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Most people in the US, if you looked into their toilets, would have "sinkers rather than floaters!" In other words, if your food and digestion are proper, the stool will float in the toilet water, will be light in color, will be soft, but well-formed (not watery) and will NOT have a foul smell. How many people do you suppose have "proper stool?" The FDA estimate is that 50% of the population, at least, have hemorrhoids -- so that means even more have problems with their stools.

The most common reason for "poor stool" would be the lack of fiber in the diet and the excessive use of processed foods, particularly sugar and bread.

For the large part our pets never have constipation, and certainly wild animals virtually never have this problem. Wild animals, of course, are eating almost exclusively what nature intended for that animal. Pets are often stuck with the food from their owners, but even so, dogs and cats can generally digest everything they eat, and if you look at their stools you hardly ever find anything other than well-formed stool.

When the animal IS sick, or has eaten something bad, it usually shows up as runny stool in short order.

So, if your stool is dark, sinks in the water, and requires a strain to eliminate -- you are a candidate for constipation, and then for bloody stool.

It is simple, but seldom will people get serious enough about doing anything to solve the problem. Instead they wait until it is much too late and then ask the doctor for a remedy.

For the general run of symptoms the usual doctor will either suggest a drug, or even rush you to the hospital. You should realize that your insurance won't cover a doctor's visit, usually, unless the doctor finds something wrong that is "solved" by a drug or hospital visit. If he says to you, "You just need to eat better and take some bran," he may not make a penny on the office visit. So, instead he prescribes some drug. The most usual drug is a suppository, and although "natural" handling would be far better, the suppositories are certainly not a class of "drug" as bad as most. Click here for a typical suppository offer.

The obvious solution lies in the area of diet. Click here for the beginning of some 3000 pages I've written about proper diet! Even in the years this subject has been on MY web pages, and some others, there is still false data being published. One set of false data has to do with HOW MANY bowel movements should you have?

How long does it take, or should it take, for food in your mouth to hit the toilet? My answer? Not very long at all -- one day or so.

Bowel Transit Time

A bowel transit time test measures how long it takes for food to travel through the digestive tract . After you chew and swallow your food, it moves into your stomach, where it is mixed with acid and digestive enzymes. After your food leaves your stomach, it is squeezed through your small intestine, where nutrients are absorbed for use by your body. The food then goes into your large intestine (colon) where water is absorbed. Whatever hasn't been digested and absorbed by your intestines combines with bacteria and other waste products and becomes stool (feces). Stool is expelled from your body through your anus. The time it takes for food to travel from your mouth through your digestive tract to your anus is your bowel transit time. (image from source)

Bowel transit time depends on what types of food you eat and how much you drink. For example, people who eat lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains tend to have shorter transit times than people who eat mostly sugars and starches. Because different people have different transit times, experts disagree about how useful this test is. Some doctors do not recommend bowel transit time testing. source

Research Article

Optimum dosage of ispaghula husk in patients with irritable bowel syndrome: correlation of symptom relief with whole gut transit time and stool weight.

A Kumar,
N Kumar,
J C Vij,
S K Sarin,
B S Anand

Abstract

To determine the optimum dose of ispaghula husk in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and to assess the correlation, if any between the relief in patients' symptoms and the whole gut transit time, and the increase in stool weight, a two part study was carried out. In part 1, 14 male patients were given ispaghula husk in increasing doses of 10 g, 20 g, and 30 g a day for a duration of 17 days each (14 days of study period + three days of stool collection). Ten patients completed the trial. The symptom score improved significantly with all the three doses of ispaghula. Both 20 g and 30 g doses of ispaghula were superior to the 10 g dose but there was no significant difference between the 20 g and 30 g doses. There was a significant (p less than 0.001) increase in the daily stool weight with 10 g dose of fibre with further significant increases with the 20 g and 30 g doses. A positive correlation was seen between the improvement in the symptom score and the increase in stool weight with the 10 g dose of ispaghula but not with the 20 g and 30 g doses. Whole gut transit time remained fairly constant throughout the study period and there was no relationship with either the dose of ispaghula, the alteration in stool weight, or the improvement in the patients symptoms. Ten patients completed part 2 of the study in which ispaghula husk was given in the same dose (10 g, 20 g, and 30 g) but in a random order and with a "washout" period of one week between individual doses. Again all the three doses of ispaghula produced a significant improvement in the symptoms; 20 g and 30 g doses were equally effective and both were significantly superior to the 10 g dose. Assessed individually, all the three symptoms improved significantly; improvement in constipation and pain abdomen was more pronounced than diarrhoea. It is concluded that the optimum dose of ispaghula husk in irritable bowel syndrome is 20 g per day. There is some correlation between the increase in stool weight and the improvement in symptom score but the whole gut transit time remains unchanged despite alterations in stool weight and patients' symptoms.

source

My diet material mentions the importance of fiber, but doesn't give much in the way of specifics. I do not sell a product of this type -- I buy most of my stuff in Whole Foods stores.

I personally use a brand called "Rainbow Light" and the product is "Everyday Fiber System" with several different fiber and bulking agents, also herbs, enzymes and additional ingredients. click here T Rain Bow Light

he product I used was originally published on my web in the 1980's. A more current search still finds the same product selling at about $15 per bottle. The latest image is here on the right. Like many people, when I first learned of the value to me of regular use of fiber, I DID use it every day, but distractions and life intervened and somehow I stopped using fiber and didn't even notice that I had forgotten -- then, seeing the page on which this text was originally published, I was again reminded and I immediately bought some.

It arrived today (July 6, 2010) and I've put fiber back into my daily routine now.