PARKINSON’S disease symptoms develop slowly over a long period of time, and they may be caused by nerve damage in the brain. You could be at risk of the neurodegenerative condition if you pass a certain amount of stools in a single week. How many times do you poo and use the toilet in a week?
Parkinson’s disease is a condition that causes the brain to become progressively more damaged over time, according to the NHS. It’s caused by a loss of nerve cells in a specific part of the brain. These nerve cells are used to help send messages between the brain and the nervous system. Parkinson’s disease symptoms tend to develop slowly, and only appear as mild at first. You could be at risk of the brain condition if you pass fewer than three stools in a single week, it’s been claimed.
Parkinson’s disease patients often develop constipation, as a complication of their condition, said the Better Health Channel - part of the Victoria Government, Australia.
Constipation in Parkinson’s patients may be caused by a lack of dopamine, which controls muscle movement through the body, it said.
You could be at risk of the condition if you only pass one or two stools in a single week on average - or even if you don’t pass any stools at all.
“Constipation is a common complication of Parkinson’s disease, but it can be managed with lifestyle changes such as adding extra fibre to your diet, or medical treatment,” said the medical website.
“Many people who have Parkinson’s disease notice difficulties with constipation before they notice motor symptoms such as tremor or stiffness.
“The symptoms of constipation include dry, hard bowel motions [poo] and difficulty in passing motions, [and having] fewer than three bowel motions a week [on average].
Parkinson's disease symptoms: Signs of the brain condition include having constipation (Image: GETTY Images)
“The ways in which Parkinson’s disease can increase the risk of constipation include uncoordinated bowel motions.
“The bowel muscles may be weak and unable to contract, or they may clench instead of relaxing when trying to pass a motion.”
You could also be at risk of constipation, and therefore Parkinson’s disease, if you often feel the need to strain while using the toilet, it said.
Some people may feel like the bowels are never truly empty, even after just passing a stool.
Left untreated, the constipation could lead to bowel incontinence, nausea, and even urinary tract infections.
Parkinson’s disease could also lead to passing more urine than normal and losing your sense of smell.
Did you know that your bathroom habits, especially your stool, can tell you a lot about your health?
While this particular topic may be embarrassing or even disgusting for most people, natural health expert Dr. Joseph Mercola advises paying attention to the shape, size, color, and other features of your stool because it can give you an idea as to how your gastrointestinal tract is functioning, and provide you clues regarding infections or diseases that could be hiding in your body.
Posted on October 3rd, 2014 by Dr. Mercola
Characteristics of ‘Normal’ Stool
Your stool is made of 75 percent water and a combination of fiber, live and dead bacteria, as well as miscellaneous cells and mucus. Fiber is responsible for the bulking up of stool, as it functions as a glue to keep the stool stuck together. If you notice your stool is soft, short of diarrhea, it may be caused by certain conditions like lactose intolerance and poor lifestyle choices.
So the next time you go to the toilet, observe. Normal or healthy fecal waste has the following characteristics:
It has a medium to light brown color.
It is smooth and soft. The stool should be formed into one long shape and not separate lumps.
It should be about 1 to 2 inches in diameter and up to 18 inches long.
It should have an S-shape, mimicking the form of your lower intestine.
It dives into the water with the slightest sound – without a loud splash. It should also sink slowly.
It should have a natural, tolerable smell and a uniform texture.
On the other hand, there are signs that may be a cause for concern. Consult your physician if you experience any of these symptoms, especially if they’re recurring:
Emptying your bowels is painful and your stool is hard to pass and may require straining.
Fecal matter is split into lumps or pieces that are mushy and watery, or difficult to clean off.
Feces dives into the water with a loud splash and floats.
Stool is narrow, pencil or ribbon-like. On a frequent basis, this may be a sign of an underlying problem like a bowel obstruction or tumor.
It’s black, tarry, or bright red. Black stools may be the product of taking certain medications or supplements, or consuming black licorice, while red stools may mean bleeding in your GI tract.
If you have white, pale, or gray stools, you may have low bile production, indicating problems in your liver (hepatitis or cirrhosis) pancreatic disorders, or a blocked bile duct. It is highly recommended to consult your physician. Using antacids may also cause white stools.
Yellow stools may be a symptom of a giardia infection, a gallbladder problem, or Gilbert’s syndrome. Call your doctor immediately if you have this.
