It’s so important to poop regularly!

As a clinician and specifically a Chinese medicine practitioner, I conduct extensive health history interviews. Over the past 17 years I’ve interviewed several thousand people about everything from their sleep habits to their food cravings to the color of their menstrual blood. I have a pretty good sense of what’s going on out there and what people THINK is normal versus what the science says. For example, menstrual cramps are not ‘normal’ but they are, very common.

A 2020 study found that women with PCOS were twice as likely as the general population to suffer from constipation. Some of the proposed reasons include:

• Insulin resistance disrupting the natural bacteria in the digestive system
• Other hormonal imbalances including high androgens like testosterone and high luteinizing hormone.

(And by the way, constipation not only may be caused by hormonal imbalances but can also contribute to them!)

So this brings us to poop. Yes, bowel movements. People may THINK it’s normal to go every other day or even less, and it IS pretty common, but it’s not healthy and it can impact your fertility.

The digestive system is the major player in the elimination process AFTER the detox system has done its job. That is, the toxins, excess hormones and other waste products that have already been determined to be hazardous to our health, have already been sorted by the liver and sent to the large intestine to be removed.
However, the large intestine also absorbs fluids and the longer that toxic sludge is sitting in there, the more those toxins are reabsorbed.

There are bacteria that live in the digestive system that produce byproducts like ammonia that can accumulate and be reabsorbed. As the stool ferments it can cause embarrassing gas. In addition to that, there are studies that show that pesticides from food can be reabsorbed back into the blood stream and those pesticides frequently mimic estrogen, further contributing to already imbalanced hormones. All of this can contribute to systemic inflammation which is hypothesized to be one of the root causes of PCOS.

So, you might ask, am I seriously saying that pooping every day instead of every 2 or 3 days can have an impact on your fertility? Yes, I am indeed.

Ideally, you should poop at least once a day. If you’re having less than 3 bowel movements per week, that’s a problem that really needs to be addressed.

To improve your bowel frequency some things you can try right away include,

• Drinking enough room temperature water
• Eating high fiber foods like berries, leafy greens, avocadoes, nuts and seeds
• Adding a good, broad-spectrum probiotic to your daily supplements
• Regular gentle exercise.

There are so many things you can do to help manage PCOS and improve your fertility.
You might be surprised by what the missing piece is. If you want to explore the idea of uncovering hidden obstacles to starting your family, let’s talk. Schedule an appointment today by calling or texting Float Euphoria at 509-940-1888