Is six hour transit time too fast?

Joined
Mar 25, 2021
Messages
121
Took a tablespoon of activated charcoal yesterday and six hours later it appeared in the toilet. Is this too fast and if so what does it mean? I have a history of bloating issues and I suspect intestinal damage as I can’t seem to handle milk or orange juice. Any ideas guys?
 

dlind70

Member
Joined
Aug 30, 2017
Messages
191
No not too fast. Is simple test to figure out if you have bad digestion take a half a stick of butter which is like four tablespoons as far as I'm concerned. Eat plain stick of butter 4 tablespoons if you get diarrhea or the runs then you have bad digestion if it goes through like normal bowel movement then you're fine
 

dlind70

Member
Joined
Aug 30, 2017
Messages
191
I think 6 hours is fine it means you're healthy but still do the test that I said. 6 hours is actually pretty good because in traditional Chinese medicine you should have a bowel movement after during kidney time which is 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. or you should have a bowel movement between 5:00 to 7:00 a.m. which is 12 hours after kidney time 5:00 to 7:00 is an ideal time for a bowel movement
 

AlaskaJono

Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2020
Messages
940
Took a tablespoon of activated charcoal yesterday and six hours later it appeared in the toilet. Is this too fast and if so what does it mean? I have a history of bloating issues and I suspect intestinal damage as I can’t seem to handle milk or orange juice. Any ideas guys?
I do believe that is a bit fast. If one eats bad quality food or food that is slightly toxic to your system and you pass it in 6 hours, OK then. But healthy transit time is often in the 12-24 hours realm. Or even a bit over. But 48 hours is a bit long, and the intestines can get toxxed out. I am trained in TCM graduated in 1992 OCOM in Oregon, and the above post by @dlind70 is not correct by any of the standard teaching books, or any of my professors and teachers. Chinese/Japanese/American teachers and clinicians, as well as many Naturopaths/Acu dual degree practitioners. If one has morning diarrhea, or even urgent bowel movements, which is termed **** Crow Diarrhea, approx. 5 am, then it is NOT HEALTHY. Not enough time for the LI to absorb some of the nutrients in the Chyme. Try eating beets with a meal and then you can discover the transit time, that is if you do not have a problem with digesting beets. Eating half a stick of butter will most probably make 95% get loose stools. That's a helluva lot of butter all at once by itself to be digested, not with potatoes (in mashed) for example.

Definitely do a test with your 'normal diet' food to discover what your transit time is, then let us know. Cheers.
 

dlind70

Member
Joined
Aug 30, 2017
Messages
191
I suggest you re read my post. I did not say diarrhea was healthy and I did not say you should be having it at 5 am. Sorry it's interpreted that way.
I said you should be having a BM at around 7 am. Most people are a bit slow. Gravity will help you, eating enough sodium will help, fiber will help. Not skipping meals will help. 12 hour. transit, I agree is the ideal time.

I also said the butter test because most people are able to digest it. Just fine. I did not say it with the intention of people eating half a stick regularly. It for testing the digestion. Also the butter test is easy. A teen or child could do that test even. It does not require lab test from a doctor.
 

AlaskaJono

Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2020
Messages
940
@dlind70 "..6 hours is actually pretty good because in traditional Chinese medicine you should have a bowel movement after during kidney time which is 5:00 to 7:00 p.m."

This is literally what you wrote. (Besides the fact that textbooks of TCM say Lung time is 3-5:00am, then 5:00am -7am is traditional Large Intestine time.) It totally does not matter in my experience and opinion if one has a BM at 6 or 7 am or 9am etc, as long as if one's diet is 2 or 3 meals a day, one needs to excrete several times a day (the next day). The time of day is not very important. I literally have treated thousands of people. I had one client who ate like a snake, a giant meal once a day, but he had one (massive) BM @ day also. So in that regard he was fine. He also smoked 2 packs a day and was Ex-Special Force South African style, but transformed into a Hotel General Manager. (Wow!!!)
 
OP
D
Joined
Mar 25, 2021
Messages
121
Cheers for your replies both. From what I’ve read 6 hours definitely seems a bit too fast, although I probably took over a tablespoon of AC which could’ve been a tad too much. Especially because I haven’t taken any in probably two months. I like the beetroot idea just because I absolutely love the stuff. It’s also possible I have low stomach acid which I’m trying to combat with plenty of salt and reduced liquids.
 

