Dr. Trisha Pasricha

Do I have diarrhea?

Not necessarily.

If they're comfortable, if they're easy, you move on with your life, and it's because you're eating a lot of fiber, I would say that's fantastic, very healthy, and you should embrace that new you.

Well, I think my general rule of thumb is that normal and healthy is what is comfortable for you.

So it should really do two things.

One, it should be comfortable, meaning you shouldn't be straining.

You shouldn't be spending 20, 30 minutes in the bathroom at a time.

You know, I have a lot of patients who go once a day, but

They're there straining for 20, 30 minutes.

To me, you're going once a day, but you're constipated.

So it should be comfortable and effortless.

And then two, it should happen in ways that don't interfere with your social or work life.

So if for you, having three bowel movements means you get to go quite easily, it doesn't bother you, great, three's normal.

If you're somebody who says, I've had to run out of meetings because I can't control this, or I don't even want to go out to brunch with my friends because I'm so worried about the bathroom situation, then maybe that number doesn't make sense for you.

So it's really individualized, but in a way, this is a wonderful thing because it means there's a huge range of what could be normal, and you really don't have to fit into that small box to live your best life.

Well, two things.

One, yeah, the volume's going to go up because the fiber, the soluble fiber, is going to hold on to water.

It's going to be softer.

So in some ways, that volume's going to be more.

But also because it's not going to necessarily form as solid a patty that you're going to want to hold on to.