to pass through your system without being broken down into bits that your body can use. It, in its pieces (usually broken down by your teeth), works its way through your intestines, eventually using its girth to help clean your intestines out by pushing and scraping all the way down and out. “Out,” as in, private potty time.
Having said that, in theory if you are getting the proper amount of fruits and vegetables in your daily diet, then you should be pushing food out after every meal.
That’s right – since every meal is taking food in, food that should have a healthy amount of fruits and vegetables, every meal should be helping push food out. So while someone who’s going hard on the veggies might go after every meal, I think shooting for once a day makes sense.
Think about it – anyone who “goes number two” every four days, and it takes them 45 minutes to do it… think about what that means. They’ve got four days worth of potty in their system. If they’re eating the kind of diet I can assume they’re eating (by only going number two every four days), can you imagine what their abdominal area looks like by then? Distended, full,”beer belly”-esque. After four days, the stuff in your system has hardened. They’ve got to give birth, basically. I didn’t even want to give birth when I gave birth. I’m cool on all that.
If you’re a big processed food eater, know that your foods more than likely don’t have enough fiber to cover the amount of food you’re eating. (The fiber is removed because foods with fiber tend to spoil easier.) It’s also likely that – if your foods have fiber chemically (or “magically”) inserted in them – that their version of fiber simply isn’t sufficient or structured properly enough to do what naturally fibrous foods can do. Fiber, much like any other nutrient, is best obtained through natural means.
So, I suppose the next question is… how can I go potty more? How can I get a little more fiber in my diet?
Aside from the obvious – add more fruits and vegetables to your diet and skip the processed foods – there are a few unorthodox methods.
There are lots of teas out there that can help. You can find them as “laxative teas” or “slimming teas” (even though I cringe at how misleading this is, it does slim your frame down… after it cleanses your colon) and they can be found where most of the other teas are in your grocery. A good laxative tea will contain either “senna” or “cassia.” I’ve personally used both, but I don’t use them regularly. Those are kind of last-resort solutions.
I’m good for making a big batch of baked beans, using navy beans as my base. Navy beans can give you a good 15g of fiber in a serving. In fact, garbanzo beans (chickpeas), black beans and pinto beans are good for double digit fiber amounts.
Nuts and seeds are also a great way to get your fiber in. Not the roasted and salted kind (so you roasted cashew lovers, try going raw every now and again), but the pure and untouched kind. Try to find new ways to incorporate them into your dinners: use a little peanuts in your stir fry, chew on a few for a snack, or even add some seeds to your cookie and bread recipes. I actually have a recipe for an Apple Butter Flax Seed cookie that is guaranteed to get you going. I’ll post it later on You can find it here, but really – adding about a fourth of a cup of flax seed to any cookie batch will do the trick.
Having said all that, get more veggies and fruits in your diet, start trying to phase out the processed foods, and bake yourself a nice hearty batch of cookies every now and again. That’s the best way to stay regular. 
Update: I don’t talk about artificial fiber sources and whatnot because, frankly, I don’t use them – but someone dropped this article off in my tweets, and I thought this excerpt might provide a perspective worth considering:
Like dietary fiber (the roughage found in whole foods), fiber additives pass undigested through the gastrointestinal tract, so the FDA accepts them as the real deal. Yet no scientific studies link these artificial fibers to the health benefits—including a lowered risk of heart disease and obesity—associated with naturally fiber-rich foods. “The additives are enjoying fiber’s halo without having proven themselves,” says Bonnie Liebman, director of nutrition at the Washington, D.C.–based Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Added fiber also doesn’t have the ability to turn junk food into a nutritional superstar, says Amy Jamieson-Petonic, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. She says it’s best to get your fiber from fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, since they deliver nutritional value that goes far beyond keeping you regular. One high-fiber carrot, for example, contains some 500 beneficial compounds, says Jamieson-Petonic. “You’re not going to get that from additives.”
