Study Links Bowel Frequency to Long-Term Health
Age, gender and body mass index were “significantly associated” with bowel movement frequency. According to a study that examines the relationship between long-term health and bowel movement frequency.
The results are published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine and in a study that examines, among other things, clinical and lifestyle data more than 1400 adultsled by researchers from the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, USA.
The frequency with which you poop can have a big impact on your physiology and health, according to researchers.
The study focused on healthy adults. and excluded those who suffered from certain diseases or were taking medications.
The team classified self-reported bowel movements into four groups: constipation (one or two stools per week), normal-low (from three to six per week), normal-tall (one to three bowel movements per day) and diarrhea– described in detail in the statement of the above-mentioned institute.
They then looked for associations between bowel movement frequency and factors such as demographics, genetics, gut microbiome, blood metabolites and plasma chemistry.
The study found that age, gender and body mass index (BMI) were “significantly associated” with bowel movement frequency. In particular, younger people, women and people with a lower BMI tended to defecate less frequently.
The researchers demonstrated, among other things, that the composition of the participants’ gut microbiome was a strong predictor of bowel movement frequency.
For example, they found that bacteria associated with protein fermentation or the upper gastrointestinal tract tended to accumulate in people suffering from constipation or diarrhea, respectively.
Similarly, some blood metabolites and plasma chemistry parameters showed significant associations with stool frequency, suggesting Potential link between gut health and chronic disease risk.
In particular, byproducts of microbial protein fermentation known to damage the kidneys, such as p-cresol and indoxyl sulfate, were more present in the blood of people with constipation, while chemicals linked to liver damage were higher in people with constipation and diarrhea.
As expected, the researchers said, those who reported eating a high-fiber diet, drinking more water and exercising regularly tended to score higher when it came to bowel movements.
Chronic constipation This is associated with neurodegenerative disorders and the progression of chronic kidney disease in patients with active disease, says Sean Gibbons, author of the paper.
However, he adds, it is unclear whether bowel habits are early causes of chronic disease and organ damage, or whether these retrospective associations in sick patients are simply coincidental.
“Here, in a generally healthy population, we show that constipation, in particular, is associated with blood levels of microbial toxins that are known to cause organ damage, even before any disease is diagnosed,” Gibbons concludes.
The study also examined The Link Between Bowel Frequency, Anxiety, and Depressionindicating that mental health history is associated with frequency.
“Overall, this work shows how The frequency of bowel movements can affect all systems of the body. and how aberrant periodicity may be an important risk factor for the development of chronic diseases,” Gibbons concludes.