Your bowel movements explained

Extract taken from The Book Of Poo (Ebury)

Déjà Poo
Synonyms: Veggie Burger, Leftovers, Corn-Backed Rattler, Sloppy Seconds

'Haven't I seen that somewhere before?' Most notoriously involving corn, Déjà poo is perhaps the most renowned and befuddling of all poos. A Déjà poo is a bowel movement that has remarkably familiar portions of a recent meal embedded in it. This poo can include a potpourri of colours, often containing pieces of vegetables and other items that look as though they do not belong among the mass of poo in which they are entrenched. When producing this kind of turd, you may wonder whether you chewed sufficiently or whether your body extracted any of the nutrients from the food you just ate. You may also wonder how your body can process heavy meats and pastas but not an innocuous kernel of corn.

Dr. Stool says: This 'super-natural' experience is most often the result of consuming a meal loaded with insoluble fibre. While soluble fibre found in foods such as beans, nuts, and carrots forms a gel-like substance when mixed with stomach secretions, the insoluble fibre contained in oat bran (and yes, corn on the cob) passes through the GI tract largely unchanged. Humans lack the necessary enzymes to digest certain components of plant cell walls. The presence of these indigestible remnants embedded in your feces is what gives rise to the sensation of Déjà Poo. Dr. Stool says consumption of high-fibre foods like corn and celery can soften the stool, thus yielding just as much enjoyment on the way out as on the way in.