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48 Responses to “Q&A Wednesday: Fiber, Because Everybody Poops”
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This same question came up on the Dr. Oz show yesterday. I believe he said 1-3 times per day is normal, but anything less than once per day is cause for concern. In my opinion, if you haven’t gone in a couple of days, then I agree a laxative may be in order. I like Erika’s suggestions, but I also get good results from fiber supplements like Metamucil. I like the one called Free and Clear because it doesn’t have any taste or sugar. Good luck!
I did see that Dr. Oz episode! I love him, I really do.
I’m not someone who supports supplements – I’d rather find unique ways to add foods with fiber as well as other awesome benefits into my dishes, and getmy goodies the natural way – but we get it the way that works best for us.
Someone I care for very much is constantly constipated. I keep trying to convince them that they need to poop every day and going to the bathroom shouldn’t hurt or cause you to break out in a sweat. I forwarded that Dr. Oz article to them. Honestly they need to eat better, but you can’t make grown folks change if they don’t want to.
Maybe I’ll just send them a batch of cookies.
I read somewhere that your body cannot break down and absorb the nutrients in spinach unless it is basically pulverized. Which is why green smoothies are so good for you. (And tasty, even though they don’t look like they should.) 80% of the fiber in spinach (something like 7 grams per cup of raw) is insoluble (the cleaning out kind.)
And I’m telling you, within 10 minutes of finishing a green smoothie in the morning (I also put flax seed in mine, upping the fiber content), I’m completely cleaned out. That, or a bowl of shredded wheat, can do it for me easily.
I keep trying to get into this green smoothie movement, but boy is it rough. LOL I’m going to have to do some digging on better recipes before I can get that in, LOL. I do love my spinach but in a smoothie? I might not make it! LOL!
Erika, I bought the Montell Williams blender, and tried the fruit and veggie smoothies. The fruit fantastic, I just couldnt get into the vegatable smoothie. I tried blending an apple in it for sweetness. That didnt work either. But the fruit…I love it!!!
Not apples… bananas. Banana overpowers almost ANY vegetable taste. LOL
You really don’t taste the spinach. So if you can get past the color you’re good to go. I also use kale on occasion.
I love it! Cookies for regularity..Erika you’re always thinking girl..now where is the recipe? lol
JUST posted it! Get into it.
Erika – you shouldn’t be able to taste the spinach.
You don’t even have to use spinach – romaine works too. (Tried kale, won’t try it again. Too gritty. Works with any kind of green, though – mustard, collard, whatever you have to work with.)
My go-to is a cup of yogurt (flavored or not, doesn’t matter), a handful or two of spinach, and then whatever fruit I have on hand. (Lately, it’s been strawberries and/or blueberries, but I’ve put in oranges, bananas, even kiwi!) A little liquid (almond milk, water, OJ – if you’re using citrus, you probably won’t need liquid.), and some ice if your fruit isn’t pre-frozen. (I put fruit in the freezer RIGHT before it starts to go bad, so I always have plenty to choose from. I also freeze yogurt if I can get it on the cheap before it goes bad. And I freeze pineapple juice in ice cube trays for when I’m feeling like a tropical smoothie.) And then I always add in a tablespoon of coconut oil (no, you shouldn’t be able to taste the coconut either), some flax seed, and xylitol. (Bad teeth run in my family. Xylitol is totally changing that.) Whirl in the magic bullet (or any high powered blender, really) until it’s smooth.
Banana covers up the flavor of pretty much anything you put in a green smoothie, so I’d start with that first. Blueberries will make your green smoothie a purplish brown, but it will taste yummy.
I think kale is the one I tried, and it was still clumpy… it was chewier than I was willing to try at that time, LOL.
I am definitely a smoothie-maker, but I rarely venture out into adding leafy greens to my mixes. I’m big on carrots and bananas, myself. They’re also another place I sneak in my flax seed. SO we’re on the same page… just not with the leafy greens, LOL. I’ll come around… someday. LOL!
Hi. I’m gonna check out your cookie recipe!
