Typically an avoided topic of conversation but constipation is a condition that regularly affects the mass proportion of the British population on a daily basis. On a very simple level if waste doesn’t leave your colon within 24 hours then it is just festering in your body. Other than making you feel very uncomfortable chronic constipation can lead to diseases such as haemorrhoids, diverticulitis, colitis and cancer of the colon. Constipation is not uncommon in Western civilisations but in other cultures it is quite rare.

Studies of other cultures have consistently shown the correlation between healthy colons, large stools and a normal transit time. The largely “uneducated” African and Asian natives eat bulky, high fibre diets with no meat or refined foods and are almost complete free from heart disease, atherosclerosis, cancer (especially of the colon and rectum), diabetes, appendicitis, mental disease and hypoglycaemia (Chek, 2004).

There are very simple tests you can use to test your own colon health. The following tests help you measure the transit time of foods. On average your transit time should be between 12 to 24 hours:

Transit Time Test (Debra Lynn Dadd, 1992)