If you see increased mucus together with your stool, it may be related to an inflammatory bowel disease like Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, or colon cancer, especially when accompanied with abdominal pain or blood.
Stool Odor Is Important, Too!
If your stool has an extraordinarily bad odor, then it should not be ignored. Dr. Mercola explains that stool with an intolerable stench may be an indicator of a malabsorptive disorder or celiac disease, Crohn’s disease, chronic pancreatitis, or even cystic fibrosis.
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a disease characterized by a defective gene that causes your body to produce abnormally thick, sticky mucus which can build up in your lungs, leading to serious lung infections and digestive problems. This dangerous condition is usually diagnosed before age 2, making this a common issue among infants and toddlers.
If you’re worried about gas, Dr. Mercola explains that passing gas or flatulence is normal. It’s your body’s way of telling you that the trillions of gut bacteria in your gut are working optimally. On average, people pass gas 14 times a day – anywhere from one to four pints of it. Ninety-nine percent of gas is odorless, so it’s possible you’re not aware you’re releasing it.
Another Factor You Need to Pay Attention To
The frequency of bowel movement can vary from person to person. According to Dr. Mercola, three bowel movements per day to three per week is considered the normal range. However, he says that the ease with which you move your bowels is more important than the regularity.
Pushing or straining is a sign that something is amiss. Moving your bowels should not require any effort, similar to urinating or passing gas. If you notice changes in your bowel movements or experience constipation or diarrhea, many factors may be at fault, such as diet, sleep patterns, hormonal problems, lack of exercise, drugs, and even stress.
Gastrointestinal issues can be avoided or resolved through simple lifestyle changes. Dr. Mercola recommends these strategies, which can also contribute to optimal overall health:
Avoid gluten, which come from wheat, barley, rye, spelt, and other types of grains
Limit your diet to fresh whole foods, especially organic fruits and vegetables that are rich in fiber
Avoid sugar (especially fructose), artificial sweeteners, chemical additives, MSG, caffeine, and processed foods, which contain all of these ingredients
Eat more fermented foods, such as sauerkraut, pickles, and kefir, to promote digestive health
Add more sources of fiber to your diet, such as psyllium and freshly ground organic flax seeds
Drink plenty of pure, clean water
Exercise regularly
As much as possible, avoid pharmaceutical drugs, such as painkillers, antidepressants, and antibiotics, which can inhibit bowel function
Address stress with emotional tools like the Emotional Freedom Technique, an acupuncture-like technique that uses positive voice affirmations and finger tapping
Consider squatting, when you move your bowels. Dr. Mercola explains that squatting is the ideal position during a bowel movement as it straightens your rectum, relaxes your puborectalis muscle, and encourages the complete emptying of your bowel without straining.
What’s normal and what’s not when you look into the toilet after using it? You can learn a great deal about your overall health by taking a look at your stool and noting its color, size, shape, consistency, odor and other features
February 14, 2013
Story at-a-glance
What’s normal and what’s not when you look into the toilet after using it? You can learn a great deal about your overall health by taking a look at your stool and noting its color, size, shape, consistency, odor and other features
Your toileting habits, such as your frequency of elimination and the ease with which you move your bowels, can provide additional clues to your health status
If you know what to look for, you may be able to detect health problems early enough to stop them in their tracks, including serious diseases like celiac disease, hepatitis, urinary tract infections and stones, malabsorption disorders, inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatitis, cancer and others
Suggestions are given for optimizing your gastrointestinal function, including how to build healthy gut flora, and what things to avoid due to their potential adverse effects on your GI system, which is crucial to your immune health
By Dr. Mercola
When it comes to toileting habits, the topic is not exactly a favorite among Americans – at least for those above the age of four. Mention poop and you can easily clear a room – or at the least, generate some unusual facial expressions, nervous laughter, and wisecracks about "too much information."
But your bodily emissions are an important health topic that deserves serious attention, regardless of the "ick factor." In fact, if you ignore what you deposit in your toilet, you could be flushing your health down the drain!
Did you know the average person generates about five TONS of stool in his or her lifetime? Turns out, there is much to be learned from this mountain of poop.
The shape, size, color, and other fecal features can tell you a great deal about your overall health, how your gastrointestinal tract is functioning, and even give you clues about serious disease processes that could be occurring, like infections, digestive problems, and even cancer. Poop comes in just about all the colors of the rainbow... and please forgive me for using the words poop and rainbow in the same sentence.