I started taking raw honey to help me with my seasonal allergies, then added the apple cider vinegar for its supposedly blood tonic properties. I then added a protein/fiber powder ’cause Dr Oz said somewhere you’re supposed to have about 25+ grams of fiber per day and I was getting about 15-18grams with my regular food menus. Anyway, this developed into something I could stir and drink in one cup. No blender, nor juicer to clean out! (Although I’d love to try that Healthmixer/vitamix thing Montel has on his infomercials!! Maybe I could get him to do an in-home demo…)
I do a “green” drink with breakfast 3-4 times/week. It’s 8-10ozs warm water with 1 tablespoon raw honey, 1-2 tablespoons organic apple cider vinegar, 1-2 tablespoons organic hemp protein/fiber powder and a dash of cinnamon. If I’m having a hectic day, I add a tablespoon of powdered green foods. My friends call it my “swamp muck”. It tastes like a thick, slightly herb-y glass of warm apple cider. It also adds an additional 7-9grams of fiber without the gas I get from beans: black beans, lentils, chick peas, red beans, etc… I love ‘em, but I’m not good for company after!
Wow, talk about a creative way to get everything in one sitting, lol.
Great article Erika. I always wondered myself how many times I should be “going” lol I like the green smoothie idea@Naturally Single Mom that sounds like a winner! I’m going to try that in the morning. Being regular is so important. The cramping and bloating irregularity causes, I never want that feeling again. It took me at least 5 years to learn the importance of fiber. It is amazing how we don’t take the time to understand or really pay attention to our bodies.
I think that because we’re so used to “easy,” that we expect our bodies to be the same. Not so! Auto-pilot doesn’t work for us, now! LOL!
very good post. I’ve had friends look at me with DISGUST when I’ve told them you are supposed to go after every meal. I don’t, but I am regular. And people think thats funny. I have never considered it humorous or gross to say yes, I have a high fiber diet. uhm, I’m healthy–what’s gross about that?
also, on occasion I drink fennel tea (they have a brand called Tummy Tea, but I haven’t tried it), I like it alright. I’m also a shredded wheat girl.
I don’t understand the stigma with going potty… perhaps if they knew that keeping all that food in your body is what fluffs us up, they’d change their tune.
It almost makes me wonder where that came from, and why no one has ever challenged it. Almost. LOL
Shoutout to “Um, I’m healthy – what’s gross about that?” YES! Shut it down! LMAO!
…plus it can lead to colon cancer.
That old food just sits in our intestine, rotting… especially if you eat a lot of meat & dairy.
I really enjoyed this post, and the suggestions from the readers have been great as well! Thank you all very much. I’m a smoothie girl, but haven’t tried the green smoothie. My mother has been drinking them for years, and I’ve tried them a few times, but I think I’m about to jump on the bandwagon! I agree fully about kale being “gritty”. Kale needs a really good wash, and when ground up really fine you get less of that gritty taste (when you use a high powered juicer such as Jack LaLane). Another good way to add fibre to your diet is to add berries, and it’s tastes good! I sprinkle a handful (or two) of blueberries and/or blackberries on my Vanilla Shreddies, add some soy milk and I’m ready to go pretty much right after I’m finished eating. LOL. Eating healthy is great, more people need to realize it! Blessings.
See, you’re the second person to tell me I might need to step my blender game up, LOL! We’ll see what happens. If I go to the store and buy some high powered blender and these leafy greens are still gross, I know exactly what post to come back to and point fingers! LOL!
if it’s too clumpy for you try juicing your greens. I’ve also been seeing loads of recipes on the net using the pulp from juicing so nothing really goes to waste.
These are great suggestions! I’m always looking for ways to up my fiber intake… I eat almost my weight in spinach, so I’d love to mix it up. Sounds like I need to invest in a juicer
Erika – try your first green smoothie with just a little bit of greens. Baby steps! One or two leaves of romaine, or a very small handful of spinach. I think once you realize that the taste of the fruit overpowers the leafy green taste, you’ll become a convert.
hi i love this topic can anyone help me with getting into smoothies and also the green ones and what juicer or blender to purchase thanks
It’s coming next week.
