The Agonizing Wait – Why Won’t My Poop Come Out?

That feeling when you’re sitting on the toilet but nothing is happening. Minutes go by, then nearly an hour, yet your bowels are still backed up like rush hour traffic. What’s the deal here? Why won’t this poop budge?

If you’ve ever felt “stuck” trying to poop, you’re not alone. Our poop takes its sweet time moving through the colon before it finally exits as a bowel movement. But how long is normal for poop to hang out in your colon before leaving the body?

The truth is, there’s quite a wide range for poop’s colonic layover. Scientists say anything between 30-72 hours falls within normal limits, up to 100 hours for women2. Yep, your poop could be chilling in your colon for up to 4 whole days!

The exact transit time comes down to various factors, mainly what and how much you eat. Fiber-rich foods take longer to digest, while greasy fast food speeds through quicker16. Your metabolism and any constipation issues also affect how swiftly your poop passes from meal to bowel movement3.

The good news is, unless you go a week without pooping, your colon probably isn’t holding your poop hostage. Knowing poop’s slow journey helps explain why that BM can take a while. Patience and a squat can help get things moving again.

How Long Should Poop Stay in Your Colon?

Before we stress about delayed poop, let’s set a baseline for how long is normal for poop to hang out in the colon. According to research, the acceptable range is pretty broad:

• 30-40 hours for average colonic transit time2
• Up to 72 hours is still considered within normal limits2
• Women may go up to 100 hours between BMs2

So your poop chilling in your colon for 1-4 days before bowel movements is generally no cause for concern.

But what explains that wide range from 30 hours to 100 hours? There are a few key factors:

Diet – Fiber vs. Fat

What you eat makes a huge difference in how swiftly food matter moves through your colon3.

Fiber-rich foods like fruits, veggies and whole grains take longer to digest and absorb, so they slowly make their way through the colon.

Whereas fatty and processed foods tend to speed through the digestive tract since less digestion is required.

This explains why eating a big salad will keep poop moseying through your colon for a leisurely few days. But scarfing fast food may send it on a rapid rollercoaster ride.

Metabolism

Your metabolic rate also affects digestion time16. People with faster metabolisms (like teenagers and those with hyperthyroidism) often have quicker bowel transit times. Their bodies process calories faster.

Those with slower metabolisms (often older adults) may find it takes food longer to work through the colon and exit as poop. Their digestive engines churn more slowly.

Constipation

Colon transit time is typically delayed in constipated individuals compared to those with healthy bowel movements2.

In severe constipation, poop can get stuck in the colon for a week or longer before evacuating, compared to the typical 1-3 days6. Slow motility elongates the layover.

Laxatives and increased exercise/fiber can help nudge that lingering poop along. But constipation sufferers have to wait longer between BMs.

Gut Health

Disorders of the digestive tract – like IBS, Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis – often involve abnormal colonic transit16. Symptoms like diarrhea or constipation result.

Treatment of the underlying condition can help restore healthy motility and poop timing. Probiotics may also quicken colonic transit.

The Long Journey Poop Takes Through Your Digestive Tract

To understand why poop dawdles in the colon, it helps to follow the full, fascinating path food takes through our 30-foot digestive system before exiting as stool6.

Here are the key stages of digestion and how long each one takes:

Mouth: Seconds to Minutes

The digestive process kicks off even before you take a bite. As you smell and see food, your mouth starts salivating, preparing to receive it.

Once you start chewing and swallowing, starches and sugars in the food are partially broken down by enzymes in your saliva. This prep work takes seconds to minutes depending on the food.

Stomach: 30 Minutes to a Few Hours

After being swallowed, chewed food (now called a bolus) travels down the esophagus to the stomach.

Powerful acids and enzymes go to work dissolving proteins and fats, while churning contractions further pulverize the food particles.

It typically takes 30 minutes to 2 hours for the stomach to convert the meal into a soupy, partly-digested mess called chyme. Higher fat meals stay in the stomach longer.

Small Intestine: 2 to 6 Hours

The real digestion magic happens in the 20+ foot small intestine. Pancreatic enzymes break down fats, proteins and carbs into tiny molecules that can be absorbed.

Most nutrient absorption happens in the first half of the small intestine. By the time leftovers reach the second half, they are a liquidy, nutrient-free, poop-like substance.

Full small intestine transit takes 2-6 hours, longer if you’ve eaten a big or fatty meal.

Large Intestine: 24 to 72 Hours

Finally, the remaining indigestible food bits, water and waste enter the 5-foot large intestine, also known as the colon.

Here is where the last bits of water absorption occur, slowly solidifying the waste into poop. Trillions of bacteria also call the colon home, helping digest some fibers indigestible to us.

Once compacted into poop, it’s pushed along throughout the colon over 1-3 days before being stored in the rectum, awaiting evacuation.

Total Transit Time: 24 to 73 Hours

Add up all those stages, and the total time between eating food and pooping it out ranges between 24 and 73 hours, according to a scientific meta-analysis16.

That explains why the sandwich you ate yesterday is likely coming out the other end today or tomorrow, while your big weekend meal is still working through.

For the impatient among us, it seems food takes foreeeever to wind through our long digestive highway before finally exiting. But this leisurely pace serves an important purpose…

Why Slow Poop Transit Matters

While we may curse our poop for dilly dallying in our colons, there are benefits to this lengthy layover:

More absorption of nutrients: The longer food takes passing through your intestines, the more time your body has to pull out digestible vitamins, minerals, sugars and proteins3. Slow transit = better nutrition.

Formation of healthy poop: As poop gradually moves through the colon, water is reabsorbed to produce those perfect solid snake-like shapes we all love. Give the colon time to mold that poop.

Fermentation of fiber: Trillions of bacteria in your colon munch on fiber and benefit your health. Slow transit lets them work their magic3. Be glad of a delayed BM.

Rhythmic contractions: The colon needs to regularly contract and move to stay strong and active. Quick transit could weaken this muscular organ.

So while it’s normal to get impatient sitting on the pot waiting for poop to come out, try to appreciate your colon and its important work. Your bowels know best when it comes to timing that BM.

Tips for Coping With Delayed Bowel Movements

Okay, enough poop philosophy. What should you do when your poop REALLY seems to be taking its sweet time coming out? Here are some constructive ways to deal:

• Drink more water – Staying hydrated keeps poop soft and bowel movements regular. Shoot for 8 cups a day.
• Eat more fiber – Fruits, veggies, whole grains and legumes add bulk to poop and speed transit. Gradually ramp up fiber.
• Exercise more – Physical activity accelerates digestion and stimulates the colon. Aim for 30 minutes daily.
• Massage your tummy – Lightly rubbing the abdomen in circles can coax poop along.
• Try probiotics – Healthy gut flora aids digestion. Yogurt, kefir, kombucha and supplements add good microbes.
• Squat, don’t sit – Pooping in a squat aligns your body better for release. Use a stool to prop feet up.
• Relax and breathe – Stress tenses muscles involved in pooping. Meditate, listen to calming music or podcasts.

Note: If delayed BMs become chronic, see your doctor to rule out conditions like colonic inertia, bowel obstruction or neurological diseases. Laxatives, enemas or other treatments may be needed for severe constipation.

While poop’s sluggish colonic commute may drive us nuts when we need to go, try to be patient. Allow your amazing digestive system to work at its own pace. Your poop will come out in good time.