When someone suddenly begins to experience pain, shortness of breath, severe vomiting, bleeding or a high fever, I think most people would realize it’s a good idea to see a doctor.

Those are all signs that something isn’t right within you and it’s time to get some answers.

Well, there’s another way your body tries to clue you in that trouble is brewing, but many of us don’t bother to examine its signs.

The “signs” I’m referring to are your products of excrement—your urine and feces.

Ah yes, although it seems almost silly, it’s a very good idea to carefully examine the contents of your toilet bowl before you flush.

Here are some of the things your excretions may be telling you:

What your urine is uttering

There are three to look at with your urine—the color, the cloudiness and the odor.

1) The color

Yellow/gold: Usually indicates healthy urine.  Vitamins might make it brighter (especially B vitamins).  Dark gold can mean you’re slightly dehydrated and need to drink more water.

Red: Can indicate blood in the urine, which possibly suggests a kidney stone or urinary tract infection—see a doctor.

Pink: Usually occurs after eating red or purple foods like beets or blueberries.  See a doctor if it persists and/or you haven’t been eating foods like these.

Orange: Usually a sign of dehydration or can be the result of eating orange foods (like carrots) or certain antibiotics.  It can also signal a liver or pituitary problem, so see a doctor if it persists or you have other symptoms.

Brown: Can mean extreme dehydration or be the result of eating fava beans.  It can also suggest urinary tract infection (UTI), kidney stone; kidney tumor, Addison’s disease; protein in the urine or a pituitary problem.  See a doctor.

Any other color (black, green, etc.):  Unless you’ve recently eaten a lot of green or dark foods or have taken medications or supplements that turn your urine dark (charcoal is a common culprit), see a doctor.

2) Clear or cloudy?

Healthy urine is usually clear.    

Cloudy urine can mean dehydration, urinary tract infection, kidney problems, metabolic problems or lymph fluid in the urine.  See a doctor to rule out any issues.

3) The odor

Urine is usually pretty odorless, but if there’s a smell to yours, here are some possibilities:

• Certain medications or supplements
• Certain foods — especially asparagus!
• Urinary tract infection
• Uncontrolled diabetes

Consult your doctor if you have concerns, especially if you suspect UTI or diabetes.

What your feces is flaunting

This may make you erupt with laughter, but seriously, a normal, healthy bowel movement should look like a moist brown banana with a slight point at one end.  It should slide out easily with no significant grunting or pushing required.

If instead your stool looks like a bunch of marbles all stuck together or rabbit pellets, it's been hanging around inside of you WAY too long.  Chances are excellent that you needed to grunt big time for that one, and constipation is a regular thing for you.

If your BM has undigested food particles in it (aside from occasional corn kernels), that's a sign that you're low in digestive enzymes.

Same goes for if your turds are floaters instead of sinkers.  BMs that float suggest poor digestion of fats, which can reflect a gallbladder issue, low bile output, or other enzyme challenge.

If your feces is loose or watery, that means it rocketed through your intestinal tract too quickly and the colon couldn’t absorb water like it should.  This suggests inefficient digestion and poor nutrient absorption.

And of course, any time there is blood in your BM, see a doctor.  Fresh blood can be something as simple as hemorrhoids, but older, darker blood suggests a problem further up in the GI tract that can include inflammatory bowel disease, colon cancer or stomach bleeding. 

Receive your messages and act accordingly

Now that you’ve gotten a better idea what your excretions might be trying to tell you, first and foremost, see a doctor if you have concerns.

Once you’ve been assured that there are no major issues, it’s important to keep your body’s “waste excretion efforts” working smoothly and efficiently!

Here are ways you can make a big difference:

Start at the very beginning of your GI tract—with your DIET!

Concentrate on wholesome real foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, poultry, fish, eggs and healthy fats, and avoid sugar, soda, sweets and processed foods.

In addition, although they may contain helpful nutrients, grains in ALL forms are best limited or avoided because they turn to sugar upon digestion and can feed harmful yeasts in the gut and upset your microbiome balance.

Note this includes breads, rolls, pasta, rice and cereals.

Hydrate!

Drink at least eight 8-oz. glasses of filtered water a day to avoid dehydration.

Use the color of your urine as a test here.  If your urine is deep, dark yellow any time other than first thing in the morning, trust me, you’re dehydrated.  

And by water, I mean WATER and not soda, coffee, sports drinks, energy drinks or sweetened juice drinks.

Get your microbiome in balance!

Your friendly gut bacteria help break down certain foods and fiber, so having a healthy population of them is crucial for proper digestion and absorption of nutrients.

Trouble is, thanks to our typical processed and fast-food diets as well as medications like antacids, antibiotics and birth control pills, many people have a degree of harmful bacteria overgrowth (also known as dysbiosis).  When the "good guys" are overrun by the "bad guys," they can't do their job properly.

And your bowel movements (as well as your immune system functioning) can suffer as a result!

 But Super Shield Plus multi-strain probiotic formula can help turn that around for you.

Super Shield Plus can help you achieve the ideal balance of at least 85 percent beneficial bacteria and 15 percent or less harmful bacteria.  This is critical to digestive health as well as a strong immune system and even cancer prevention and healthy cholesterol!

Super Shield Plus’s 15 strains of high-quality, potent probiotic bacteria will help repopulate your supply of helpful bacteria, support sound digestion and help your gut recover from the harmful effects of a poor diet or medications.

Get enzyme help if needed!

If you suspect you have enzyme issues (and believe me, if you use acid reducers, if you have had gastric surgery or your gallbladder removed, this is practically a given), then an enzyme formula like Digestizol Max can make all the difference in the world for you!

Its carefully designed full-spectrum blend of 15 plant-based enzymes targets all kinds of foods, including proteins, carbohydrates, sugars, fats and fibers in your diet. 

Digestizol Max works along with your body’s own enzymes help break down ALL your foods completely just as Nature intended.  This encourages smoother digestion, less heartburn and more regular BMs.  

So, remember to look in your toilet, receive the messages your body is giving you, and help support better health and prevention of disease!

To your health,

Sherry Brescia