Certain foods can help you poop. A high-fiber diet—meaning one with lots of fruits and vegetables—can help keep your bowel movements regular. Conversely, a low-fiber diet—consisting mostly of meat and dairy—will probably back up your bowel functioning.
What a healthy poop looks like can vary from person to person, but generally, a healthy poop should be medium-brown, long, smooth, and soft, and easy to push out. Similarly, a healthy amount of bowel movements can be different for everyone. You may poop three times a day, while others poop three times a week.
The food you eat and the diet plans you follow can affect how often you poop and what your poop looks like. Read on to understand how diet plans, like gluten-free diets, intermittent fasting, keto diets, and paleo diets, can affect your bowel movements.
A gluten-free diet avoids foods containing wheat, barley, or rye. Whether you just want to give it a try, or it’s a required shift in eating due to a diagnosis of celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, gluten-free diets can help you poop but also contribute to constipation, depending on what foods you eat.
Highly processed gluten-free foods, such as certain gluten-free bread, bagel, and pasta alternatives, can cause constipation. Constipation is when you have less than three bowel movements in a week and stools are hard and difficult to pass.
However, unprocessed or less processed gluten-free foods high in fiber can help keep your gut and bowel movements healthy and regular. Cynthia Sass, RD, Health contributing nutrition editor, recommended gluten-free foods like:
Beans
Brown rice
Fruits with edible skins, like pears and apples
Leafy greens
Lentils
Nuts
Seeds
Sweet potatoes
Quinoa
These foods contain insoluble fiber, which does not dissolve in water and can help food move through your digestive system. Insoluble fiber promotes bowel regularity.
If you’re eating high-fiber foods, intermittent fasting might not affect your poop that much. There are several different ways to follow an intermittent fasting plan, which switches between fasting and eating on a regular schedule. For example, it could mean limiting your eating to a six- or eight-hour window and fasting the rest of the day, or it could mean eating just one meal a day for a couple of days each week.
In one study, intermittent fasting significantly increased the presence of a healthy bacteria in the gut called Akkermansia muciniphila. The lower your body weight is, the more of this healthy bacteria you have in your gut. The opposite is true—when your weight increases, the number of bacteria goes down. Intermittent fasting increases the number of bacteria no matter what your weight is.
You still need to be mindful of what you eat, even if you’re fasting for a portion of the day. If you’re eating a produce-rich, high-fiber diet, you will likely have healthy, regular bowel movements. Most people who try intermittent fasting don’t see much of a change in their poop, Julie Upton, RD, Health’s registered dietician and writer, told Health.
However, some people say they poop less frequently. “That’s not a problem. As long as your bowel movements are consistent—once a day or twice a day—there’s no reason to worry if you’re going less frequently,” said Upton.
On a ketogenic diet, aka keto, you typically follow a diet high in fats, moderate in protein, and very low in carbohydrates. Switching to a ketogenic diet can, however, cause gastrointestinal symptoms, such as constipation.
Going keto can cause constipation because “it’s low in fiber and can be high in animal fats and proteins, which are slow to digest,” said Sass. On the keto diet, you can consume only 5% to 10% of your daily calories from carbs, and that makes it “very challenging to hit the recommended minimum 25 grams of fiber daily,” explained Sass.
Keto is popular for its ability to aid in weight loss but was originally developed as a treatment for epilepsy and is sometimes recommended for those with seizures that aren’t completely controlled by medication.
If you’re set on going keto, Sass recommended incorporating high-fiber, keto-friendly foods like:
AvocadosBerriesLow-carb veggies, such as broccoli or kaleNuts
You could also opt to do a modified version of keto that allows for a bit more fiber and a bit less fat.
Of all the diets on this list, the Mediterranean diet is the one that offers the most positive bowel benefits. This is because the Mediterranean diet includes a range of plant-based foods, including veggies, fruit, whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, and more. “The natural fiber is like a strength training workout for the muscle of the gastrointestinal tract and it tends to respond with regular, healthy bowel movements,” said Sass.
This primarily plant-based eating plan also includes olive oil. Animal proteins are eaten in smaller quantities, with an emphasis on seafood.
In addition to keeping you regular and supporting gut health, research suggests this way of eating has a range of other health benefits. Studies show it can help lower the risk of heart disease, reduce inflammation, and have beneficial effects on glucose (blood sugar) metabolism and insulin resistance to help manage or prevent type 2 diabetes.
The Paleo diet, which aims to follow a diet closely resembling one eaten by our ancestors in the Paleolithic era more than 2 million years ago, focuses on lean meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. How the Paleo diet affects your poop will depend on what your diet was like before you went on this diet plan.
“If going Paleo significantly ups your intake of veggies and berries, it may result in healthier poop,” said Sass.
On the other hand, because Paleo does away with grains and pulses, it could slow your digestion if you’re already used to eating a lot of fiber. Upton advised drinking lots of water and eating non-starchy fruits and veggies to help move things along.
The Whole30 plan can affect your poop in different ways, depending on what foods you eat and eliminate. This diet is meant to change how you think about food for 30 days by modifying your eating habits and eliminating foods that cause inflammation. On Whole30, some of the foods you eliminate from you diet include:
Added sugarAlcoholDairyGrainsLegumesPulses
Changing your diet can affect your poop. If you’re used to eating a traditional low-fiber diet—meaning not many fruits, veggies, and whole grains and lots of sugar and processed carbs—switching to this veggie-heavy diet may trigger diarrhea, said Upton. “The diarrhea is not a health threat, and your GI tract will get used to the higher fiber content in time,” explained Upton.
Sass pointed out, however, that if you are used to eating a high-fiber diet, then cutting out pulses (like beans, lentils, and chickpeas) and whole grains may slow digestion.
Whole30 is also dairy-free, meaning “your digestive health may depend on how your body was reacting to the dairy you were eating,” said Sass. “For example, if you’re lactose intolerant or have a dairy sensitivity, cutting it out may resolve diarrhea or constipation.”
A vegan diet can affect your poop, but it depends on what vegan foods you’re eating. “A vegan diet can be loaded with vegan junk food, refined sugar, and processed carbs with few veggies and whole foods,” said Sass, which makes it a recipe for constipation. “A healthy vegan diet that includes plenty of veggies, fruits, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and pulses can make for incredibly healthy poop.”
Some research suggests people who are vegan have more frequent bowel movements than people who also eat meat.
Following a plant-based diet may also help protect against certain chronic diseases. Research shows that a plant-based diet may help lower your risk of cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, and bone fractures.
The foods you eat can affect your poop and bowel movements. Eating a high-fiber diet, one rich in vegetables and fruit, can help you have healthy poop and regular bowel movements.
Certain diet plans, like the Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes high-fiber foods, may help you avoid constipation and have healthy stools. Diet plans like intermittent fasting, the Paleo diet, and the keto diet can all affect your poop, depending on what foods you eat while you’re on them.
Talk to a healthcare provider before changing your diet drastically or starting a new diet plan or if you have concerns about your bowel movements.