Although there is a certainly a wide variety of stool colors, textures and forms that are considered "normal," there are definitely things that, if seen or experienced, warrant immediate medical attention. With this in mind, the overview that follows covers what you need to know about what's normal and not normal in the bathroom department.
What is Normal Stool?
Your stool is about 75 percent water. The rest is a fetid combination of fiber, live and dead bacteria, miscellaneous cells and mucus.1, 2 The characteristics of your stool will tell you a good deal about how happy and healthy your digestive tract is – the color, odor, shape, size, and even the sound it makes when it hits the water and whether it's a "sinker" or a "floater" are all relevant information.
The Bristol Stool Chart is a handy tool that may help you learn what you're going for. Ideally, your stool should approximate Types 3, 4 and 5, "like a sausage or a snake, smooth and soft" to "soft blobs that pass easily." Type 4 is the Holy Grail.3
Fiber tends to bulk up your stool and acts like glue to keep the stool stuck together, instead of in pieces. If your stool is on the softer side, short of diarrhea ("soft serve," as some call it), it could be related to lactose intolerance, artificial sweeteners (sorbitol and Splenda), or a reaction to fructose or gluten.
Look, Listen and Smell Before You Flush
What's normal and what's not when you look into the toilet? The following table will help you narrow down what to look for, so that you aren't needlessly alarmed. Of course, there are a few signs that ARE cause for concern, and those are listed too. If you have a change in stools accompanied by abdominal pain, please report this to your physician.4
Healthy Stool
Unhealthy Stool
Medium to light brown
Stool that is hard to pass, painful, or requires straining
Smooth and soft, formed into one long shape and not a bunch of pieces
Hard lumps and pieces, or mushy and watery, or even pasty and difficult to clean off
About one to two inches in diameter and up to 18 inches long
Narrow, pencil-like or ribbon-like stools: can indicate a bowel obstruction or tumor – or worst case, colon cancer; narrow stools on an infrequent basis are not so concerning, but if they persist, definitely warrant a call to your physician
S-shaped, which comes from the shape of your lower intestine
Black, tarry stools or bright red stools may indicate bleeding in the GI tract; black stools can also come from certain medications, supplements or consuming black licorice; if you have black, tarry stools, it's best to be evaluated by your healthcare provider
Quiet and gentle dive into the water...it should fall into the bowl with the slightest little "whoosh" sound – not a loud, wet cannonball splash that leaves your toosh in need of a shower
White, pale or gray stools may indicate a lack of bile, which may suggest a serious problem (hepatitis, cirrhosis, pancreatic disorders, or possibly a blocked bile duct), so this warrants a call to your physician; antacids may also produce white stool
Natural smell, not repulsive (I'm not saying it will smell good)
Presence of undigested food (more of a concern if accompanied by diarrhea, weight loss, or other changes in bowel habits)
Uniform texture
Floaters or splashers
Increased mucus in stool: This can be associated with inflammatory bowel disease like Crohn's disease, or ulcerative colitis, or even colon cancer, especially if accompanied by blood or abdominal pain
Does Your Stool Have a Really Bad Odor?
If your stool has an extraordinarily bad odor, it should not be ignored. I am referring to an odor above and beyond the normally objectionable stool odor. Stinky stool can be associated with a number of health problems, such as:7
A malabsorptive disorder
Celiac disease
Crohn's disease
Chronic pancreatitis
Cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a disease caused by a defective gene that causes your body to produce abnormally thick, sticky mucus, which builds up and causes life-threatening lung infections and serious digestive problems. Most cases of CF are diagnosed before the age of 2, so this is more of a concern with infants and toddlers.
Speaking of malodorous things, what about gas? Passing gas (flatulence) is normal. Not only is it normal, it's a good sign that trillions of hard working gut bacteria are doing their jobs. People pass gas an average 14 times per day – anywhere from one to four pints of it!8 Ninety nine percent of gas is odorless, so you may even be unaware you're passing it. Think about it – were it not for an exit, we'd all blow up like balloons!
How Often Should You Move Your Bowels?
Normal bowel habits vary. When we talk about regularity, what we're really talking about is what's regularfor you. Three bowel movements per day to three per week is considered the normal range.
