Pooping. Everyone except girls do it — that’s a scientific fact. But, science isn’t just about analyzing the frequency in which fecal matter is extracted from your body. (Mind blower, right?) Science is also all about understanding how settings can change the manner in which fecal matter is extracted from your body. Science is cool, you guys.
Apparently, 40 percent of travelers have a rough time squeezing the Charmin while on vacation, a whopping 60 percent less than 100 percent. Why? “Any time you leave your general habitat, it’s throwing your gut microflora off balance,” says Brooke Alpert, a dietician and self-professed professor of poopy. It also doesn’t help that long rides while sitting in a state of malaise, like a lengthy plane ride, can cause your intestines to clog up.
If those two constipation causes weren’t enough, just a time zone change can add to the distress upon your gut: the time difference can throw off your natural bathroom rhythm, and we all know that rhythm gets the kids to the swimming pool. The stress of traveling can also add to constipation problems, as the millions of neurons that line the intestines react to higher levels of worry.
So, what can we do about these confluence of factors wreaking havoc on our poo portals? Eat salad. A higher intake of fruits and veggies will give you the fiber boost you need to get those pipes working again. Or, you know, just wait for the plane that you’re in to hit a mean pocket of turbulence and let nature take its course.
(via The Atlantic)