OliviaD

Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2022
Messages
273
Location
USA
Took a tablespoon of activated charcoal yesterday and six hours later it appeared in the toilet. Is this too fast and if so what does it mean? I have a history of bloating issues and I suspect intestinal damage as I can’t seem to handle milk or orange juice. Any ideas guys?
I'm envious! Actually, many of the 'old school' bowel experts (whom I trust much more than the current ones) suggested going 3x /day, assuming one ate 3 meals a day to be ideal! I would say this would make you about perfect!
 
OP
D
Joined
Mar 25, 2021
Messages
121
I'm envious! Actually, many of the 'old school' bowel experts (whom I trust much more than the current ones) suggested going 3x /day, assuming one ate 3 meals a day to be ideal! I would say this would make you about perfect.
Isn’t that too fast for the body to absorb nutrients tho? That’s my only concern about it really.
 

OliviaD

Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2022
Messages
273
Location
USA
I suggest you re read my post. I did not say diarrhea was healthy and I did not say you should be having it at 5 am. Sorry it's interpreted that way.
I said you should be having a BM at around 7 am. Most people are a bit slow. Gravity will help you, eating enough sodium will help, fiber will help. Not skipping meals will help. 12 hour. transit, I agree is the ideal time.

I also said the butter test because most people are able to digest it. Just fine. I did not say it with the intention of people eating half a stick regularly. It for testing the digestion. Also the butter test is easy. A teen or child could do that test even. It does not require lab test from a docto

Isn’t that too fast for the body to absorb nutrients tho? That’s my only concern about it really.
I don't think think so. Most nutrients are absorbed in the proximal small intestine, and your chyme (as it is called then), doesn't sit around too much - in fact, you don't want it to - that is when those nasty 'bad bacteria' - if you are unlucky enough to have them, will have time to snack.

In fact, you are probably at low risk for this and the resultant endotoxin production -so that is a plus. However, I just re-read your post, and you said you had trouble with bloating. Are milk and orange juice new things for you? Because one thing that happens is that while most of us have the ability to digest those things, if we don't use them, we don't produce much of the enzymes needed. Our bodies don't produce what it doesn't need. So - if you went from drinking no milk to chugging a quart, ala Ray Peat - your body was probably not able to produce enough lactase all of a sudden, and you might have had problems, i.e. bloating. Same for OJ. So, for new food, you might want to start slowly. Maybe 1/2 cup milk, increase 1/2 cup every few days, back down if you have bloating. A lot of people assume they are lactose intolerant, but they really just haven't 'trained' their body to produce lactase. Kind of simplistic, but I would say something like this before going so drastic as to say you have intestinal damage.

However, from what you describe, I'm not sure this means that your transit time is always 6 hours, or even was then. Did the charcoal come out by itself? Was there other "matter"? Was it all there, or just some? You aren't digesting the charcoal, so there is no need for it to sit around digesting. It's meant to clean you out, so it might be moving faster than a meal of actual food would .

I think the quality of your poop would be a good clue :) (yes, you should look at it). If you are having a well formed stool, and your transit time is 6 hours, and no problems, then I'd say you can assume all is good. If your transit time is 6 hours but you have liquid stools or very loose stools - then all is not well, and it would appear that things are moving too fast. Do you normally have several bowel movements a day? Does that change when you are bloated - i.e do you have more frequent or less frequent bowel movements? That might help you put it together.

I'm not sure about the butter test, although I imagine it would test your ability to digest fat ;) . One thing you can do - is provided you have something you can't digest :) is eat a normal meal and a little bit of something like corn or peas (these work for me, pass right through, unscathed). The good GMO ones are perfect, even harder for most to digest. You want something to be a marker, so you won't digest it; but you don't want to just eat that alone, because you want to see how your 'normal food' moves along.

So, I have a transit time of about 36 hours. If I eat an ear of corn, I will see it appear a day 1/2 later. :) * Transit times can be variable also - I sometimes can have 24 hours - but as you see - I am definitely toward the slow side - hence my envy of you :)
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom