Vegetarians (and this includes vegans, lacto-ovo, lacto, or ovo, but not anyone who eats animal/fish flesh or organs, even infrequently), how often do you have bowel movements?
According to this study, vegan men average nearly 12 BMs a week – that’s about 2 BMs daily for a least 5 days in the week.
I’m vegan, but I average about 3 or 4 BMs a day (that’s 21-28/wk). I’m not overweight, I’m actually fairly thin, don’t have any health issues like Crohn’s disease or IBS, and get almost all my daily nutritional requirements through my diet with the exception of calcium, D, and B12, for which I supplement (although I do take a multi-vite as insurance).
It has been like this since I first became vegetarian as a teen. When I evacuate, it always feels likes it’s complete, yet less than an hour later I’m back on the loo. And they’re not small loads – each time it’s about the same mass.
Does anyone else experience a high frequency like this, anyone without bowel health issues that is?
Generally once a day, provided I’ve had enough water. I had around 40g of fibre today which is pretty standard. (Pescararian diet, leaning towards vegetarian).
You are convincing me to go vegetarian! I have a question, though. My sister-in-law always told me beans were binding, meaning constipating. I don’t eat a lot of them, bit if I go vegetarian, I imagine I will eat more than I do now. What else do you eat to get protein? I lost about 30 lbs ten years ago, and since then my gut has really slowed down. I’ve been on thyroid pills since I was 16, and have regular blood checks, so I know it’s not thyroid. If being a vegetarian will speed things up, I’m all for it.
A lot of things have protein, including whole grains, though I personally like beans. If you’re an ovo-lacto vegetarian, that means you still eat dairy and eggs, so you really shouldn’t have a problem getting sufficient protein with just a little bit of effort.
No, because in the last couple of years I get plugged up very easily, and it’s no fun. So maybe I should say yeah, that is the reason. Until you have gastro problems you don’t realize how important it is to have an effortless poo!
Beans are chock-full of fiber. They get things moving, not blocked up. Now, too much cheese with those beans is a whole other ballgame. Fiber also makes you feel more full, longer. I get gassy issues with red/black/navy beans and such, so I use limited portions of those, but split peas, lentils, and chickpeas are happy, happy time for my gut!
Too much cheese, eggs, meat, do not make for happy stools. More fruit, veg, and fibrous bean/legume intake will make your colon happy! Plenty of water, and just less meat/cheese is maybe a good start, rather than going all veg, or leading up to it.
I was a vegetarian for about 2 years and you do go more often. It’s because you’re likely eating more fiber. American, and all people in Western nations don’t get nearly enough fiber.
You know the old saying “that Sh** don’t float” Well if yours don’t then you aren’t getting enough fiber. If it floats you are, kind of gross but it’s about right.
Yeah, too much cheese does terrible things to my system. I was just on vacation for two weeks and was really screwed-up digestively because of how often we ate out, and I tended to eat more cheese in the process. Just over a week in, I was craving broccoli and brown rice.
I’m not a vegetarian, but I try to eat a healthy diet, and that includes lots of beans.
No, beans are not binding. They are definitely not binding. If your bowels are not moving enough, a big bowl of beans is definitely the way to go. Between the large amount of fiber, and the undigestible oligosaccharide content, beans will do wonders to make you move.
Anyway, I’m beginning to be glad I’m not a vegetarian, because I don’t really want to have to shit three times a day.
Okay, also, floaty turds are largely the result of fat content. Fiber binds water, which doesn’t make the turd any less dense. It’s having a lot of fat in it that makes it tend to reach toward the surface.
On the plus side, it doesn’t take long. Usually starts up right after urination and takes a minute or few. I know I’m not eating right when I actually have to put in some “quality time” on the process.
I have terrible bowel health issues, so I’m excluded (as noted above, chronic constipation is no fun…). However, back when I was healthy (and I’ve always been vegetarian), I used to go three times a day like clockwork.
Well now I don’t feel like such an outlier. (Yes, go ahead and make your poo jokes). Most of the time I’m about 3x day, but often if I have a particularly big meal, I’ll go 4x the next day over a few hours time.
I’ve observed that the more oils and fats I eat in my meals, the harder it is to evacuate. This is because they slow the breakdown and absorption of starches, allowing more water to be absorbed from the food, decreasing motility. I can get pretty constipated if I saturate my oatmeal with margarine or put gobs of olive oil in my spaghetti sauce with spaghetti.
As long as you don’t do something like eat refried beans or bean salad that has lots of oil, then digested beans will be just as motile as other vegetables and grains.
3-times a day easily (lacto-veggo.)
My understanding, and someone here might be able to point this out as false, is that generally herbivores have long intestinal tracts where as carnivores have short ones.
Anyways, when I have to go, it comes on quick…and then comes out quick and it is relief. I never sit on the toilet and wait and take time.
The things is, everybody’s body is different. I know vegetarians who are the opposite.
See, I just don’t have the time to be vegetarian! We don’t eat meat at every meal, but several times a week. I just don’t want to have to poop that much - and poop at work, no less.