I was recently recommended by my nutritionist to begin detoxing before I start a new diet to enhance the effects of the weight loss supplements and strengthen my immune system during the process.
I have heard that some people had negative experiences when taking a detox, specifically regarding bowel movements, so I decided to do in-depth research about detoxing.
Do you poop a lot when detoxing? One of the benefits of detoxing is to produce regular bowel movements and promote a healthier digestive tract. Therefore, you are extremely likely to poop more while detoxing.
The natural process of digestion involves the removal of toxins from the body. This is accomplished by the filtering of consumed materials by the kidney for urine, and absorption of nutritious materials in the digestive tract for defecation.
Detoxing only serves to enhance and assist this process, so it should be expected that your body will produce more waste, as it is working more efficiently.
How Does Detoxing Make You Poop?
Your body is made up of an incredible amount of nutrients that are taken in by your diet. Unfortunately, we struggle to maintain a healthy diet and lack the ability to consume the nutritional ingredients needed to obtain a healthy and fit body.
Instead, we tend to devour overly processed carbohydrates and sugars from quick and easy fast food options that make it difficult to detox naturally.
The combination of essential ingredients that detox should have will work together with your body to properly and naturally excrete waste from your body.
A few safe and effective detox ingredients include:
Water
It is the number one ingredient found in a detox, especially when you are trying a detox that targets cleaning out the digestive tract.
As stool moves through your digestive tract, the large intestine will absorb water from waste if it is not properly hydrated. The results are dry and lumpy stool, which is difficult and sometimes painful to pass.
Sodium
This is another key ingredient found in detoxes. Its purpose is to aid in the body’s process of removing toxins, including fecal matter.
Often, people add sodium to detoxes to increase the detox’s ability to remove waste that is stuck on the walls of the intestines. When additional sodium is added, a bowel movement can occur in as little as an hour.
Fiber
Fiber is necessary to have within a detox due to its ability to add bulk to poop that allows it to pass through the digestive system faster and be removed more solidly and painlessly.
Many fruits and “dark leaf” vegetables are high in fiber and aid in the waste removal process.
Aloe Vera Gel
This can be purchased as an unprocessed dietary supplement. It aids in moving stool through the digestive system by stimulating peristalsis.
Peristalsis is tiny vibrations the body makes internally that are the leading component that allows food to move through the digestive system.
The combination of these important ingredients allows the body to detoxify in a safe and natural way while aiding in the creation of a stronger internal defense to bacteria.
Should a Detox Give Me Diarrhea?
It is normal and healthy to poop more during a detox, some diarrhea may occur that should be monitored, but this is not a sign that you should no longer continue taking the detox.
It is a great sign to recognize because you know the detox is doing its job.
The traits of your poop could be:
- Liquid – It is not uncommon for your stool to be watery. This trait signifies that your body is properly hydrated and is secreting toxins the detox formula was designed to eliminate.
- Yellow – This yellow substance can be a sign of some toxins. The detox supports your body in removing and is totally normal for individuals to experience. Along with a yellow liquid, some chunks might be noticeable. It is common to see this during the first couple of bathroom trips when starting a detox.
- Dark – Some chunks and liquids may be darker in color. They are chunks of poop that have been stuck on the walls of the intestines that are finally being removed during the detox. You should not be alarmed and proceed to take your detox.
- Odor – The smell should not be an overwhelming or out-of-the-ordinary odor. If anything, you may recognize the smell to be hardly noticeable. Please note that any new smell is from the toxins the body is secreting.
Remember that you are detoxifying your body, and even though diarrhea is an indicator that something may be upsetting your stomach, it is normal to have loose stools.
Do You Poop A Lot When You Only Drink Detox Water?
Detox water is a mixture of purified water, vegetables, fruits, herbs, and other supplements, and so is used to help with starting and helping out the process of detoxing. Popular spices added to detox waters include ginger and citrus as well.
Because of such ingredients, detox water, even on its own, will indeed increase the frequency of your bowel movements.
There is one very important note, though: Do not confuse a detox with a cleanse! The two terms are often used interchangeably. However, there is a difference.
A cleanse only clears your digestive tract, while a detox will clear your digestive tract and promote your body’s natural detoxification through the liver, kidneys, skin, and lungs.
It can even promote a stronger internal defense against unwanted germs.
Do You Poop A Lot on a Cleanse (In General)?
As I mentioned before, there are many similarities between cleansing and detoxing, which is why the two terms are so often used interchangeably.
One of the many similarities between the two is the increased frequency of bowel movements.
That said, you can generally expect to poop noticeably more often when on a cleanse.
Is There A Difference Between a Water Cleanse vs. Juice Cleanse Regarding Bowel Movements?
With detox waters or other water-based cleanses, the ingredients and supplements are the key to enhanced detoxification and increased the frequency of bowel movements.
Of course, the increased intake of water contributes to this, but specifically, aloe, cayenne, and such ingredients that promote digestive health will contribute to more bowel movements.
On the other hand, certain types of juices, like ginger-, citrus-, or spice-focused (i.e., cayenne, cinnamon, etc.) juices, can indeed make you go more as well.
Juice cleanses will give a laxative effect, which will enhance the number of times you have a bowel movement.
Related Article: Juice Cleanse: 6 Benefits You Don’t Want to Miss!
Do You Poop A Lot on The Master Cleanse?
The master cleanse is a quite dangerous cleanse that will not only make you poop excessively, but you may have quite a bit of side effects as well, such as:
- Dizziness
- Light-headed
- Fainting
Do You Poop A Lot On an AdvoCare Cleanse?
