- Perceived as dirty, all droppings (or almost) have their uses. Elimination, filtration or even hydration: each plays its role to ensure the proper functioning of the body.
- Do you know the virtues of boogers, the usefulness of earwax or the amount of excrement that is eliminated in a lifetime?
- This summer, 20 Minutes reveals all the secrets of poop. To end our series in style, today we are talking about poop. Real ones.
He is the queen of droppings, the one that we will produce in greater quantity during our life. Poop, some could talk about it for hours. But for many it is still taboo, and talking about constipation and diarrhea is not a suitable topic of conversation.
But that does not prevent us from asking a whole lot of questions on the subject. What is the feces for? Why does it stink? What do your turds say about your health? It's summer, so 20 Minutes takes the time to answer the scientific-shameful questions that you don't dare ask.
What are feces made of?
To operate the machine that is the human body, the organism needs fuel. You eat, you drink, and what you ingest is used and transformed as it progresses through the body. Saliva and chewing begin the work of digestion, then the stomach takes over with gastric juices, and the meal, or "food bowl", continues its way into the intestines. During this time, the body draws on this fuel the water, proteins, carbohydrates, fats and nutrients it needs to function.
The stools are therefore the residues of our digestion, and are mainly composed of water (75%) and biological waste (25%). Waste consisting of living and dead bacteria, dead cells in the digestive tract, and food residues that the body has not been able to digest (such as the skin of tomatoes or corn kernels).
But why is the poo brown? "It is to bile, produced by the liver and mixed with food residues during digestion, that poop owes its color," replied Julien Ménielle, from the popular science YouTube channel "In your body", in Everything that you must know about the most taboo of subjects (ed. Michel Lafon), his book devoted to poo. Bile, a greenish liquid, "contains pigments from the destruction of red blood cells, and in particular bilirubin," he continues. And it is from the degradation of this bilirubin by intestinal germs that the brown pigment of our poo will be born: stercobilin ”.
What are they for ?
Like any factory requiring fuel, the body needs to evacuate its waste. It therefore does so through the stool. On average, a healthy individual has a bowel movement "between three times a day and three times a week," says Dr Frédéric Saldmann, cardiologist and nutritionist, specialist in hygiene issues in Your Safe Health ( ed. Albin Michel).
Moreover, the appearance of your turds is a precious indicator of your health and your diet. Their shape and color indicate if all is well (brown turd, well molded and smooth), or if you have some concerns (rabbit poop = constipation). A yellow poop can thus "be the sign of a problem which affects the production of bile", or "betray a poor absorption of fats", or even be the sign of "celiac disease", evokes Julien Ménielle in his bible of Pooh.
And how to explain the sometimes foul odor of the stool? “The main culprits are the bacteria in the intestinal flora,” he explains. The very ones who work to finish the job of digestion by breaking down food. (…) They reject a large number of malodorous substances such as sulphide derivatives ”[a rotten egg smell], or even“ cadaverine and putrecin ”, organic compounds which are found in decomposing bodies and which have a pestilential odor.
How to clean them?
“Well, wiping off! ", Some will be tempted to answer. But it's a little more complicated than that! Rich in bacteria, your turds are culture broths that you don't want to let proliferate on the thin and fragile skin of the anal area. Especially since they are also vectors of viruses. The use of simple toilet paper is therefore not enough for good hygiene. “Wiping your buttocks with paper is not unanimous in the world, admits Dr. Frédéric Saldmann. Many countries opt for the seat toilet with a small jet of water that is near the throne, others prefer the bidet. Imagine depositing feces on your arm. You decide to wipe it off with toilet paper, he describes. You did not use soap or water. Come closer: your arm smells awful, and if you got even closer with a microscope, you would discover an army of germs. You will agree, it is not hygienic, especially if it has to stay all day ”.
It will be understood that cleaning yourself only by rubbing with toilet paper does not remove feces from the intergluteal fold. In addition, repeated rubbing also creates microcracks in the skin, “the gateway to bacteria and viruses. The risk is intertrigo in the intergluteal fold, ”warns Dr. Saldmann. A skin infection that results in redness, itching and burning sensations.
The best is to be able to "take a shower after going to the toilet, and soap the intergluteal fold and the anus while squatting," summarizes Dr. Saldmann. Taken from an untimely desire? Baby cleaning wipes are a good alternative in case of nomadic poo break.
Poop in numbers
If the body is a well-established factory, it is in particular a sacred producer of droppings! Over a lifetime, each individual will produce an average of 6 tonnes! And a single gram of fecal matter would contain over 100 billion bacteria.
And you, the poo?
If the bidet, intended for post-popo hygiene, has not been popular in France for several decades, where it has disappeared from the bathrooms, on the other side of the Alps, its success has never wavered. . “Washing in the bidet after pooping is normal in Italy,” says Gennaro, a Neapolitan living in Paris. Women also use it when they have their period. It is part of our habits: bidets, there are all over Italy, a bit like the integrated water jet toilets in Japan. But in France, bidets, I hardly ever see them. For me, the French could really do better in terms of personal hygiene ”.
The unusual info
Everything is not to be thrown in the poo! In particular, it contains bacteria from the intestinal microbiota that can benefit patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), on whom it is possible to perform fecal transplants. The practice consists of reseeding the intestinal microbiota, which in particular has the effect of strengthening the immune system.
Last little advice for the road: do you know the best position to free yourself from your turds? It is by reproducing the one adopted on the Turkish toilet: in a squatting position. But as it is not a question either of sending you to do your big business at the bottom of the garden (especially when you do not have a garden), Giulia Enders, author of the bestseller The discreet charm of the intestine (ed. . Actes-Sud), has the solution: sitting on the toilet, "all you have to do is put your feet on a small low stool and lean your chest slightly forward". This allows you to find the right anorectal axis and thus to do your business with confidence.
Health
It's a little cracra: It's yellow and it makes the ears dirty, but what is the use of earwax?
Health
It's a bit cracra: boogers, some roll them, others eat them, but what is it for?
- Health
- Hygiene
- Body