What is the bowel and how does it work?

The bowel

The bowel is made up of two main parts:

• the small intestine (small bowel), which absorbs nutrients from digested food
• the large intestine (colon), which absorbs water as digested food goes through it.

The bowel is part of your digestive system. Your digestive system turns everything you eat and drink into nutrients to fuel your body.

The digestive system is a long, muscular tube that starts at your mouth and ends at your anus. It includes the mouth, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine and large intestine. The large intestine includes the rectum and anus.

Depending on what you’ve eaten, it can take 12 to 48 hours for food to travel through your digestive system.

The rectum (the last part of the large intestine) stores poo and signals you need to go to the toilet.

The anus (the end of the large intestine) has anal sphincters that keep your large intestine closed until you are ready to poo. They are supported by the pelvic floor muscles to help control your bowel.

The pelvic floor

Your pelvic floor is made up of muscles and tissues that stretch from your tailbone to pubic bone. It acts like a supportive hammock for your bowel, bladder and uterus. It’s important to keep your pelvic floor muscles strong.

Learn more about the pelvic floor and pelvic floor exercises.

What’s normal?

It’s normal to poo from one to three times a day to once every three days.

Your poo should be soft, shaped like a sausage, and easy to pass. It should take you a minute or two to empty your bowel. If it takes longer, you may be constipated or have a bowel-emptying problem.

The colour of your poo is almost always brown due to bile, a fluid produced by your liver to help digestion. Sometimes what you eat, for example, beetroot or liquorice, can affect the colour of your poo.

It’s also normal for your poo to smell.

What’s not normal?

Bowel habits vary from person to person, but there are some symptoms you should discuss with your doctor. For example, if you have:

• a sudden change in your bowel pattern
• blood in your poo, around the toilet bowl or on the toilet paper
• very dark or black poo
• very light-coloured poo
• much narrower poos than normal
• unexplained weight loss.

You should also see your doctor if you have:

• accidental leakage of poo (bowel incontinence)
• an urgent need to poo without much time to get to the toilet (urge incontinence)
• hard, dry poo that’s difficult to pass (constipation), especially if it’s persistent
• loose, watery poo (diarrhoea), especially if it continues for more than two to three days
• frequent wind pain, cramps or bloating
• feeling that your bowel hasn’t been fully emptied after going to the toilet
• pain or a lump in your tummy, anus or rectum.

Good bowel health

Good bowel health is more than being regular (doing a poo every day). Signs of a healthy bowel include:

• doing soft, formed poos, anywhere from one to three times a day to once every three days
• being able to hold on for a short time when you feel the urge to poo
• pooing without straining or feeling pain
• completely emptying your bowel when you go to the toilet.

Learn more about bowel health on the Continence Foundation of Australia website.

What you can do

There are many things you can do to have good bowel health.

Healthy diet

It’s important to eat a healthy diet including foods that are high in fibre such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

Have regular meals. Try not to skip meals, as eating helps to move food through your digestive tract.

Drink fluids regularly throughout the day, preferably water.

Physical activity

Stay active to help move food through your digestive tract.

It can also help to do pelvic floor exercise. Watch this Continence Foundation of Australia video about pelvic floor muscle exercises.

Toilet habits

Don’t ignore the urge to do a poo.

Relax when sitting on the toilet and give yourself enough time so you don't rush or strain.

Use the right sitting position on the toilet (i.e. sit with a straight back and lean forward with your elbows on your knees).

Avoid straining or holding your breath when doing a poo.

Health checks

It’s important to be aware of your bowel pattern so you notice when something changes. And do bowel cancer screening tests if you are over 50.

Read the Looking After Your Bowel Guide on the Continence Foundation of Australia website.

How the gut works

Your gut is your gastrointestinal system, which includes your stomach, small intestine and large intestine.

Your gut contains different types of bacteria (also known as the ‘gut microbiome’). Your genetics and diet influence your gut microbiome. The more species of bacteria you have in your gut, the healthier your gut is. A healthy gut may contain more than 1,000 species of bacteria .

Poor gut health is linked to many health problems, including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, anxiety, skin conditions and inflammation associated with autoimmune conditions.

You can improve your gut health by:

• eating a variety of unprocessed foods of many different colours
• eating high-fibre foods
• eating food with live bacteria every day (e.g. pot-set yoghurts, kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, kombucha, fermented pickles)
• reducing artificial sweeteners and food additives.

Learn more about good food for gut health and how to nourish your gut bacteria.

Bowel cancer screening

Bowel cancer is when cancerous tissue grows inside the lining of the large intestine. Bowel cancer is the third most common type of newly diagnosed cancer in Australia.

About 47% of people diagnosed are women. The risk increases with age, but if found early, more than 90% of cases can be successfully treated.

Unfortunately, most bowel cancers show no symptoms in the early stages, so many people don’t know something is wrong until it’s too late. The most common symptom of bowel cancer is blood or mucus in your poo.

Regular bowel cancer screening can reduce the risk of illness or death from bowel cancer by detecting tiny amounts of blood in your poo.

Learn more about bowel cancer screening.

Learn more about bowel cancer causes, symptoms and treatments. Visit the Cancer Australia website.