You see it every day (usually), and you interact with it all the time (really). Yet, most people do not know much about it. What is it? What’s in it? Why does it smell? Why is it (usually) brown?
It’s poop.
Poop seems very simple, and childish, and funny (to me, at least). Yet, there is a lot in it that makes it a much more complex subject. Our feces, as we know, is made up of waste that our body discards. Depending on your metabolism, each bowel movement weighs about 100 to 250 grams (or about .5lbs). As surprising as it might be, feces is made of many constituents. To begin, 75% of feces consists mostly of water. Yes, you read it right. It’s just plain old water. The 25% left is solid matter.
This solid matter is also made out of many constituents. Dead bacteria makes up 30% of the solid matter. Another 30% is given to indigestible substances, such as cellulose. From 10 to 20% of the solid matter are cholesterol and other fats. Then there is roughly 10 to 20% inorganic compounds, such as phosphate and calcium, that our body dearly needs but can only absorb in very limited quantities. Finally, our solid matter is composed from 2 to 3 percent protein (that’s why dogs who lack nutrients eat poop: poop is full of nutrients!). There are also a few more superficial ingredients in poop: some cell debris from the mucus membrane in the intestinal tract, bile pigments, and dead leucocytes also end up in our poop.
Learn more about it in the infographic below.
Share This Article