this post was submitted on 16 May 2026
58 points (69.1% liked)

Ask Lemmy

39616 readers
1160 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, toxicity and dog-whistling are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

My elementary school teacher told us once that Americans only poop once a week. The climate is colder in North America, so their intestines pack the poop together very densely such that they only need to poop once a week. She said you'd be sent to the doctor if you poop daily in America.

Is this true?

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old

Your teacher was either an idiot or fucking with you lol

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 2 points 1 day ago

The climate is colder in North America

Colder than where?

[–] TryingToBeGood@reddthat.com 6 points 1 day ago

Your elementary school teacher should have been fired.

[–] jobbies@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 day ago

Common misconception. They only poop when Trump tells them to. If they don't wait til instructed ICE comes and shoots them.

Land of the free ladies and gents.

[–] magnolia_mayhem@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

What the fuck am I reading

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Soulg@ani.social 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Is this why so many Europeans treat us like some different species

[–] VitoRobles@lemmy.today 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Having worked in fentanyl crisis towns and then have the neighboring towns proudly proclaim how great America is and how much FREEDOM we have... Totally understandable how Europeans look at us.

Hell, I'll never forget the look my european coworker gave me when I told them we have a two week parental leave and it's a fire-at-will state.

[–] Soulg@ani.social 1 points 17 hours ago

Yeah but that's us being oppressed, I would think it makes sense they find those things abhorrent. But not really the same thing

If an American had thought something as ridiculous as the OP about some other country (and genuinely no offense meant to the OP) they would get destroyed

On the off chance that this is a real question:

I am an American, and I poop regularly, every day.

I will admit that I do not adhere to the standard American diet, but I know that I am not alone in my poop habits.

I genuinely don't understand the logic of "America is a colder climate", because that is ostensibly incorrect.

[–] Resonosity@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 day ago

Nope. I shit every day, in the morning, on a schedule.

Your teacher was full of shit. Sure the Standard American Diet (SAD) is terrible and leaves fiber much to be desired, but not every American sticks to the SAD. I'm sure other countries have people that have shit diets and get constipated too, not just the US.

Generalizations don't help anyone.

[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

you seem lost.

this is clearly a !shittyasklemmy@lemmy.uhhoh.com post

[–] CCMan1701A@startrek.website 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Lol, your teacher sounds amazing.

[–] Karl@literature.cafe 1 points 1 day ago

Oh, she was xD

[–] normalentrance@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 day ago
[–] Magnum@infosec.pub 3 points 1 day ago
[–] belunos@lemmus.org 16 points 2 days ago (15 children)

Are you still in elementary school? If not, you can't possibly still believe this

load more comments (15 replies)
[–] moseschrute@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago

You're mixing up Americans with sloths, but I guess we’re not that different

[–] i_stole_ur_taco@lemmy.ca 72 points 2 days ago (2 children)

That’s silly. North America is huge. In the US South, it’s very common for people to poop every day. In fact, you usually wouldn’t even talk to a doctor about it. But as you get to the northern states and into Canada, it’s so cold that people don’t poop at all!

So the 1 day thing is probably just someone averaging out the numbers.

[–] CelloMike@lemmy.world 45 points 2 days ago (6 children)

Pooping Georg, who lives in a cave and poops 10,000 times a day, is an outlier adn should not be counted

load more comments (6 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] RodgeGrabTheCat@sh.itjust.works 47 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (12 children)

Your teacher is a fuckin moron.

load more comments (12 replies)
[–] MrsDoyle@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago (3 children)

All this (wonderful) shit-talking and no-one has mentioned painkillers. Earlier this year I spent a couple of weeks in hospital along with a lot of other oldies with fall injuries. We were all taking oxycodone and paracetamol for the pain, and the nurses were obsessed with our bowel movements. We were given laxatives twice a day to hurry things along, and threatened with an enema if we went too long without pooing. After the laxatives worked their magic on me I started refusing to take them, because it took me so long to get across the ward to the toilet I was scared I'd shit myself halfway.

So yes, painkillers are costive.

[–] Apytele@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Cleaning you is waaay easier than disimpaction. If it's bad enough I have to call someone who doesn't work holidays, weekends, or any other hour a bank isn't open. If it's NOT bad enough to call that person, that's actually way worse because it's gonna be you, me, and these phalanges, and neither of us is gonna be having a good time. Now that I work in a tiny community hospital I don't even have residents I can sucker into it anymore!

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] roofuskit@lemmy.world 31 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Bowel movements vary by person. From 3 times a day down to once every 3 days. Less than once every 3 days is considered concerning medically, but not necessarily a problem.

Your teacher was the one full of shit.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 37 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Your teacher is either fucking with you or shouldn't be allowed to teach.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] TipRing@lemmy.world 58 points 2 days ago (6 children)

That has to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I'm veggie, if I don't poop every day there's a fucking problem.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] sobchak@programming.dev 8 points 2 days ago (3 children)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] reetarbdjames@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 day ago

this is misinformation, americans dont poop

[–] ikidd@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 day ago

I used to shit like every two to three days, especially if I were out backpacking. Now it's more like daily.

load more comments
view more: next ›