i love this topic i love to find out more about smoothies. and what kind of juicies or blenders
I add milled flaxseed to my morning cereals which helps quite a bit plus it adds a nice nutty flavor; you can add it to your yogurt, smoothies, salads, etc. too. I’m about to start experimenting with smoothies again and on the hunt for a good blender, the last one I had broke :-/
Hey ladies. I just got clued into this site. I love it. Just an added note to this discussion… you can’t simply add fiber without also adding water to flush out the system. The fiber acts as the gel that pushes everything through..but it also helps your body remove the toxins in our blood. Water softens the stool but also helps to flush said toxins out of our cells…through the blood and out of our urine or stool. SO if you’re attempting to be healthier…and have healthier stool…remember we should be drinking half our body weight in water a day. Added bonus…staying hydrated makes us more alert, keeps our skin glowing, and brain happy!
Love this site. I do a healthy cooking blog myself…this is awesome!
fingerlickinkitchen.com
A point of clarification: “remember we should be drinking half our body weight in water a day. ”
I’m sure you mean “half our body weight in ounces,” as in.. a person who weighs 160lbs would drink 80oz of water each day, because 80 is 1/2 of 160.
Not necessarily correcting you, just making sure that any other future readers get a better picture of what you’re saying.
We talk water – LOTS OF WATER – on this site, as it is a part of the clean eating boot camp… but this post was specifically about the purpose and use of fiber in the diet. Water certainly isn’t neglected, here.
Thanks for the correction Erika. I could just see someone passing out from trying to drink 80lbs of water…
And regarding pooping, how do you convince someone that drinking daily shots of Milk of Magnesia is not normal? She does eat a lot of fruit, but very, very, very few vegetables. When I try to feed her old fashioned oatmeal, or stirfried collards/brocolli, she complains that she gets gas and stomach cramps. I told her that vegetables are like a scouring pad for our insides. Fruit is like soap. Water is for rinsing. You can clean a pot by scrubbing, but soap helps to make it clean. But just soaking a pot in soapy water, then rinsing it off will not clean it. I’m at wits end and she doesn’t see that her health complaints are the results of what she eats. Suggestions?
You ever tried to save someone that doesn’t want to be saved? Like, someone intentionally floating out too far into the ocean? You finally get out there to help ‘em, and instead of letting you drag ‘em to safety… they try to pull you under, too? You either say “forget it” to save your own sanity, or you fight and beat ‘em into submission to take ‘em under.
This is why I don’t advocate trying to “convince” or “change someone else’s mind.” That’s something they have to come to terms with on their own, I think. All you can do is BE the change you want to see in that person. No reason to try or sense in pushing anything on them, y’know?
People can see when you embody the “right way to do things,” and if she comes to YOU to ask questions about what’s bothering her.. she’ll be MUCH more receptive to the answers. I think that’s the best/only way to approach that. People tend to come to “health” when whatever they’re doing stops working for them… she seems as though she may just have to wait until it’s her turn [unfortunately.]
After going on a raw detox a couple of months ago, green smoothies have become a staple in my diet. I have one daily for breakfast since I’m not much of a morning person. I’ve been using my mom’s old as forever and cheap as all get out blender and it smooths out my greens like butter after running for a few minutes.
I have a formula to give me a 32 ounce cup of juice and takes the guess work out of it. I buy 3 types of fruit (5 pieces) and a bag of frozen pineapples and greens (romaine, celery or spinach).
In the morning, I grab one of each fruit…chop it up put in blender with a big handful of greens. Pour a cup of cold water or cooled down green tea over the mix. I also add chia seeds in for protein, energy, fiber, iron and all those great things chia offers. I blend until the color is uniform and smooth.
Apples or pineapples always manages to disguise the taste of greens when I’m feeling heavy handed.
I have been working hard at flattening my stomach by having more fibrous meals like my smoothie and salads. I still struggle with certain carb choices but I’m getting there. My green smoothies send me to the bathroom within 15-30mins after drinking. So it becomes a morning cleanse as well in a way!
I love reading your blog so much. I was just curious to know about high fibre foods that Don’t bloat. I was honestly tempted to do something drastic like the master cleanse, to lose belly fat by the end of this month -I’m slim (size 10 in UK), but this belly/pooch I’ve developed needs to go. What kinds of food /food combinations do you recommend?
