What’s in a name? Poo / Poop has many synonyms. Medically, we tend to use terms such as bowel motion, faeces or stool.

What is poop?- Poop consists of fibre + water + bacteria and dead cells. Around 75% of poop is water, with the other quarter consisting of bacteria 7-14%, fat/protein 7% and fibre 7% The water softens and the fibre gives bulk to the stool. Stools should be of a soft formed consistency and easy to pass. Normal colour of faeces is brown due to digested bile pigment. Colour change can indicate serious medical issues. We all poop but we don’t need to pass motions daily. Normal frequency of motions are from 3 times a day to 3 times a week.

It should take less than 2 minutes to evacuate the poop. You shouldn’t need to strain to pass a motion. Prolonged sitting on the toilet often leads to haemorrhoids and prolapse.

What is constipation? This is either passage of hard stools or frequency of defaecation less than once in 3 days. The most common cause is lack of water and/or fibre. Certain medications can cause quite marked constipation- eg codeine.

What is diarrhoea? Again this is usually passage of loose, watery motions or increased frequency of bowel movements more than 3 x a day. Loose bowel motions can be due to multiple factors. There are 3 main causes either ingesting something that leads to diarrhoea, food intolerances or intestinal pathology.

Clearly if you take a bowel preparation for colonoscopy, you should expect diarrhoea. Coffee, beer, most fruit/fruits juices and sugar free drinks/ sweets are purgatives. Magnesium (think Epsom salts) and fish oil (think cod liver oil ) supplements are also strong purgatives. It depends on the dosage.

As we age, lactose and gluten intolerance become more common. Dosage is again important. If you have lactose intolerance, you probably will be fine with a small amount of cheese but drinking a milkshake will be problematic.

Intestinal pathology such as gastroenteritis, colitis, other inflammatory conditions and even cancers also can cause diarrhoea.

A concern is a change of your normal bowel habit. If this persists for more
than a couple of days visit your doctor.