Why is defacating frequently considered healthy?

[wasteofo2]

Your feces are bassically all the stuff that you ate and didn't have a use for, right? So if wouldn't you defecate alot if you were eating alot of junk, and defecate not so much if you were only eating good stuff?

[Monique]

I know there is a cycle by which the liver excretes excess cholesterol, taken up with the food, through the bile back into the bowel. For some people this must be working more efficiently than others though.. I forgot what the cycle was called..

[spuriousmonkey]

A large part of your faeces are bacteria.

[Monique]

Enterohepatic cycle.. that is what it is called..

Spuriousmonkey, there may be many bacteria in faeces, that doesn't mean it is a large part of it though..

It is good to eat a lot of fibres to increase the speed of the digestive cycle. If you don't there is a higher risk of developing disease, because of the by-products that form if food stays in the intestines too long.

[spuriousmonkey]

WHAT ARE FECES MADE OF? If you have ever wondered what feces are made of, you have come to the right place. Feces are mostly made of water (about 75%). The rest is made of dead bacteria that helped us digest our food, living bacteria, protein, undigested food residue (known as fiber), waste material from food, cellular linings, fats, salts, and substances released from the intestines (such as mucus) and the liver. Although feces are made up of about 75% water, this number varies from person to person, depending on how long the feces stay in the intestine. Since the intestines absorb water from the feces, diarrhea (poop that passes quickly through the intestines) will contain more water and retained feces (which stay in the intestines for a longer amount of time) will contain less. Another point worth mentioning is that fiber helps feces pass along the intestine.

link (http://www.medfriendly.com/feces.html#whatare)

[Monique]

If that is supposed to support the hypothesis that a large part is bacterial.. what part of the 25% non-water component would you expect it to be? You could do an experiment, bring up an animal completely sterile, if anything, I'd expect the amount of feces to be more, since it might have a harder time digesting things.

[iansmith]

I would expect about a similiar weight without bacteria. Bacteria do not play a significant role in digesting the food. Bacteria will use the undigested material for their own good but it would not significantly affect the end result. There is a lot of bacteria in our instersitne but in term of weight in the feces it is not significant.

The food ingested will influence the digestion process in the small intestine. It is healty defecate on a regular base because you have to change your microflora, you need space for the incoming food and you don't want to have solid feces.

[spuriousmonkey]

If that is supposed to support the hypothesis that a large part is bacterial..

No, I just did a google search. I thought it might be interesting to know what faeces really is. Obviously most of it is water according to this website.

I don't mind changing my mind.

[nautica]

No, I just did a google search. I thought it might be interesting to know what faeces really is. Obviously most of it is water according to this website.

I don't mind changing my mind.

Do you know how many bacteria you would have to have, in order for it to have a calculated percentage in your feces.

Nautica

[spuriousmonkey]

Do you know how many bacteria you would have to have, in order for it to have a calculated percentage in your feces.

Nautica

No I don't.

And do you have a point?

Should we count your brain cells to assess which percentage of your skull is taken up by the brain?

[nautica]

No I don't.

And do you have a point?

Should we count your brain cells to assess which percentage of your skull is taken up by the brain?

No, but your more than welcome to count the E coli in my poop.

Nautica

[spuriousmonkey]

Or the percentage of water in your brain.

(read previous posts)

[Jenn_ucsb]

Just because you defecate more frequently does not mean that there is necessarily more fecal matter. It just means more trips to the bathroom.
Also, to answer the original question, wasteofo2, you are forgetting about fiber, one of the most important aspects of a healthy diet. Fiber, since it is not digested is passed through as waste. So, no, healthy people do not defecate less.