How often should you poo?

Everyone’s body works a little differently. As a result, the frequency of poos can vary widely from person to person.

In this article, we’ll explain how often you should poo, which factors affect this and when you might need to speak with a doctor.

How often should you poo?

Experts consider anything from three times per day to three times per week to be normal and healthy. Some experts call this the three-and-three rule. 

Studies show that the majority of people – just over half – poo once a day. But around a third of us poo 8–21 times each week. 

And roughly 1 in 8 people have a bowel movement 3–6 times a week.

You may wonder how often the healthiest people poo. But anywhere within the three-and-three range is healthy. The most important thing is to know your body and what’s normal for you. 

But if you have fewer than three bowel movements each week, it’s a sign that you might have constipation. 

At the other end of the spectrum, if you’re pooing more than three times a day, you may have diarrhoea. 

In these cases, it’s a good idea to speak with a doctor so that they can investigate the cause.

What affects how often you poo?

Many factors can help explain why you’re going to the toilet more or less often than usual. 

Your gut is a tube around 9 metres long, so what you eat has quite the journey from one end to the other. 

On average, it takes just over 1 full day (around 28 hours) for food to travel all the way through. But this time actually varies widely from person to person.

Below are some questions to ask yourself if you notice that your bowel habits have changed.

1. Am I hydrated?

Water is essential for your body to work properly, including your gut.

If you’re dehydrated, your poo might be harder than it should be. This makes it more difficult for your gut to pass.

During busy times, it can be easy to forget to stay hydrated. And if you’ve been sweating – maybe due to exercise or the heat of summer – you need to drink more liquids.

2. Am I keeping active?

Exercise helps keep you regular – this is one of its many health benefits.

Moving around supports the work of your bowels and encourages poo to travel through them.

Gravity also helps poo move in the right direction. Spending a long time lying down or hunched over can interrupt poo’s passage through your body.

3. Do I have an ongoing health condition?

Certain health issues influence how regularly you use the bathroom. For example, these conditions can each increase your risk of experiencing diarrhoea and constipation:

• Lactose intolerance: This keeps your body from breaking down the sugar in dairy.
• Coeliac disease: This autoimmune condition affects your gut.
• Food allergies: Nuts, shellfish, dairy, fish and eggs are common allergens.
• Type 2 diabetes: This affects how your body handles sugar.
• Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD): An immune response and inflammation affect your gut.
• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS): This causes uncomfortable gut symptoms and affects about 5–10% of people in the United Kingdom.

Also, chronic pancreatitis – long-term inflammation of your pancreas – causes diarrhoea. And hypothyroidism can cause constipation. If you have this condition, your thyroid doesn’t produce enough hormones.

4. Have I started any new medication?

Some medicines and supplements can change how often you poo. The following medicines might cause constipation for some people:

• furosemide, a treatment for high blood pressure and other conditions
• levothyroxine sodium, a treatment for hypothyroidism 
• ibuprofen, a common anti-inflammatory drug

And these medications might cause diarrhoea:

• antibiotics, which can treat certain infections
• lithium, a treatment for conditions like depression and bipolar disorder
• carbamazepine, a treatment for epilepsy

Iron supplements are another common cause of constipation. But they can cause diarrhoea for some people, too.

If your symptoms are causing you distress, speak with your doctor. They may be able to prescribe other drugs instead or suggest additional treatments.

5. Am I experiencing a lot of stress?

Increases in stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline, can cause changes in the frequency and consistency of your poo.

The gut-brain axis is the two-way system of communication between your gut and your brain. It relies on a network of nerves that runs from your brain to your gut. 

If you’re feeling mentally stressed, your gut will feel physically stressed, and this impacts how it functions.

Stress is also likely to alter your eating habits, which can affect your poo habits.

6. Could it be my menstrual cycle?

Some hormones, including the sex hormones oestrogen and progesterone, can change the frequency of your toilet trips.

For example, some people poo more often just before their period starts and in the first couple of days. 

