1. The Scoop on Poop

2. What is poop made of?
Poop is 3/4 water, ¼ dead bacteria, fiber, fats, inorganic material, dead cell, live bacteria, mucus and protein.

3. Why does poop stink?
Bacterial action produces smelly compounds and the inorganic gas hydrogen sulfide. These are the same compounds that give farts their odor.

4. Why is poop brown?
Iron in hemoglobin in red blood cells gives blood its red color, and iron in the waste product bilirubin gives rise to its brown color.

5. What other colours of poop are possible?
People who don't process as many blood cells tend to have pale brown or yellow from the lower quantity of discarded red blood cell matter. Another cause of yellow poop is a giardia infection. Giardia are tiny parasites that invade the intestines and result in severe yellow diarrhea. It is a dangerous and contagious affliction. Healthy people can have green poop if they eat a diet rich in leafy green vegetables, or if they consume large quantities of food coloring (in ice cream, cake frosting etc.).     Green poop can also be caused by excess iron in the diet, from dietary supplements, for example.

6. Can you get sick from eating poop?
Many diseases, including food poisoning, cholera and typhus, are spread by fecal contamination. Many parasites, such as the notorious tapeworm, can be spread through deliberate or accidental ingestion of poop. There are some parasites, such as pinworms, who depend on people eating their own poop to keep the population up.

7. What causes diarrhea?
Diarrhea is caused by irritation in the intestines, resulting in the bowel passing its contents too fast for the water to be absorbed. There can be several causes, including infection by bacteria or viruses, irritation caused by unfamiliar foods, food allergies, chronic illnesses such as inflammatory bowel disease, lactose intolerance, medications, and nervousness.

8. How come when you eat corn, no matter how much you chew it, you poop it out in whole kernals?
This outer yellow coating is almost entirely cellulose, and is indigestible. It passes through the gut untouched, and emerges looking like a whole kernal.

9. How does poop stay together, like in links?
It gets its "link" look because we tend to pinch off lengths of it with the anal sphincter as the poop emerges.

10. Why does some poop float?
Floaters have an unusually high gas or high fat content.

11. What causes the burning sensation sometimes associated with poop?
Oils associated with hot foods or spices remain intact and active all the way through one's gastrointestinal system.

12. Does eating meat make your poop smell worse?
Yes, meat protein is rich in sulfides, resulting in smellier farts and poop.

13. What shape is healthy poop?
Like a snake.

14. What consistency is healthy poop?
Soft and smooth, may be some cracks.

15. What colour is healthy poop?
An ideal bowel movement is medium brown, the color of plain cardboard.