on PinterestThe time it takes for stool to transit through your body can affect your health. Image Credit: AUDSHULE/StocksyResearch suggests that the amount of time stool spends in your body may affect your overall health.
on PinterestThe time it takes for stool to transit through your body can affect your health. Image Credit: AUDSHULE/Stocksy
- Research suggests that the amount of time stool spends in your body may affect your overall health.
- This may be due to changes in gut microbiomes associated with how quickly or slowly stool moves through the body.
- An expert explains long-term health issues associated with slow digestion, chronic constipation, and chronic diarrhea.
The amount of time it takes for stool to move through your body may impact your health in more ways than you may think.
A 2023 study showed that there may be distinct differences in gut microbiomes depending on whether your stool is fast or slow.
The human gut microbiome is closely linked to overall health.
Slow transit times of stool and constipation have shown associations with metabolic and inflammatory conditions, as well as neurological conditions, such as Parkinson’s Disease.
This study also looked at previous research on gut transit time. All of the research had the same goal of estimating how long food stays in a person’s colon.
The longer it stays, the more time bacteria have to ferment the contents, regulate acidity in the gut, and produce metabolites that can influence the body’s health.
The study found that people with faster gut transit times had drastically different microbiomes than those with slower transit times.
One approach to estimating the gut transit time was the Bristol Stool Scale. This is a visual tool that classifies stool by consistency. For example, hard, rock-like pellets typically mean a long transit time. Watery, mushy stool often indicates a short transit time.
Transit time can also influence how your body responds to probiotics, as well as supplements and medications that interact with the gut.
“The gut is far more than a digestive organ — it is a finely tuned ecosystem whose balance underpins everything from immune function and metabolic health to neurological well-being and cancer risk,” said Ketan Thanki, MD, board certified colorectal surgeon who specializes in benign and malignant disease of the colon, rectum, and anus with the MemorialCare Todd Cancer Institute at Long Beach Medical Center in Long Beach, CA.
Healthline spoke with Thanki to learn more about how poop transit time can impact health.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
How does poop transit time affect gut health?
Thanki: Gut transit time is a major determinant of microbiome composition, diversity, and metabolism.
Slower colonic transit time is consistently associated with a shift away from beneficial sugar fermentation, which produces health-promoting short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and toward protein fermentation that generates potentially harmful byproducts like ammonia and phenols.
The relationship works both ways: transit time shapes which microbial communities thrive, but microbiota and their metabolites — including SCFAs and secondary bile acids — directly influence gut motility.
Why does poop transit time lead to inflammatory and metabolic disorders?
Thanki: When transit slows, fermentable carbohydrates become depleted before stool reaches the distal colon, and bacteria switch from fermenting carbohydrates into healthful
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