What's more important than frequency is the ease with which you move your bowels. If you need to push or strain, something is off – moving your bowels should take no more effort than urinating or passing gas. The thing to watch for is a sudden change in your bowel habits. Many factors can affect regularity, such as diet, travel, medications, hormonal fluctuations, sleep patterns, exercise, illness, surgery, childbirth, stress and a whole host of other things.9
Constipation and Diarrhea
The average body takes between 18 and 72 hours to convert food into poop and pass it on out. When this time is significantly shortened, the result is diarrhea because your intestine doesn't have time to absorb all of the water. Conversely, when transit time is lengthened, you may end up constipated because too much water has been absorbed, resulting in hard, dry stools.
Constipation is defined as passing hard, dry stools that you have to strain to move, and it's typically accompanied by decreased frequency of defecation. Straining is not normal, nor are experiencing feelings of incomplete elimination, bloating, crampiness, or sluggishness after going number two. If you're over the age of 65, your risk of becoming constipated increases significantly.
Chronic, untreated constipation can lead to fecal impaction,10 which can be a serious medical condition. Laxatives should be avoided at all cost and used only as a last resort. If you absolutely must use a laxative, make sure it is used for only a very short period of time.
Common Causes of INCREASED Bowel Frequency/Diarrhea11
Lifestyle
Diseases and Conditions
Eating more fruits and vegetables (increased fiber)
Hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid)
Increased exercise
Crohn's disease
Drinking more water
Ulcerative colitis
Emotional stress
Celiac disease
Food allergies
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Medication side effects
Gastrointestinal infection
Common Causes of DECREASED Bowel Frequency/Constipation12, 13
Lifestyle
Diseases and Conditions
Change in diet, less fiber, less fruits and vegetables
Pregnancy, childbirth, or hormonal disturbances
Emotional stress
Problems with the muscles or nerve in the intestine, rectum or anus
Ignoring the urge to "go," travel and scheduling factors that cause you to hold it
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Insufficient exercise
Diabetes
Inadequate hydration
Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid)
Calcium or iron supplements
Local pain or discomfort around the anus, such as from fissures or hemorrhoids
Drugs such as narcotic painkillers (codeine, for example), diuretics, antacids, antidepressants, and excess or overused laxatives
Less often: diverticulitis, intestinal obstruction, colorectal cancer, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injury
Food allergies
How to Score a Home Run with Your Bowel Movements
Most gastrointestinal problems can be prevented or resolved by making simple changes to your diet and lifestyle. If you aren't achieving poo perfection, or if you don't feel right, then look at the following factors and consider making a few changes. These strategies will help reverse constipation or diarrhea, in addition to helping prevent recurrences.
Remove all sources of gluten from your diet (the most common sources are wheat, barley, rye, spelt and other grains)
Eat a diet that includes whole foods, rich in fresh, organic vegetables and fruits that provide good nutrients and fiber; most of your fiber should come from vegetables, not from grains
Avoid artificial sweeteners, excess sugar (especially fructose), chemical additives, MSG, excessive amounts of caffeine, and processed foods as they are all detrimental to your gastrointestinal (and immune) function
Boost your intestinal flora by adding naturally fermented foods into your diet, such as sauerkraut, pickles, and kefir (if you tolerate dairy); add a probiotic supplement if you suspect you're not getting enough beneficial bacteria from your diet alone
Try increasing your fiber intake; good options include psyllium and freshly ground organic flax seed (shoot for 50 grams of fiber per 1,000 calories consumed).
Make sure you stay well hydrated with fresh, pure water
Avoid pharmaceutical drugs, such as pain killers like codeine or hydrocodone which will slow your bowel function, Antidepressants, and antibiotics can cause a variety of GI disruptions
Consider squatting instead of sitting to move your bowels; squatting straightens your rectum, relaxes your puborectalis muscle and encourages the complete emptying of your bowel without straining, and has been scientifically shown to relieve constipation and hemorrhoids
Consider a Bidet
As a practical and affordable alternative to toilet paper, you might want to try a bidet. Bidets are the norm in Europe—no bathroom is found without one. Once you experience a bidet, you'll probably never go back to toilet paper! A bidet is refreshing in a way toilet paper will never be, is gentler and less irritating than wiping with paper, and reduces hand contamination. Whenever I travel it is one of the items that I miss most from my home. Nearly everyone that I know has received one just loves them.
