Experts have weighed in on just how much you should be going to the toilet and explained what is ‘normal’.
Toilet routines can feel like a private mystery, and plenty of people assume their own habits must be the “right” ones if they’re feeling generally well.
But how often you poo can sometimes hint at what’s happening with your health, especially if your pattern suddenly changes.
Doctors stress that it’s more helpful to notice your personal baseline over time than to aim for a perfect daily routine. If your bowel habits become noticeably different — whether you’re going far more, far less, or you develop new symptoms — it’s worth getting medical advice.
Speaking to Metro, the doctor, who is head of medical policy at Vitality Health, said: “The key thing to remember is that you don’t need to try and force your body into a schedule, but to pay attention to how it’s behaving over time.
“If you suddenly find yourself having much more frequent bowel movements, suffering from constipation, or experiencing symptoms like pain, bloating, or bloody or black stools you should speak to a doctor to ensure nothing more serious is going on.”
Some researchers have also looked at bowel frequency as a potential signpost for wellbeing. A 2024 study from the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) reported that how often people open their bowels may have a meaningful impact on overall health.
In the study’s categories, one to two bowel movements a week counted as constipation, while three to six per week was considered low-normal. “Normal-high” was defined as going one to three times per day, and anything more frequent than that fell into the diarrhea range.
GP Dr Delphine Sekri, from St John & Elizabeth Hospital, also pointed to bowel irregularity as something that can signal an underlying issue.
They said that if you’re going less than once every five days, it could be a reason to pay closer attention, with constipation often responsible.
Speaking to the Metro, they said: “That can mean bloating, stomach aches and that uncomfortable ‘heavy’ feeling,’
“It can also lead to piles (which usually show up as sore swelling around the back passage and can bleed) or anal fissures (small tears that can cause sharp pain when you go) In both cases, you might spot bright red blood when you wipe.”
Even so, specialists note that “normal” isn’t identical for everyone — and not going every day doesn’t automatically mean something is wrong. Australian gastroenterologist Professor Peter Katelaris has previously urged people not to panic if they don’t have a daily bowel movement.
He explained: “What is normal for one person may not be normal for another. In general, the majority of adults open their bowels between three times a day and three times a week.”