In the initial stages of an Advocare cleanse, you will be having quite a bit of bowel movements. However, as you go on throughout the process, it will start to slow down and your bowel movement amounts will start to regulate.
The Advocare cleanse is an herbal colon cleanse that focuses on removing toxins from the liver, blood, urine, and intestines.
There are a few different types, all of which emphasize probiotics and herbal extracts to help your body expel toxins.
Do You Poop A Lot on Isagenix Cleanse?
During Isagenix cleanses, you will see an increase in bowel movement on certain days, but overall, it is on the lighter end of the many types of cleanses that are out there.
Some of the ingredients in the Isagenix cleanse that increase your bowel movements are aloe vera, raspberry juice extract, fennel seed extract, and peppermint leaf extract.
These days are when it is cleansed-focused, as there is a pattern that is to be followed on these types of cleanses.
How to Prevent Loose Stools
It is a regularity to find yourself dealing with the explosiveness of diarrhea during detoxing. However, certain dietary habits and supplements like peppermint, spearmint, and ginger can be incorporated along with your diet to help minimize, and in some cases, eliminate loose stools and diarrhea completely.
Below are the three effective ways to help balance the bowel movements:
#1. Always Stay Hydrated
Your consumption of liquids, especially water, contributes to the overall success of the detox. The lack of water can lead to dry and harder poop and sounds like a solution to preventing loose stool.
However, your diarrhea contains large amounts of water that your intestines are absorbing at a rapid pace to push waste through the digestive tract, and if left dehydrated, you may feel light-headed and even pass out.
#2. Prevent Gas
Gassiness is a sign that a bowel movement may be needed soon. By controlling your gas, you can prevent an immediate trip to the bathroom, which allows more time for the intestines to absorb more water from your stool resulting in a less explosive and watery stool.
Some natural foods to help prevent gas include:
- Peppermint: Eating peppermint leaves raw or adding them to tea can help to reduce or prevent gas.
- Spearmint: You can consume spearmint leaves raw or use as an essential oil to help your gas.
- Ginger: Adding ginger to your tea, smoothies, or juice mixes is a good way to help control gas.
Most people prefer to stay close to home, so they can access the bathroom is quicker.
#3. Decrease Detox Consumption
Limiting your intake of the detox can be an educated decision. If you feel that your bathroom trips are too abundant, cutting the amount you take in half might make your stomach settle and allow your bowel movements to be more manageable.
With all these being said, here is a summary of what you can expect during different types of detoxing/cleansing processes.
Methods | Frequency of Bowel movements | Consistency of Poop |
|---|---|---|
Detox | On average, expect to poop about 3 times a day – this is normal and healthy! | Your poop can be either solid or loose, but they will be softer than normal. Should not have strong odors. |
Detox Water Only | More often than general detox depending on specific ingredients (i.e., sodium and foods high in fiber like berries, spinach, cucumber, etc.). | You can expect to have loose stools more often with this detox method. Stools may have mucous as well. |
Cleanse (In general) | Cleanses will generally result in less frequent pooping than detoxing. | Your poop will be softer than normal, but you might not have diarrhea or runny stools as often as you would on a detox. |
Juice Cleanse | You will poop more often at the beginning of your juice cleanse, but it will gradually reduce over over time. | This is dependent on the individuals, but diarrhea doesn’t happen as often with a juice cleanse as compared to detoxing. You will have both loose and solid stools. |
Master Cleanse | You can expect to poop about twice daily, and it may decrease as you continue the cleanse. | Your poop will start out as solid, then liquid, then back to solid, depending on the schedule and specific supplements of your Master Cleanse. |
AdvoCare Cleanse | You can expect to poop at least twice a day for the initial stages. For the later stages, your bowel movement shall go back to normal status. | Your poop will be a bit liquidy at the beginning, then back to the normal and solid status. |
Isagenix | The frequency of pooping shouldn’t change much. You may experience a small increase on certain days, but nothing more than that. | Your poop should stary consistent and solid |
After Experience All These Days of Bowel Movements, What Results Then?
Individuals that consume detoxes have different outcomes depending on their body’s characteristics, the type of detox they are taking, and how much they are taking in.
Regardless, the benefits are plentiful and are geared towards releasing toxins your body has been hanging onto.
Some benefits of detoxing are:
#1. Improving Liver Function
Your liver is a vital organ in your body, and its purpose is to eliminate toxins and regulate and substances that can harm your body. A detox can help the liver restore itself by lightening up a load of toxins it must register.
Additionally, a detox formula can clean your liver of any toxic build-up it may have.
#2. Increasing Energy
Your body can administer more dedication and focus towards a different workout your performing because it no longer must try so hard at removing unwanted toxins.
It can also speed up your recovery time after a workout.
#3. New Diet
When you start a new diet, your body may be used to working a certain way to regulate your body, so detox is a great way to clean your slate and start from scratch.
This particularly true when starting a diet revolving around weight loss.
#4. Improving Immune System
Your immune system is your body’s defense toward any viral or bacterial sicknesses.
A detox can help eliminate harmful bacteria and promote a stronger defense against any germs that may have entered the body.
Final Words
Detoxing and cleansing are both extremely reliable ways to increase your health in a relatively short amount of time.
The two can have similar effects on your digestive and increase the number of times you poop daily and even influence the consistency of your BMs, but ultimately, these changes are dependent on the specific ingredients and supplements you use, and your body’s response to the new diet.