The bidets pay for themselves in no time with the money saved on toilet paper, as well as helping save valuable environmental resources. You still need a sheet or two of toilet paper to dry yourself, but that is a tiny fraction of what you would need to clean yourself. But more importantly they clean your bottom far more effectively than simply using dry toilet paper. They are easy to install, as no plumber is required. I've made my favorite bidet available in the Mercola store.
A new online tool helps analyze your stool using information you input about its shape, color, size and more. Once you learn if your stool needs improving, dietary changes are offered to improve your bowel health.
July 23, 2016
Story at-a-glance
The appearance and frequency of your stool gives you clues about how your gastrointestinal tract is functioning and can even signal serious disease processes that could be occurring
StoolAnalyzer is an online tool to help you analyze your stool and make dietary changes to improve the health of your bowel movements
Healthy stool should be torpedo shaped, soft and easy to pass, not hard, dry or overly loose
By Dr. Mercola
The size, shape and color of your bowel movements can tell you a lot about your health. This is why you should take a minute to observe what's in the toilet bowl before flushing it away.
The "perfect" stool should be shaped like a torpedo. It should be smooth, soft and easy to pass, as opposed to small and hard (pellet-like) or overly loose.
The appearance and frequency of your stool gives you clues about how your gastrointestinal tract is functioning and can even signal serious disease processes that could be occurring, like infections, digestive problems and even cancer.
Further, making dietary changes will often lead to significant changes in your stool, which you can use as a visual tool to monitor your underlying health.
Analyze Your Stool Online Using StoolAnalyzer
Because you're living in the 21st century, it's no longer necessary to make guestimates about what type of changes you should make to improve your health and, thereby, the condition of your stool. You can instead use an online tool called StoolAnalyzer to make these suggestions for you.1
As it says on StoolAnalyzer.com, "This program is designed to help you analyze your feces and change your diet so that you can achieve the 'perfect stool.'"2 The program takes just a few minutes to complete and includes visual images to help you analyze your poop, asking questions regarding your poop's:
Shape
Color
Size
Frequency
Behavior (floating versus sinking)
You'll receive a score based on a 100-point scale (with 100 being a perfect score) along with dietary recommendations to improve the health of your stool.
This is not a substitute for an ongoing relationship with a holistic health care provider, but it can give you an idea of what's healthy and what's not when it comes to your stool.
The Bristol Stool Chart
Another handy tool for gauging the health of your digestive tract and stool is the Bristol Stool Chart. Like StoolAnalyzer, this chart takes into account shape and texture of your stool, as well as how difficult or easy it is to pass.
Normal stool is shown in types 3, 4 and 5, "like a sausage or a snake, smooth and soft" to "soft blobs that pass easily." Type 4, however, is ideal.3
Signs of Healthy Vs. Unhealthy Stool
The next time you have a bowel movement, compare what you see in the toilet with the information in the chart below. You should be able to accurately gauge whether your stool is healthy or unhealthy.
If yours is the latter, it's time to make some dietary changes and consult with a holistic health professional to figure out what's gone awry in your digestive tract.
Healthy Stool
Unhealthy Stool
Medium to light brown
Stool that is hard to pass, painful, or requires straining
Smooth and soft, formed into one long shape and not a bunch of pieces
Hard lumps and pieces, or mushy and watery, or even pasty and difficult to clean off
About 1 to 2 inches in diameter and up to 18 inches long
Narrow, pencil-like or ribbon-like stools: can indicate a bowel obstruction or tumor; narrow stools on an infrequent basis are not so concerning, but if they persist, definitely make a call to your physician
S-shaped, which comes from the shape of your lower intestine
Black, tarry stools or bright red stools may indicate bleeding in the GI tract; black stools can also come from certain medications, supplements or consuming black licorice.
If you have black, tarry stools, it's best to be evaluated by your health care provider
Quiet and gentle dive into the water; it should fall into the bowl with the slightest little "whoosh" sound — not a loud, wet cannonball splash that leaves your toosh in need of a shower
White, pale or gray stools may indicate a lack of bile, which may suggest a serious problem (hepatitis, cirrhosis, pancreatic disorders, or possibly a blocked bile duct), so this warrants a call to your physician. Antacids may also produce white stool.
Natural smell, not repulsive (I'm not saying it will smell good)
Yellow stools may indicate giardia infection, a gallbladder problem, or a condition known as Gilbert's syndrome. If you see this, call your doctor.
