A Guide to the Perfect Poo, Also Known As Number Two

Here’s what you’ve been waiting for, your starter guide to perfect number poo AKA number 2. Our expert reveals the four factors that will ensure your bowel movements are healthy. A new book outlines the 4 factors to consider when it comes to assessing stools. We don’t think about it very often, but we should, our bowel movements can reveal a lot about our health. And one nutritional scientist is urging the nation ‘it’s time we took notice’. In her new book, Be Good to Your Gut, Eve Kalinik outlines the four factors to consider when it comes to assessing your stools and ensuring you have ‘the perfect number 2’.

TWO TIMES TWO IS FOUR, TIPS FOR THE PERFECT POO

It comes after a survey last year revealed one third of British people have no idea what a normal bowel movement should look like. And even more worrying is that a quarter of us have stools which are not deemed ‘medically healthy’, scientists have warned. Abnormal number twos can be an early indicator of serious health issues such as bowel cancer or Crohn’s disease. Ms Kalinik says we should monitor how regular, consist, efficient and satisfactory our movements are. Below is your guide to the perfect poo.

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REGULATORY, CONSISTENCY, EFFICIENCY, SATISFACTION

Regulatory:

Once to twice a day spent on the bathroom throne is ideal, according to the expert. Any more or less than that means things are possibly not moving through the gut as they should be.

Consistency:

Consistency of our stool is also a good indicator of gut health. Ideally, it should look like a long soft log that is like an ice cream in texture. It should be fully formed, and should not have cracks or be too mushy. Hard little lumps and watery liquid would be the extremes of this. The Bristol Stool Chart (see below) is an excellent reference and illustrates perfectly what your faeces should look.

Efficiency:

Movements should be smooth, quick and pain free. Taking a book into the bathroom should not be a prerequisite.

Satisfaction:

Our expert says: When you have fully evacuated you should experience a sense of elimination ‘euphoria’ and finish with a smile on your face (not with the feeling that you’ll be back on the throne in 10 minutes).