# Why was my poop crazy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 28, 2005, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-my-poop-crazy/310149 "2005-06-28T03:46:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-my-poop-crazy/310149/1 "2005-06-28T03:46:49Z")
I’m not one to analyze stool, but I did happen to notice tonight, among some GI distress the following: I though that I had diarrhea. “Crap,” I say. So I finish, and am getting up, when I see… Whoa?! There are leaves of vegetables floating around the bowl, along with solid feces. So the “suspected diarrhea” was really little pieces of partially digested vegetables. I know that corn syndrome comes from the body’s inability to break part of it down… but I’ve never noticed it with standard green leafy vegetables. _confused_ ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-my-poop-crazy/310149/2 "2005-06-28T04:07:46Z")
Now that’s some crazy shit. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-my-poop-crazy/310149/3 "2005-06-28T04:09:38Z")
I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I just couldn’t resist! 😃 Honest question (with a slight hijack): Why can’t the body digest corn? And is there anything else it’s not exactly equipped to handle? If we can’t digest corn, is there any nutritional value then? Tripler But the leafy greens? Got me there too. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-my-poop-crazy/310149/4 "2005-06-28T04:13:24Z")
Did you eat Romaine lettuce recently? I’ve found that I have a problem digesting it. Don’t know why, though. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-my-poop-crazy/310149/5 "2005-06-28T04:45:46Z")
> [@trublmakr](#): > > Did you eat Romaine lettuce recently? I’ve found that I have a problem digesting it. Don’t know why, though. Yup. Salad with Romaine lettuce exclusively (well, there were other things, but no other kind of lettuce) this afternoon for lunch. That’s weird, though, because I’ve never had a problem with it. Today was, however, the first day that I made a salad out of a whole head of romaine instead of buying the prebagged salad mix. I hope it wasn’t that, because I can make my own for less than half the cost of those bags… (and we’ll have romaine in our garden at some point.) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-my-poop-crazy/310149/6 "2005-06-28T04:53:29Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > Honest question (with a slight hijack): Why can’t the body digest corn? And is there anything else it’s not exactly equipped to handle? > > If we can’t digest corn, is there any nutritional value then? > > . Your body _does_ digest corn. What you see (usually) is just the empty husks (and those are cellulose, which isn’t digestable) However- Corn \*is \*rather hard to digest, and can cause stomach distress and gas. Many leafy green veggies are mostly fiber and cellulose, both of which “pass through”. This is one of the benefits of such- you get fiber and your bowels move. Don’t worry- usually most of the food value has been digested out. One exception being the iron in spinach, which the human digestive system really can’t get at. I suggest more fiber, and more probiotics (the “live” part of "live culture yogurt). Most Americans don’t get enough of either. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-my-poop-crazy/310149/7 "2005-06-28T05:11:51Z")
I eat a thing of yogurt with lunch _every_ day, so that’s probably not it. It’s not a fiber problem, at least I don’t think so. I think that it might have something to do with my eating habits getting weird, though. For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been waking up at 11am or so, eating a poptart or two at about 1, eating “lunch” at 5, and then eating a few cookies or something at 11-ish. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-my-poop-crazy/310149/8 "2005-06-28T06:12:13Z")
> [@chaoticdonkey](#): > > I eat a thing of yogurt with lunch _every_ day, so that’s probably not it. > > I think that it might have something to do with my eating habits getting weird, though. Hmm, check to make sure your yogurt is “live culture”. But yes, a drastic change in your eating habits, as you described, will change your BM habits. I think that’s it. Incidentally- that advice “get more fiber and more probiotics” is good advice for almost every one here. CR just did an article on the benefits of probiotics. Also note that “regularity” doesn’t mean one BM at the same time every day. That’s BS. It’s better to have a couple, and "the same exact time every day’ isn’t nessesarily a good thing… or a bad thing mind you. It’s just an indication of a habit, rather than healthly bowels. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-my-poop-crazy/310149/9 "2005-06-28T08:41:44Z")
Are you currently taking antibiotics? ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-my-poop-crazy/310149/10 "2005-06-28T09:01:27Z")
> [@chaoticdonkey](#): > > **Why was my poop crazy?** Bad day at work? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-my-poop-crazy/310149/11 "2005-06-28T09:55:24Z")
I find extreme heat can loosen my bowels and their products, as can abrupt changes in habits. Not to mention the occassional bit of food that’s slightly “off”. There are a lot of reasons your used food can emerge in unusual form. If it was just one episode I wouldn’t worry about it too much - it’s when you have multiple episodes that you need to be concerned. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-my-poop-crazy/310149/12 "2005-06-28T11:29:08Z")
Fascinating stuuf this thread - but it could have used a TMI. ---
**Author:** ![Fringe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b5a626/32.png) [@Fringe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fringe)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-my-poop-crazy/310149/13 "2005-06-28T12:30:41Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > Fascinating stuuf this thread - but it could have used a TMI. That’s true. I must say however, when I see a title such as “Why was my poop crazy?”, I assume that it’s going to be at least slightly TMI. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-my-poop-crazy/310149/14 "2005-06-28T12:39:36Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > If we can’t digest corn, is there any nutritional value then? Hmm, I don’t know. I tend to look at it like rebar in concrete. You know, keeps it all together nice and strong. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-my-poop-crazy/310149/15 "2005-06-28T13:06:42Z")
_Salad Shooter_. ---
**Author:** ![Future\_Londonite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9dc877/32.png) [@Future\_Londonite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Future_Londonite)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-my-poop-crazy/310149/16 "2005-06-28T14:55:47Z")
Finding salad leaves in my poop happens to me quite frequently…it also happens to me with red/green peppers, cashews, beans… I guess my digestive system is quite off - and the same note I also notice that I will poop out stuff I ate like 8 hours earlier. Should I see a specialist about this or should the whole fiber/‘live’ culture incorpoartion to my diet change this? ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-my-poop-crazy/310149/17 "2005-06-28T15:22:14Z")
Yup, it’s live culture yogurt. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-my-poop-crazy/310149/18 "2005-06-28T17:28:56Z")
> [@EuroMDguy](#): > > Finding salad leaves in my poop happens to me quite frequently…it also happens to me with red/green peppers, cashews, beans… > > I guess my digestive system is quite off - and the same note I also notice that I will poop out stuff I ate like 8 hours earlier. > > Should I see a specialist about this or should the whole fiber/‘live’ culture incorpoartion to my diet change this? No cramps? Bowels aren’t liquid? No blood? Unless you have one of those three signs (there are others that don’t apply to you, such are severe constipation), you’re likely all right. I assume you see your MD every so often anyway, might as well mention it. If you haven’t had a check up in a year- why not go get one anyway? I would say that adding probiotics would help. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-my-poop-crazy/310149/19 "2005-06-28T17:37:42Z")
I haven’t been to the doctor for a checkup since elementary school. Is this bad? ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-my-poop-crazy/310149/20 "2005-06-28T18:00:00Z")
TMI! After a hearty dinner of a buffalo steak on a steamed spinach bed I immediately had to go to the bathroom. For number 2 of course… My log was half normal solid brown the other half was all compressed green spinach… It was WEIRD. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-my-poop-crazy/310149.md?page=2)