How To Poop Better & Easier: 11 Natural Remedies To Try At Home

Poop isn't exactly something people bring up in everyday conversation, but it’s a massive indicator of your current health. Maintaining healthy bowel movements is critical for digestion, gut health, detoxification, immune health, cardiometabolic health, and so much more. If you’re pooping on an inconsistent schedule or feeling stopped up, there may be a number of underlying causes. 

Fiber, a unique and indigestible type of complex carbohydrate found exclusively in plants, helps promote healthy bowel movements by creating bulk and moving waste through the digestive system and out in a timely fashion.* 

“Fiber helps promote digestive regularity, which is good for the gut. Soluble fiber, in particular, helps build stool bulk, while insoluble fiber helps speed up transit time,”* explains registered dietitian and mbg Collective member Jess Cording, M.S., R.D., CDN.

According to the National Academies, the daily nutritional requirement for dietary fiber is at least 21 grams of fiber per day for women (and an additional 3-4 grams if they’re pregnant or breastfeeding, respectively) and at least 30 grams per day for men. This hefty daily fiber need takes some real intention and a plant-plentiful dietary approach.

In reality, most Americans are only consuming about 16 grams of daily fiber (yikes!), with only 5% of the U.S. population achieving sufficient intake. Translation? Our country has a serious fiber problem.

To up your fiber intake, Cording recommends including a combination of soluble fiber (e.g., beans, lentils, oat bran, nuts, seeds, fruit, and some vegetables) and insoluble fiber (e.g., wheat bran, whole grain products, and vegetables) to your daily meals.

“If you’re working on increasing your fiber intake, do so gradually, and increase your fluid intake as well to help keep things moving through the GI tract,” she suggests. “For digestive comfort, spread your fiber intake throughout the day, aiming to have at least one high-fiber food per meal.”

Adding a high-quality fiber supplement (like mindbodygreen’s organic fiber potency+) to your daily routine can also help you and your family achieve daily fiber needs. This plant-powered fiber powder delivers a versatile, USDA certified organic blend of soluble and insoluble fibers (for a total six grams of dietary fiber) from organic guar bean, a mushroom trio (reishi, maitake, oyster), and green kiwifruit all the way from New Zealand, plus a targeted Bacillus subtilis probiotic strain for incremental benefits. Together, these ingredients support regularity, gut motility, healthy bowel movements, and all-around stellar gut health.*

Believe it or not, your routine can dramatically impact the health and regularity of your bowel movements. Creating a consistent routine not only signals to the body that it’s time to go, but also makes necessary steps (like drinking enough water) a daily habit. 

To promote a healthy evacuation, your morning may include drinking an entire glass of water upon waking and a smoothie rich in healthy fats and fiber. You might follow this up with some stretching or aerobic movement, more hydration, and start sipping on some coffee while getting ready.

Herbs and spices are an integral part of healthful nutrition, as well as integrative medicine practices that have been used to encourage digestion and bowel movements in many cultures around the world.

You already know that exercise is good for your health, but it may improve your digestion as well. Getting regular exercise is one important, science-backed way to promote healthy bowel movements 2and regularity, according to a 2019 systematic review and meta-analysis from the Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology.

When the flow of breath is labored or short, the mind becomes agitated and feelings of stress and anxiousness increase. As a result, your digestion can be negatively affected. 

If you're hitting your daily fiber needs, staying well hydrated, engaging in regular movement, and the like (i.e., see poop strategies above)—but things still aren't moving along to your satisfaction, consider magnesium. This essential macromineral is a common nutrient gap in our nation, and it also happens to also promote bowel movements.

Dietary magnesium inputs (whole grains, nuts, seeds, and fish) can be complemented with a magnesium supplement as needed. This multifaceted mineral aids in muscle and nervous system relaxation, and magnesium citrate can be particularly beneficial for your trips to the bathroom.