3 Things Your Poop Can Tell You About Your Health During Winter

Did you know that you could can gauge if something is wrong with your body through one thing? It's poop!

The size, shape, and texture of your stool can tell a lot about your gut and your health in general. Here are three things your poop can tell you about your health during winter.

1- Dehydration

During winter, your thirst can decrease by 40%. Your body is already dehydrated and does this not to lose water through sweating. But this decreased thirst also results in dehydration which causes foot cracks, flaky skin, and chapped lips.

But you can tell if you’re dehydrated from your poop. The walls in the large intestine absorb water from the fecal matter as it passes along. Since the body is dehydrated, the large intestine absorbs more water from the poop, making it hard. This leads to constipation in the winter season. If you experience constipation during winter, you might be dehydrated!

2- Disturbed Circadian Rhythm

The circadian rhythm is your body’s built-in clock. Based on the time of the day, it controls everything from when you feel sleepy or energetic and wakeful to when you feel hungry or have the urge to poop. Thanks to the body's circadian rhythm, you poop at around the same time daily.

The circadian rhythm keeps in sync with the actual time of the day by measuring the amount of blue light you’re exposed to throughout the day. Your body assumes that you’re exposed to a lot of blue light from the sun in the morning and not as much blue light in the evening.

So what happens when you don’t get enough sunlight in the morning? Your circadian rhythm gets disturbed. You feel less energetic during the daytime and less sleepy at night time. The disruption of circadian rhythm is quite common in winter since there’s less sunlight outside.

Disruption of the circadian rhythm has a very obvious sign; you poop at random times of the day. If you notice that you’re no longer pooping regularly at a fixed time of the day, you’re probably experiencing "winter blues."

3- Lack of Fiber

We often go for foods that are easy to digest and provide instant energy to keep you warm in winter. After all, being in the cold burns calories faster than any activity.

However, these easy-to-digest foods contain little to no fiber, which can result in several complications.

When your diet is too low in fiber, you poop in small pieces rather than one large cylinder. Unlike in constipation, these pieces are soft and lack structure due to the lack of fiber.

If you feel constantly constipated, it's time to opt for laxatives or stool softeners. At HealthA2Z, we have stool softener capsules that trigger bowel movements.

Visit our website to purchase our stool softener for adults and prevent constipation this winter!