One study found that around 73% of participants experienced at least one gastrointestinal symptom before and during their period. 

Specifically, 24% of these women got diarrhoea in the days leading up to their period and 28% had it during their period. 

Meanwhile, 15% of the participants reported constipation in the premenstrual phase and 10% had it during their period. 

7. Is it just a part of ageing?

If your bowel habits have changed slowly over the years, this might be due to the process of ageing.

Older adults are more likely to experience constipation and may therefore poo less often.

In fact, in people older than 65, constipation affects: 

• 26% of females 
• 16% of males

And in those who are 84 or older, constipation affects:

• 34% of females
• 26% of males

For people who live in long-term care homes, up to 80% may have constipation.

8. What have I eaten recently?

Some foods can influence how often you poo. For instance, people with food intolerances may have diarrhoea if they eat something that disagrees with them.

Fibre plays an important role, too. Consuming more fibre – which exists in all plants – can help you poo more often if you're constipated. 

Here are some high-fibre recipes and breakfasts that might help get things moving along. 

Also, for some people, caffeinated drinks and spicy foods speed up the movement of poo through their intestines.

Finally, if you eat something that contains ‘bad’ bacteria, you might get food poisoning, which often causes diarrhoea. This is because your body is trying to flush out the infection.

Poo consistency

Alongside frequency, it’s a good idea to pay attention to the consistency of your poo. 

If you have diarrhoea, it will be runny or mushy. And if you have constipation, your poo might be lumpy, hard or dry, like nuts or pebbles.

Healthy poo is like a soft sausage, either smooth or with a cracked surface. It’s easy to pass without straining or discomfort.

When to seek help

When it comes to poo frequency, it’s important to know what’s normal for you. 

If there’s a big change for no obvious reason, and that change continues for more than 1 week, speak with your doctor. 

Most often, small changes in bowel habits resolve on their own, and they’re not a cause for concern.

Improving your overall gut health might help get you back on track without the need for medical care. 

But make sure you seek help straight away if you:

• find blood in your poo
• pass black or dark stool
• are bleeding from the anus
• have severe tummy pain
• are vomiting blood or what looks like coffee grounds
• have lost weight without trying
• are constipated and feel tired all the time
• think you’ve swallowed something poisonous
• have a stiff neck and looking at bright lights causes pain

Summary

Each person’s gut follows a slightly different schedule. If you poo anywhere from three times a week to three times a day, experts consider it normal and healthy.

The most important thing is to know what’s normal for you.

Changes to poo frequency can result from many factors, including your diet, age, medical conditions and medications. 

Sudden changes in your lifestyle, such as going on holiday, can make a difference. So can your activity levels, how much water you’ve drunk and certain fluctuations in hormones.

Often, changes in toilet habits are nothing to worry about. But if they’re causing you distress or last more than 1 week, visit your doctor for advice. 

Some issues require urgent treatment, like blood in your stool, black poo and severe tummy pain.

To learn more about gut health, visit Symprove’s Gut Hub.

Sources

Association of stool frequency and consistency with the risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality among U.S. adults: Results from NHANES 2005–2010. Healthcare. (2022). Link.

Blue poo: Impact of gut transit time on the gut microbiome using a novel marker. Gut. (2020). Link. 

Characterizing normal bowel frequency and consistency in a representative sample of adults in the United States (NHANES). American Journal of Gastroenterology. (2018). Link.

Constipation. (2023). Link.

Constipation and diarrhoea – common adverse drug reactions? A cross-sectional study in the general population. BMC Clinical Pharmacology. (2011). Link.

Constipation in older adults. Canadian Family Physician. (2015). Link.

Diarrhoea. (2023). Link.

Gastrointestinal symptoms before and during menses in healthy women. BMC Women’s Health. (2014). Link. 

It’s important to know what healthy poo looks like. (n.d.). Link.

Overlap between irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease. Gastroenterology and Hepatology. (2020). Link.

Side effects of ferrous fumarate. (2022). Link.