Test your bowel function – three easy tests
- The Jerusalem artichoke test
Just like onions, garlic, leeks, asparagus, artichokes and bananas, the Jerusalem artichoke is rich in the highly beneficial but hard-to-digest group of fibre known as fructans. If you can eat a raw, medium-sized Jerusalem artichoke in a salad, smoothie and or similar without experiencing intestinal problems, you can be fairly confident that you have well-functioning gut flora.
- The Kebnekaise test
If you have well-functioning gut flora, it is normal to fill the toilet with larger bowel movements twice a day. However, modern toilets are not built to accommodate “palaeolithic” stools, so if you are producing the right amount of faeces, the toilet will be easily overloaded – a small “mountain peak” should stick out above the water surface and the water should rise slightly when flushing.
- Corn/blueberry test
It takes about 20 hours for a “paleolithic” bowel movement from the time the food touches the mouth to the anus. Yesterday’s lunch should therefore come out between 8:00-9:00 am the next morning and dinner around 12:00-1:00 pm the next day. You can measure this by eating blueberries or corn and waiting to see how long it takes to come out.