Yes, blueberries do indeed make you poop! It’s a topic we tend to avoid out of embarrassment – our “poop” life.
However, keeping your bowel movements regular is a mainstay of a healthy body, and blueberries are a fantastic, natural way to help you with that.
Here is why:
Blueberries are an excellent source of antioxidants, and also packed with nutrients, including the “poop-friendly” dietary fiber, which helps prevent constipation, and also can relieve it. They are an excellent way to essentially clean your colon! (1)
Because they make such a delicious snack, you are more likely to eat them than forcing yourself to choke down a chalky fiber drink, so that is another reason they are so helpful. If you’re more likely to eat something with pleasure, and it happens to help you in keeping regular, this can only be a good thing.
Why do blueberries make you poop?
According to Richard Bensinger, M.D., of HealthTap.com, blueberries are a good way to minimize constipation. (2)
If you are suffering with constipation, stock up on the blueberries and eat as many as you like, because the amount of fiber will keep your bowel movements regular. Even better, an entire cup of them is only 84 calories – so you can snack on them guilt-free! (3)
You do need to be aware of one possible (but non-harmful) consequence of high blueberry consumption, however.
Help! My poop is a really weird color!
According to Thomas Wright, M.D., of the website HealthTap.com, in response to a reader question “Do blueberries cause green stool?” he answered, “Yes, they do, if eaten in large enough quantity.” (4)
Dr. Elizabeth Yen of HealthTap.com adds that food that is strongly pigmented, like beets and blueberries, can add color to your stool. (5)
According to the Mayo Clinic, although you should certainly consult your doctor if you are concerned about the color of your stool, it is extremely rare for an odd stool color to indicate a serious condition. All shades are considered normal, and are influenced not only by the foods you eat, but also the bile pigments (a fluid that digests fats) that travel through your digestive tract. (6)
Big-league blueberries
Blueberries are definitely in the big-leagues of best foods you can consume. Not only are they an excellent source of dietary fiber – which as we all now know helps you poop – but they also provide vitamin C and are a powerful source of antioxidants.
They have flavonoids, which are the source of their rich, beautiful blue color (which of course can make your poop colorful as well!). These flavonoids, as promising studies are showing, can have many health benefits: (7)
- Prevention of cancer
- Prevention of heart disease
- Assist in preventing and even reversing age-related memory problems (scientists hypothesize that the antioxidant power of blueberries protects brain cells from free-radical harm)
Now that you know why blueberries make you poop – even in Technicolor sometimes – stock up on some on your next trip to the grocery store, and keep your body running smoothly!
Antonia is a science enthusiast with a keen interest in health nutrition. She has been intensely researching various dieting routines for several years now, weighing their highs and their lows, to bring readers the most interesting info and news in the field. While she is very excited about a high raw diet, she likes to keep a fair and balanced approach towards non-raw methods of food preparation as well. Read more by Antonia here, and SUBSCRIBE!
Sources for this article include:
1) http://bembu.com/
2) https://www.healthtap.com/
3) http://www.foodanswers.org/
4) https://www.healthtap.com/
5) https://www.healthtap.com/
6) http://www.mayoclinic.org/
7) http://www.readersdigest.ca/
