What Happens To Your Poop When You Eat Yogurt Every Day

When you eat a meal, your body goes to work extracting nutrients from your food. These nutrients help build blood cells, provide energy, and repair tissues, among other things. Anything your body doesn't need is typically shuttled through your digestive system and eliminated... most of the time.

But sometimes, your digestive system gets sluggish and stuck. Other times, it goes into overdrive, sending you racing to the bathroom. Eating yogurt every day can help your digestive system find its perfect balance. Yogurt is made with some of the same beneficial bacteria that naturally live in your gut. These friendly bacteria, or probiotics, help break down fiber and other complex carbs that can be tough on digestion.

You've probably noticed some yogurt containers boasting about "live probiotic cultures." Certain brands even add extra strains of probiotics specifically designed to support digestive health. The benefits? Yogurt may ease constipation, improve regularity, and even help relieve diarrhea, particularly if your diarrhea is triggered after taking medicine or antibiotics that disrupt your gut's natural balance.

Your gut bacteria produce compounds that stimulate your enteric nervous system (your gut's nervous system) that regulate your digestive system and bowel movements, according to a 2017 article in Advances in Nutrition. Most of the neurotransmitter serotonin is produced in your gut, and serotonin not only improves your brain but also triggers muscle contractions needed for digestion. The gut-brain axis describes a line of communication between your gut bacteria, the enteric nervous system, and your brain. When this line of communication experiences disruption, you could experience constipation or digestive issues.

When you take in probiotics in foods like yogurt, you can help normalize the movement back in your digestive system. Most yogurt is made with strains such as Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria, which gives your gut microbiome a boost of the more beneficial bacteria that can improve the frequency and consistency of your poop.

According to a 2012 article in Engineering and Life Sciences, certain probiotics that might be added to yogurt could help with diarrhea. For people with traveler's diarrhea, look for the Bifidobacterium lactis BB-12 or Saccharomyces boulardii probiotics. Lactobacillus rhamnosus has been found to alleviate acute diarrhea and diarrhea associated with antibiotics and rotavirus. Because some of these added probiotics don't survive due to factors such as the amount of sugar in the yogurt or the yogurt's fermentation time, eating yogurt once won't guarantee relief from pooping issues. You have to eat yogurt every day, although some yogurts aren't as healthy.

You make yogurt by heating milk and adding healthy bacteria, then the mixture sits for a few hours so the bacteria converts the milk's lactose into lactic acid. This fermentation process makes the milk thick while also giving it that tart taste. When you peruse the dairy aisle, you might notice that some yogurts have more probiotics than others. These probiotics are added during the yogurt's fermentation process. For example, Activia's probiotic yogurt is made with the yogurt cultures Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Lactobacillus lactis, and Streptococcus thermophilus. Activia also contains a specifically designed Bifidobacterium probiotic to help reduce digestive discomfort.

(You should stop taking probiotics if this happens to you.)

If you see "live and active cultures" on the yogurt label, that means there are at least one million colony-forming units (CFUs) in a serving. While that might sound like a lot of probiotics, remember that some of these little digestive bugs won't survive past the stomach. If you want the gut health benefits of yogurt, consume at least one billion CFUs of these live probiotics a day.