Experts have shared guidance on how many bowel movements a day is considered healthiest.
A 2024 study looked at 1,425 participants, focusing on how much time they were spending in the bathroom each day and how often they opened their bowels.
It may be an awkward subject, but your bowel habits can offer useful clues about what’s going on elsewhere in the body, not just in the gut.
ISB microbiologist Sean Gibbons, one of the report’s authors, explained: “This study shows how bowel movement frequency can influence all body systems, and how aberrant bowel movement frequency may be an important risk factor in the development of chronic diseases.”
He added: “These insights could inform strategies for managing bowel movement frequency, even in healthy populations, to optimize health and wellness.”
So how did researchers reach their conclusions?
They gathered self-reported information on how frequently participants went to the toilet, then compared that with a wide range of other details, including overall health markers, genetics, and demographic data.
Using those comparisons, the team identified the participants considered healthiest and used that group to estimate a “Goldilocks” range for bowel movement frequency.
For the purposes of the study, “healthy” meant having no history of certain conditions such as gut disorders or kidney problems — including Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, or kidney disease.
Participants were asked to report how often they had bowel movements.
Among those without a history of gut-related health issues, the most common pattern was around one to two bowel movements per day.
That was highlighted as the ideal range. The researchers noted that going far less often — or far more often — can sometimes be a sign something else may be going on.
To analyse patterns more clearly, the team grouped participants into four categories based on frequency.
One group reported going just once or twice a week, which the study described as constipation.
The next category was “low-normal,” defined as three to six bowel movements per week.
After that came “high-normal,” which covered people going between one and three times per day.
The final category was four or more bowel movements per day, particularly when participants reported watery stools — classified as diarrhoea.
What did the results suggest?
The data indicated that people who went less frequently were more likely, overall, to be women, younger, and to have a lower BMI. Even taking those trends into account, falling outside the central “normal” range was associated with a higher chance of underlying health issues.
And it’s not only bowel habits that have a “normal” range — urination frequency can also be a useful health indicator, and what’s typical may shift depending on factors like age and life stage.
In general, going around once or twice a day appears to be a good target, though missing a day can still fall within what many would consider normal.