Comparing the regularity of omnivores, vegetarians, and vegans.
Bowel Movement Frequency
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The fiber in flax seeds and other whole plant foods is about more than just reducing our risk for the #1 and #2 killers of Americans—heart disease and cancer. Constipation is the most common gastrointestinal complaint in the United States, leading to millions of doctor visits every year. More than just the discomfort, constipation can increase risk for hiatal hernia, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, and painful conditions with names like anal fissure.
The biggest study on bowel movement frequency in history was recently published, comparing the bowel habits of 15,000 meat eaters to 5,000 vegetarians and 1,000 vegans. The researchers conclude that being vegetarian, especially vegan, is strongly associated with a higher frequency of bowel movements. Vegans, for example, were about 3 times more likely to have daily BMs. Like I always said, vegans are just regular people.
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Pruthi S, Thompson SL, Novotny PJ, Barton DL, Kottschade LA, Tan AD, Sloan JA, Loprinzi CL. Pilot evaluation of flaxseed for the management of hot flashes. J Soc Integr Oncol. 2007 Summer;5(3):106-12.
- Sanjoaquin MA, Appleby PN, Spencer EA, Key TJ. Nutrition and lifestyle in relation to bowel movement frequency: a cross-sectional study of 20630 men and women in EPIC-Oxford. Public Health Nutr. 2004 Feb;7(1):77-83.
The fiber in flax seeds and other whole plant foods is about more than just reducing our risk for the #1 and #2 killers of Americans—heart disease and cancer. Constipation is the most common gastrointestinal complaint in the United States, leading to millions of doctor visits every year. More than just the discomfort, constipation can increase risk for hiatal hernia, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, and painful conditions with names like anal fissure.
The biggest study on bowel movement frequency in history was recently published, comparing the bowel habits of 15,000 meat eaters to 5,000 vegetarians and 1,000 vegans. The researchers conclude that being vegetarian, especially vegan, is strongly associated with a higher frequency of bowel movements. Vegans, for example, were about 3 times more likely to have daily BMs. Like I always said, vegans are just regular people.
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Pruthi S, Thompson SL, Novotny PJ, Barton DL, Kottschade LA, Tan AD, Sloan JA, Loprinzi CL. Pilot evaluation of flaxseed for the management of hot flashes. J Soc Integr Oncol. 2007 Summer;5(3):106-12.
- Sanjoaquin MA, Appleby PN, Spencer EA, Key TJ. Nutrition and lifestyle in relation to bowel movement frequency: a cross-sectional study of 20630 men and women in EPIC-Oxford. Public Health Nutr. 2004 Feb;7(1):77-83.
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Bowel Movement Frequency
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Content URLDoctor's Note
More on the health benefits of bowel frequency:
And check out the other videos on bowel movements.
For additional context, check out my associated blog posts: Bowel Movements: The Scoop on Poop and Poultry Paunch: Meat & Weight Gain.
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