Runner's Diarrhea Is Real: "Marathon Runners Poop Themselves An Extraordinary Amount. This Is Why."

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3 years ago 12/28/2022 11:58pm EST

re: rojo

rojo wrote:
Having had to drop a big deuce mid-run today, I found this interesting.
Link:www.iflscience.com/marathon-runners-po...
As for the cause, it's a mixture of factors. "During physical exercise, the increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system ... redistributes blood flow from the splanchnic organs to the working muscles," one review suggests. "A severely reduced [blood flow to the abdominal gastrointestinal organs] may frequently cause GI [gastrointestinal] ischaemia [a condition, which causes the symptoms of diarrhea and abdominal pain, among others]".
On top of that, runners may find it difficult to control their anal sphincters while they work so hard with their other muscles.
“Someone in the middle of a strenuous physical activity, it’s really hard to voluntarily keep the muscle closed while engaging in other activities with other muscles in the legs and pelvis," colon and rectal surgeon with Novant Health in Charlotte, North Carolina Michael Dobson told Mental Floss. "You can’t control the muscle when using muscle.”

I frequently had this issue early in my running career. Do you have any idea what it’s like to be on an evening run, in the dark, in the midwest, ducking into a cornfield to blast an o-ring, and then you hear a farmer in his combine harvesting the very field you are power-dumping…the sound getting closer and closer? Come to think of it, maybe that explains a few things….

3 years ago 12/29/2022 12:45am EST

re: seattle prattle

These pro-feces thread are quite interesting. A lot of bold opinions and wild stories.

3 years ago 12/29/2022 1:06am EST

re: XY=ketonut

XY=ketonut wrote:
XY wrote:
The root of the problem, as someone who ran with IBS for four decades, is plant fiber, especially bran fiber from grains. Steer clear of whole grains especially but fiber in general the week before a marathon. Eat lots of saturated fats like butter, coconut oil and bacon to keep the system well lubed and protected from irritation.
Presumably much of the world is stupid to be consuming whole grains just fine. It’s simple minded inanity to think you should “eat lots of saturated fats like butter… to keep the system well lubed”. Simple minded logic also says bacon grease will clog any plumbing system.

Whole grains are like cluster bombing your intestines with Drain (Graino?). The part of the world that is the longest-lived considers brown rice to be unworthy of human consumption and only fit for for pigs and chickens. All of their own rice is white as snow. And they aren't afraid of meat and saturated fats.

Bacon and fatty pork is awesome for digestion, flavor and nutrition. But it is best from a minimally-processed, preferably pasture-raised source.

3 years ago 12/29/2022 1:52am EST

re: XY

3 years ago 12/29/2022 2:42am EST

re: XY

XY wrote:
XY=ketonut wrote:
Presumably much of the world is stupid to be consuming whole grains just fine. It’s simple minded inanity to think you should “eat lots of saturated fats like butter… to keep the system well lubed”. Simple minded logic also says bacon grease will clog any plumbing system.
Whole grains are like cluster bombing your intestines with Drain (Graino?). The part of the world that is the longest-lived considers brown rice to be unworthy of human consumption and only fit for for pigs and chickens. All of their own rice is white as snow. And they aren't afraid of meat and saturated fats.
Bacon and fatty pork is awesome for digestion, flavor and nutrition. But it is best from a minimally-processed, preferably pasture-raised source.

So it looks like you have no comeback for much of the world consuming your so-called cluster bombs of whole grains just fine.

And you acknowledge that saying that saturated fats will keep your insides “well lubed” was just a bubba comment on your part. Or maybe you have some inane ass theory of intestinal lubrication.

3 years ago 12/29/2022 2:59am EST

re: XY

XY wrote:
XY=ketonut wrote:
Presumably much of the world is stupid to be consuming whole grains just fine. It’s simple minded inanity to think you should “eat lots of saturated fats like butter… to keep the system well lubed”. Simple minded logic also says bacon grease will clog any plumbing system.
Whole grains are like cluster bombing your intestines with Drain (Graino?). The part of the world that is the longest-lived considers brown rice to be unworthy of human consumption and only fit for for pigs and chickens. All of their own rice is white as snow. And they aren't afraid of meat and saturated fats.
Bacon and fatty pork is awesome for digestion, flavor and nutrition. But it is best from a minimally-processed, preferably pasture-raised source.

fwiw, when i used to get runner's trots, I found that i could control it really well by simply following advice I found all over the internet. And it was simply this: for about two or three hours preceding a hard workout, avoid coffee (acidic). Avoid acidic and spicy foods in general, hydrate well, avoid excessive amounts of high fiber for about 10 hours before the workout,

I found that what would calm the stomach is the old BRAT diet - bananas, apples or apple sauce, rice (preferably white since whole grains are harder to digest) and toast (preferably white bread, not whole grain).

That was the internet advice, but I found that all that was necessary was to a) have a caffeine pill or powder instead of coffee if I was going to caffeinate, and b) eat a couple of dried rice cakes. The rice cakes can be bought at grocery stores and last just about forever and cost next to nothing.

Point being - you just want to calm your stomach. And runner's trots tend to afflict newbie runners more than experienced runners since the latter have had more time for their bodies to adjust to the rigors of harder or longer workouts.

3 years ago 12/29/2022 6:31am EST

re: Missile

Missile wrote:
This is just poor preparation. You avoid this by carefully planning what to eat and how to time out your bowel activity prerace.
I do a colonoscopy prep solution two days before a marathon. Couldn't squeeze out any material during the race even if I wanted to.

Watching the Paula poopgate video again, I believe that is what she did, but she probably mistimed it so she did a prep too close to the race.

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