A 31-year-old member asked:
how long does it take to have a bowel movement after eating?
1 doctor answer • 1 doctor weighed in
Dr. William Forsythe answered
Emergency Medicine 27 years experience
Depends on food: Typically, in a digestive tract that works properly, a bowel movement should occur twice daily. Various foods may affect it. High fiber foods will decrease the transit time, cheese and various other foods may slow it down. Probiotics help to promote gut health to maintain consistency of bm's.
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Similar questions
CA
A 36-year-old member asked:
What does an ideal bowel movement look or feel like?
2 doctor answers • 3 doctors weighed in
Dr. Jeffrey Crespin answered
Gastroenterology 28 years experience
Bristol stool score: There is a 7 point stool score with photos. Ideally you would have the 3, 4 score. Type 6 is too fluffy and type 1 is too hard.
6260 views
A 30-year-old member asked:
What is the normal average duration of a bowel movement?
2 doctor answers • 3 doctors weighed in
Dr. Howard Hack answered
Internal Medicine 33 years experience
Brief: I recommend to my patients they should do their business on the toilet and move on, meaning minutes. One should not dawdle to read etc. As this predisposes to rectal issues such as hemorrhoids.
6258 views
CA
A 16-year-old member asked:
How often should a person have a bowel movement?
2 doctor answers • 6 doctors weighed in
Dr. Sidney Vinson answered
Gastroenterology 27 years experience
It depends: There is no actual rule or guideline on how frequent bowel movements should occur. Normal ranges from 3 times daily to once weekly.
6260 views
A 32-year-old female asked:
What can I take to help me have a bowel movement more than two times a week?
2 doctor answers • 3 doctors weighed in
Dr. Danny Proffitt answered
Family Medicine 43 years experience
Many things: A good diet high in fiber with increased fruits and vegetables. Prunes, prune juice, plums, apples, unprocessed bran, bran cereals, increase water and fluids. Try goind daily after a meal and a hot cup of beverage. Dr. David's recipee: 8 oz flax seed, sesame seeds and peled sunflower seeds. Mix equally. Take a tablespon up to three times a day or mix with cereals. Exercise too! ther r othr.
6152 views
NY
A 25-year-old member asked:
Every morning I have a bowel movement at least 4 times in an hour, most of which is loose and watery. What could be wrong?
2 doctor answers • 3 doctors weighed in
Dr. Michio Abe answered
Internal Medicine 26 years experience
Could be normal: What's considered a normal bowel movement varies from one person to the next. In general, most people have it 3 x/day to 3 x/week. 4 times in an hour with loose, watery consistency sounds a bit unusual, but the important question is whether or not this is a new pattern for you or you have always had it this way. If it's something new, it could be diarrhea due to a number of possible causes.
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Last updated Sep 14, 2019
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