Uniform texture
Presence of undigested food (more of a concern if accompanied by diarrhea, weight loss, or other changes in bowel habits)
Sinks slowly
Floaters or splashers
Increased mucus in stool: This can be associated with inflammatory bowel disease like Crohn's disease, or ulcerative colitis, or even colon cancer, especially if accompanied by blood or abdominal pain
Very bad odor: If your stool has an extraordinarily bad odor, it should not be ignored. I am referring to an odor above and beyond the normally objectionable stool odor.
Stinky stool can be associated with a number of health problems, such as a malabsorptive disorder, Celiac disease, Crohn's disease and chronic pancreatitis.
How Often Should You Poop?
There is a wide variation in what's considered normal bowel-movement frequency. Specifically, three bowel movements per day to three per week may be normal for you, and the frequency may change from day to day or week to week. This is because many factors influence your bowel habits, including:
Diet
Travel
Medications
Hormonal fluctuations
Sleep patterns
Exercise
What's most important is to monitor how you feel and how easily your bowel movements occur. If you're not moving your bowels often enough, you may need to push or strain, and you may feel uncomfortably bloated or gassy. When you do go, the stool may be dry and hard or pellet-like, which are signs of constipation.
Straining is not normal during a bowel movement, nor is experiencing feelings of incomplete elimination, bloating, crampiness or sluggishness after going number two. If you're over the age of 65, your risk of becoming constipated increases significantly.
Chronic, untreated constipation can lead to fecal impaction, which can be a serious medical condition. Laxatives should be avoided at all cost and used only as a last resort, not only due to the potential side effects but also because your body may become dependent on them.
Laxatives may decrease your colon's ability to contract and can even eventually damage your large intestine's nerves, muscles, and other tissues. Fortunately, although constipation is very common, it is also usually temporary and relatively easy to resolve — without resorting to laxatives — by using the natural strategies at the end of this article.
You're Probably Missing Out on These Two Pooping Principles
If you're an adult, you may think you know all there is to know about moving your bowels. However, if you live in the developed world you may be missing out on a key strategy that could make pooping much easier: squatting.
Your body is designed to eliminate while squatting, while modern-day toilets put your body in an unnatural position. Sitting on a modern toilet is designed to place your knees at a 90-degree angle to your abdomen while squatting places your knees much closer to your torso.
This changes the spatial relationships of your intestinal organs and musculature, optimizing the forces involved in defecation. Squatting straightens your rectum, relaxes your puborectalis muscle and allows for complete emptying of your cecum and appendix without straining, which prevents fecal stagnation and the accumulation of toxins in your intestinal tract.
Non-westernized societies, in which people squat, do not have the high prevalence of bowel disease seen in developed nations; in some cultures with traditional lifestyles, these diseases are uncommon or almost unknown. Special toilets and stools that get your body into a more "squatty" position can help you get closer to the ideal even if you've been sitting for decades. What's the other pooping principle you may be missing out on?
A bidet! Bidets provide superior hygiene, are gentler on your skin and are better for the environment than toilet paper; with a bidet seat, you can even install one right on your existing toilet. Bidets are common in certain parts of Europe, South America, the Middle East and Japan; they haven't caught on widely in the U.S., but their use does appear to be increasing.4
Tips to Optimize Your Bowel Movements
The strategies that follow will help to optimize your digestive health, reverse and prevent constipation and support healthy bowel movements. They're safe for children and adults alike.
Remove all sources of gluten from your diet (the most common sources are wheat, barley, rye, spelt and other grains)
Eat a diet that includes whole foods, rich in fresh, organic vegetables and fruits that provide good nutrients and fiber; most of your fiber should come from vegetables, not from grains
Avoid artificial sweeteners, excess sugar (especially fructose), chemical additives, MSG, excessive amounts of caffeine and processed foods as they are all detrimental to your gastrointestinal (and immune) function
Boost your intestinal flora by adding naturally fermented foods into your diet, such as sauerkraut, pickles, and kefir (if you tolerate dairy); add a probiotic supplement if you suspect you're not getting enough beneficial bacteria from your diet alone
Increase your fiber intake; good options include psyllium and freshly ground organic flax seed (shoot for about 50 grams of fiber per 1,000 calories consumed daily)
Make sure you stay well hydrated with fresh, pure water
