Since I’ve been doing keto since 2017 I’ve probably googled or talked to other keto people about my bowel movements more times than I ever did before my keto existence. Then the past few months I started introducing intermittent fasting and I was right back to my regular inquiries of the internet to learn what I was possibly doing wrong or my body was lacking to cause my irregular bowel issues. It’s a strange thing, because on one hand it’s a little awkward to bring up and on the other hand completely normal for keto-ites to have a conversation about how their poop is coming out for them and what they’ve learned about adjusting their electrolytes, fiber or another intake to help avoid the common issue of constipation or diarrhea.

A friend came to me recently and said, “I’ve heard people on the keto diet have all kinds of problems pooping.” It’s true, it is commonly known that the high-fat, low-carb ketogenic diet can lead to constipation and diarrhea. But we can all agree, we don’t talk openly about this without non-keto friends.

But like you, I was relieved (literally) to learn that I am not alone in this. In fact, a recent search on google trends shows an increase in the past five years for the search of “keto constipation” and “keto diarrhea”. And if you’re on Reddit, the groups on there often have threads that discuss at length what people are eating and how to help with either of these two keto bowel issues.

Google Trends Keto Constipation Keto Diarrhea search

So if you’re new to keto and concerned about your infrequent or frequent bowel movements, the color or the consistency of your poop based off the Bristol Scale (yes they have a chart of that), no worries, it’s perfectly normal.

Bristol Stool Chart NPR

Credit: NPR

Here are some articles I found to be helpful in that answer some of the questions of these common keto bowel issues:

Keto and Poop – Something We Need to Talk About

The Scoop on Poop: Bowel Changes on the Keto Diet

So with all of that said, it’s just another one of those KETO things that reminds of me of that saying. “It’s a Keto thing…You wouldn’t understand.”