Bristol Stool - Get to know Your Poop over the 10 Days!

Bristol Stool Chart? You have signed on for the 10-day challenge, you're not sure what to expect and to be honest, we can't tell you a specific guide for what to expect. Why? Because there are trillions of critters in your gut, everyone will have a slightly varied outcome. What we can tell you, however, is what your poop says about you!

What on Earth is the Bristol Stool Chart?

We know exactly what you're thinking, who documented so many toilet visits that there was a decided 7 overall forms for humans to excrete? Well, it was in fact a gentleman by the name of Ken Heaton, from the University of Bristol. With the help of 66 willing poopers who ate special marker pellets and kept a diary about their bowel movements. This included:

• Shape.
• Frequency.

and... weight. Yep. So thank you to all those 66 volunteers from the university of bristol in 1997 and thank you, Ken Heaton, because we now have a gauge for our bowel movements via the bristol stool chart. Anyway...

The 7 types of Poo

There was a decided 7 forms of poo variations as shown in the diagram above that humans could do at any given time. Ranging from what resembled the likes of rabbit poo to what Matt famously deems the 'green apple splatters' and everything in between. Human fecal matter is on average comprised of 75% water and 25% solid matter. Of that solid matter, this consists usually of dead bacteria, indigestible food, and inorganic substances.

It is essentially a waste, you don't want good stuff coming out obviously, so the breakdown has to be a little odd and gruesome. On average from the time you eat something, it takes around 6-8 hours to get through your stomach and small intestine. From here it's about a good 36 hours of processing in the large intestine, removal of water, and finally what we leave behind in the toilet after a strong morning coffee for many.

Type 1 and 2 on the Bristol Stool

Types like 1 and 2 on the bristol stool are signs of constipation, not enough water left residing in the stool or too much has been drawn out indicating that it has been residing in the colon for too long. Constipation can come from many things, imbalance of fiber, changes of diet drastically, or medication/supplements - often iron supplements can make people quite constipated initially.

Type 3 and 4 on the Bristol Stool

Types 3 and 4 on the bristol stool are (in Borat voice) very nice! These are the optimal poops you want to be doing, less wiping, less straining, and overall just a pleasant experience. There is optimal water, waste, and bulk to form a healthy stool indicative of a healthy diet and digestive system.

Types 5 to 7 on the Bristol Stool

These are water, mushy, urgent, and sometimes tap like. Less than ideal in a public toilet and messy on your own. No one likes these types, we have all had them though! This form can often be an indication that your large intestine has dumped a lot of water in to dilute the concentration of something or is needing to readily evacuate something. Commonly deemed as diarrhea and not the green apple splatters, let's keep it professional here, these types of stool can be indicative of infection, illness, high stress, or dietary change that may have been drastic or possible intolerance. Due to the high water content of these stools, it is best to monitor how long you have these for and consults a health care professional for further advice if it's ongoing for longer than 3 days.

Keep your poop diary/challenge card handy

Over the course of the 10 days, you will notice the little poop emoji on your tracking card for the challenge. Pop in the number where you would rate your poop for that day from the bristol stool chart. make sure to use the hashtag #gutrightchallenge on Instagram so we can see your cards for the challenge!

Are we obsessed with poop? Maybe a little, your poop can say a lot about you and when you are an office of all things health nerds, potty talk of all kinds is a daily occurrence, we don't even bat an eye at it, that's how important it is for us! Use that bristol stool chart and learn more about your toilet habits.