Why does poop float

Poop that floats is popularly termed as “floater” and poop that sinks down is termed as “sinker”. Many believe that a “floater” is stool excreted by healthy individuals, but there is actually more to that. Feces that floats on water was traditionally believed by most to be the result of excessive fat globules present in the feces. This is incorrect if the person who has released the “floater” is not suffering from diseases like abetalipoprotenimia or biliary atresia. In case of a healthy person’s excreta, the reason for “floaters” is attributed to high gas content. The amount of gas in your stool depends largely on your diet, therefore you could be releasing stool that floats if you are on a diet that is making the bacteria inside your system release more gas. The gases released by the bacteria and the air we swallow every day, constitutes the gas content in our entire system and sometimes large amounts of gas is unable to get out of the system in the way of farts, therefore they dissolve in the poop making it less dense. When we release this poop, high in gas content, we release “floaters”. It may also mean that your digestive system is not being able to utilize the nutrients in your food properly, thus the unusual gas formation.

Contrary to the popular belief that floating poop is the ideal poop, it can actually signal gastrointestinal infections. However, such infections are usually not severe and get sorted out within a few days automatically. Some believe that a vegan diet is responsible for “floaters” being released, but in truth, that is not the case. But, if a person suddenly changes his diet to total a total vegan routine, he may develop a lot of gas in his stomach due to the sudden change in diet and not due to the vegan nature of it. Diarrhea can make your stool float too, but it is usually accompanied by other severe symptoms as well. It is best not to worry if you are releasing “floaters” without any other symptoms or discomforts because your system will adjust to the cause on its own within a short time if it is not a serious one.