---
title: What Healthy Poop Looks Like
date: 2012-04-03T15:33:29Z
modified: 2012-04-03T15:33:29Z
permalink: "https://elizabethyarnell.com/what-healthy-poop-looks-like/"
type: post
status: publish
excerpt: ""
wpid: 2044
categories:
  - Food Sensitivities
  - Living Naturally
  - Natural Remedies
tags:
  - Bristol stool chart
  - Bristol stool scale
  - contipation remedies
  - diarrhea remedies
  - Dr. Tom Anstett
  - IBS cure
  - irritable bowel syndrome
author: Elizabeth
---

My practice as a [naturopath](http://elizabethyarnell.com/Nutrition/Nutrition.htm "naturopathic doctor") focuses on balancing nutrition and [identifying and eliminating inflammatory foods](http://elizabethyarnell.com/FoodSensitivities.htm "food sensitivity reactions") to restore health, and I always inquire about my patients’ elimination habits. ![bristol stool scale for determinng healthy poop](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Bristol_stool_chart.svg/479px-Bristol_stool_chart.svg.png "bristol stool scale")

The state of someone’s stool says a lot about their internal processes, i.e., if they are absorbing their foods, suffering from inflammation, and/or infected by parasites. I ask about color, odor, buoyancy, frequency, ease, and consistency. One of the tools I use to assess the responses is the [Bristol Stool Chart](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Stool_Scale "bristol stool chart bristol stool scale").

Developed at the University of Bristol in England, and published in the _Scandanavian Journal of Gastroenterology_ in 1997, the Bristol Stool Chart describes the consistency and form of human poop ranging from diarrhea to constipation. It’s a clinical tool you can use to assess your own health on a daily basis.

The optimum state for stool is Type 4. I think of it as when your poop looks like an old banana: smooth and tubular with a slight curve and gentle to pass.

One of my mentors, [Dr. Tom Anstett](http://www.naturalhealthbalance.com "Tom Anstett"), jokes that he is the president of SWA, or Stool Watchers of America. He knows that your stool is a good indicator of how the rest of your body is doing: healthy stool means all systems are fired and functioning.

Are you noticing that you do not eliminate Type 4 poop 1-3 times per day? Sophisticated testing and dietary therapies can help get you back on track and feeling good. [Contact me](http://elizabethyarnell.com/contact.htm "free consultation for natural health") if you’d like a _free_ consultation.