Oats for example leave me soo bloated. I don’t understand how pasta /oats can make your stomach flat
Belle
I’d have to know what your diet looks like in order to be able to see it straight up, but just as a general thought… it’s not necessarily the high-fiber foods that are leaving you bloated, it’s the reaction that processed foods and high-salt foods cause when they’re trying to move out of your system. It’s not the fiber… it’s your diet, lol.
I don’t particularly like salty foods though lol.
I usually have meat, and potatoes or rice, with mixed vegetables (carrots /sweetcorn /peas). -meat with every meal since I weight train.
Occasionally, I’ll have meat -e.g. chicken drumsticks (not fried), and follow it up with a bowl of oats.. or the other way round.
I usually have 1 piece of fruit a day. Not that much veggies. But I know when I eat highly fibrous foods like oats, I just feel/look really bloated
Check the food you eat and see if there’s any sodium hidden in anything you eat with a label. Though, ideally, you wouldn’t be partaking of the labels…. but still, lol.
Alright then, thanks.
I reread what you said, and I’m thinking, maybe it’s the 1 or 2 meals I eat every couple of days that stays with me ..making me bloat.
I just don’t understand why oats and pasta bloat, and they’re healthy
Oats & pasta are both gluten, that can cause bloating.
That’s what I was thinking, ESPECIALLY if you’re gluten intolerant.
Thank you. I think (brown) rice does the same thing to me though. It’s annoying. & I strength train, so have to eat a lot of meat, but I’m so fed up of the same meat as well. If I can’t eat grains, I’m stuck with the same meats, with some veggies. How annoying
I’ve always been “hard to move” as my grandmother says…lol. I started eating mostly veggies, it became a whole lot easier, but I’d still go every other day. I was introduced to green smoothies (with flax seed) a couple months ago and I love them. So much so that I’ve gone juicing crazy. I started adding a green smoothie every morning and it seems to have done the trick.
I checked this post again after discovering that I’m apparently not going enough. I thought my once per day was regular but two of my vegan friends said it isn’t. I’m at my wits end about what else to do. I have no idea how to get more fiber or if that will even change anything. I think I might just be a once-daily pooper!
First, let me say I love the site and the helpful tips!
I started with the green drink a couple months ago and LOVE (l-o-v-e) it! I drink it every morning. It’s the same drink Dr. Oz (loved around these parts
) made on Oprah a while back. She deemed it “a glass of fresh” (or something like that). It really is refreshing – and full of fiber.
I put it in the juicer (a little too cold for smoothies for me) and it is a morning (or lunch or afternoon snack) delight – spinach, parsley, celery, apples, ginger, cucumber, lemon and lime. Yummy! Really, I think you should give it a try. It will change your mind completely and because it’s juiced, there’s no gritty-ness.
Wow I was just talking about this with my sister. I have been suffering from irritable bowel syndrome and trying my best to go at least once a day. I have increased my fiber intake with whole grains, beans, fruits, and veggies but I still struggle. I really need to add green Smoothies and flaxseed. its also good to know that im not the only one who needs to go more lol.
Thanks for the post. I’ve always been pretty regular going once a day and I notice if for some reason I’ve skipped a day. 1 thing I’ve noticed since eating more clean is not going more often, but the 1 time I go there is more of it. A lot more!
I’m a nurse and you should be going at least once every three days. If not you need to increase your fiber intake in addition to increasing your water intake Increasing fiber without increasing water
can cause constipation because if your
not getting enough water your body pulls it from your intestines causing harder stools resulting in constipation. 25-35 grams of fiber per day is ideal.
I was once questioned about how much I “go” because of the way I eat (vegetarian). I explained that over time, your body adjusts to the healthier eating and it is not a big deal … they were not hearing me at all and thought they were right & “cleaner”/neater in their minimal go frequencies….
I told them they were literally Full of Sh*t! -And they are bloated for it. We need to re-program our way of thinking. smh…