{"id":16,"date":"2016-02-08T00:29:55","date_gmt":"2016-02-07T11:29:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.frot.co.nz\/design\/gapsnz\/stool\/"},"modified":"2017-01-18T01:05:57","modified_gmt":"2017-01-17T12:05:57","slug":"stool","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.frot.co.nz\/design\/gapsnz\/am-i-a-gapster\/stool\/","title":{"rendered":"Stool Issues"},"content":{"rendered":"

People affected by GAPS often have problems with either diarrhoea or constipation. Other bowel problems are also common.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong>Do I have a problem with my bowel movements?<\/h4>\n

This chart is a reference that allows you to see at a glance how “normal” your bowel movements are.<\/p>\n

If your stools are most commonly 1, 2 or 3, that is considered to be constipated.<\/p>\n

If your stools are usually 4, that’s normal. They should be comfortable and easy to pass, without being mushy.<\/p>\n

Type 5 is also ok.<\/p>\n

Types 6 and 7 are considered diarrhoea.<\/p>\n

Apart from the consistency, there are other factors that determine if you have an issue.<\/p>\n

Frequency: <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

If you don’t have a bowel movement every day, that is also constipation. A normal number of bowel movements a day is somewhere between 1 and 3.<\/p>\n

Transit time:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Food should take about 18-24 hours to pass through your system.<\/p>\n

Eating beetroot is one way to find out your transit time. You will usually see red stools within a day. If it’s less than 18 hours, the food is moving through too fast. If it’s more than 24-30 hours, things are moving too slowly.<\/p>\n

Troubleshooting for diarrhoea<\/h4>\n

Cutting out grains and other starches will often resolve diarrhoea. You will have to stay off them for a period of time to heal the gut.<\/p>\n

If you eliminate those and you still have diarrhoea, Dr Natasha recommends you do the Intro diet<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other steps to try (one at a time):<\/p>\n