Which country has the largest (and smallest) average stool size?
Bowels of the Earth
4.6/5 - (35 votes)
Who’s number 1 at number two? The country with the largest average bowel movements? Denmark, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, Tonga (an island in the South Pacific), the UK, or the US of A? Remember, the target minimum fecal output is 200 grams a day—about half a pound.
And the winner of the Bowels of the Earth contest was Tonga at 531! The only other country to make the 200 target was India, who gets the silver at 311, with individual measurements ranging up to 1,505 grams—that’s more than three pounds a day! That’s impressive. And the bronze goes to Japan at 195—almost made the cutoff. Everyone else fell short, though, with the smallest stools in the world colored red, white, and blue. U.S. vegetarians fared better, though, as did vegetarian and especially vegan Brits.
There actually was one population that did even worse than the standard American diet. The smallest average population bowel movement size ever recorded: New Yorkers. That’s less than 3 ounces a day.
Instead of just living there, if only they would actually eat a big apple once in a while.
On the other end of the spectrum, though, what are they eating in Tonga? Well, this was recorded decades ago, when they were still eating their traditional plant-based diet of taro, greens, sweet potatoes, fruit, more greens, bananas, cabbage, etcetera.
Now, tragically, the most frequently consumed food item in the country is “imported chicken parts.”
And this is what happened. From one of the healthiest nations in the world, to one of the most obese. Thanks, in part, to the Westernization of their diets.
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 Dianne Moore.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Cummings JH, Antoine JM, Azpiroz F, Bourdet-Sicard R, Brandtzaeg P, Calder PC, Gibson GR, Guarner F, Isolauri E, Pannemans D, Shortt C, Tuijtelaars S, Watzl B. PASSCLAIM--gut health and immunity. Eur J Nutr. 2004 Jun;43 Suppl 2:II118-II173.
- Davies GJ, Crowder M, Reid B, Dickerson JW. Bowel function measurements of individuals with different eating patterns. Gut. 1986 Feb;27(2):164-9.
- Evans M, Sinclair RC, Fusimalohi C, Liava'a V. Globalization, diet, and health: an example from Tonga. Bull World Health Organ. 2001;79(9):856-62.
Images thanks to flagpedia.net
Who’s number 1 at number two? The country with the largest average bowel movements? Denmark, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, Tonga (an island in the South Pacific), the UK, or the US of A? Remember, the target minimum fecal output is 200 grams a day—about half a pound.
And the winner of the Bowels of the Earth contest was Tonga at 531! The only other country to make the 200 target was India, who gets the silver at 311, with individual measurements ranging up to 1,505 grams—that’s more than three pounds a day! That’s impressive. And the bronze goes to Japan at 195—almost made the cutoff. Everyone else fell short, though, with the smallest stools in the world colored red, white, and blue. U.S. vegetarians fared better, though, as did vegetarian and especially vegan Brits.
There actually was one population that did even worse than the standard American diet. The smallest average population bowel movement size ever recorded: New Yorkers. That’s less than 3 ounces a day.
Instead of just living there, if only they would actually eat a big apple once in a while.
On the other end of the spectrum, though, what are they eating in Tonga? Well, this was recorded decades ago, when they were still eating their traditional plant-based diet of taro, greens, sweet potatoes, fruit, more greens, bananas, cabbage, etcetera.
Now, tragically, the most frequently consumed food item in the country is “imported chicken parts.”
And this is what happened. From one of the healthiest nations in the world, to one of the most obese. Thanks, in part, to the Westernization of their diets.
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 Dianne Moore.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Cummings JH, Antoine JM, Azpiroz F, Bourdet-Sicard R, Brandtzaeg P, Calder PC, Gibson GR, Guarner F, Isolauri E, Pannemans D, Shortt C, Tuijtelaars S, Watzl B. PASSCLAIM--gut health and immunity. Eur J Nutr. 2004 Jun;43 Suppl 2:II118-II173.
- Davies GJ, Crowder M, Reid B, Dickerson JW. Bowel function measurements of individuals with different eating patterns. Gut. 1986 Feb;27(2):164-9.
- Evans M, Sinclair RC, Fusimalohi C, Liava'a V. Globalization, diet, and health: an example from Tonga. Bull World Health Organ. 2001;79(9):856-62.
Images thanks to flagpedia.net
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Title
Bowels of the Earth
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Content URLDoctor's Note
For more on stool and your health, check out:
Stool pH and Colon Cancer
Bulking Up on Antioxidants
Preventing Ulcerative Colitis with Diet
Bowel Wars: Hydrogen Sulfide vs. Butyrate
Prunes vs. Metamucil vs. Vegan Diet
For information on stool size, check out Stool size matters.
For more context, check out my associated blog posts: Bowel Movements; Stool Size and Breast Cancer Risk; Kiwi Fruit for Irritable Bowel Syndrome; Bowel movements: the scoop on poop; Best Treatment for Constipation; and The Best Way to Prevent the Common Cold?
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