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Ah, bathroom matters. Much like with sex, there seems to be a lot of misinformation floating around out there. Also, as with sex, reports of high numbers may be exaggerated. High pooping numbers, that is.



How often do you think you’re supposed to poop? According to a post from Metro.co.uk, there is a common misconception that you should be pooping at least once a day. We do call people with healthy bowel movements “regular,” if we call them anything at all. But, in fact, pooping every day is a luxury few folks experience:

One study of 4,775 people with ‘normal’ bowel patterns found that 95% of people move their bowels between three and 21 times per week. Gastroenterologist Christopher Hair said, ‘What is normal is well defined yet broad. In many studies into normal ‘healthy’ defecation, normal pooing ranges from three times per day to three times per week.


Three times a day! Who has that kind of time? Apparently, less than 40 percent of people who would be defined as healthy poop every single day. Constipation or its fluid counterpart can indicate you’re ill with an infection or metabolic condition. Pooping blood means you should go to the doctor immediately, as it may be a sign of cancer.

If you’re not feeling otherwise ill and are on the fence about whether you’re experiencing a medical emergency, a gastroenterologist told Metro.co.uk that people should remember the rule of three and three: “You’re within normal bowel frequency if you’re between three times a day and once every three days.” They called it “the Goldilocks zone for pooing.”