What Analyzing Your Stool Can Tell You
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Simple observation of feces provides valuable guidelines to what is or not needed in your daily diet. The transit time (the time it takes for foods to travel through the digestive tract) can be too slow or too fast. Looking at what you created is like looking at a picture that tells a thousand words. Thinking this is degrading or embarrassing is like not facing reality.
The Bristol Stool Form Scale divides stools into seven distinct types of size, shape and color. (for the pics you can go here
http://www.aboutconstipation.org/bristol.html :uuh:)
-Dry with hard lumps or clumps. When transit time is too long, one may be extremely constipated. Usually caused by a lack of fluids, lack of friendly bacteria, essential oils, stress, excess mucosa, and not enough good fiber. Avoid alcohol, baking soda, and all products with refined white flour, sugar, white rice and yeast.
-Like lumpy sausage.
-Like sausage with surface cracks.
-Long smooth surface. Normal, good color, quick exit, and easy to clean.
-In blobs with well-defined margins.
-Fluffy with ragged edges.
-Watery with no solids. Diarrhea is usually caused by a bacterial or virus infection from foods or water. It can also be caused from anxiety, food allergy, drugs, or problems in the colon. This is a sign that something is wrong and the bodies are trying to clean. Drink extra water with vitamin C and electrolytes added to avoid dehydration. If it continues for too long a colonic irrigation should end it.
Stools at the lumpy end of the scale are hard to pass and often require a lot of straining. Stools at the loose or liquid end of the spectrum can be too easy to pass – the need to pass them is urgent and accidents can happen. The ideal stools are types 3 and 4, especially type 4, as they are most likely to glide out without any fuss what-soever. Also, they are least likely to leave you with an annoying feeling that something is left behind.
The average passage time of undigested food residues through the human gut is about 50 hours in men and 57 hours in women, but ranges from well under 20 to over 100 hours. It also changes from one day to the next. Most of this time (80 to 90 per cent) is spent in the colon
http://www.familydoctor.co.uk/htdocs..._specimen.html
The size and shape of the stools indicate the transit time through the digestive tract. The color can tell you how well your digestion is and alert you to other changes concerning your wellness.
The lighter in color (pale) may indicate a blockage in the bile duct or a deficiency in producing bile (a digestive aid). Because of the high fat content, stools may be foul smelling and sticky like clay making it difficult to flush. This is usually the result of mal-absorption.
Blood (red) in the stool is a good indication of colon disease, internal hemorrhoids, or parasites.
Eating beets will add color to stools and urine and be used as an indication of transit time.
-Dark stools are usually from a diet of dark greens, iron supplements, or meat.
-Black stools may indicate bleeding in the stomach or smaller intestine caused from an injury,bleeding ulcer, tumor, or worms.
-Slimy stools contain excess mucus caused by bacteria, Candida, tumor, or other problems in the colon.
-The healthy stool is long, round, and smooth with a texture similar to creamy peanut butter and golden brown in color. It should be slightly acidic so it floats on the surface of water breaking up soon afterwards.
link :
http://www.colon-cleanse-constipatio...ing-stool.html