Should you experience a continued inability to digest food properly with efficiency and ease, the quality of your life worsens. Your symptoms can be so debilitating that they affect how you live. When digestion becomes compromised because of an unhealthy diet, infection or parasites, it can be difficult to function normally when you are in constant abdominal pain, severe discomfort, and total inconvenience.

Bowel movement problems can be revealing of how well your digestive system is functioning. There are three factors that can be used to indicate if you are having healthy stools or not: color, consistency, and frequency.

Color. The color of stool can be indicative of bowel movement problems. The following colors depict much about your digestive and dietary habits:

Pale - Pale stool can be caused by some medications. If you have not been consuming medications, it can be indicative of a lack of bile. Low bile production can be caused by a blockage of the bile duct, resulting in bowel movement problems.

Green - If you have not been consuming a great deal of green leafy vegetables or some other highly colored green food, greenness can be indicative that stools are passing through your body too quickly. The color is produced when bile is not given sufficient time to break down. This is often the case with diarrhea.

Yellow - This color generally indicates an excess of fat in the stool, possibly indicating absorption problems.

Bright Red - Highly colored food additives and coloring can result in bright red stool. It can also be produced by lower intestinal bleeding.

Black - Black stools can be produced by some foods and supplements. It can also indicate bleeding in the upper digestive tract.

Consistency. Pencil thin, narrow stools can indicate a blockage. Stools that sink quickly to the bottom of the toilet can be a sign of insufficient fiber in your diet. Loose stools can be caused by many digestive and dietary diseases, resulting in bowel movement problems.

Frequency. There appears to be no consensus on what should the appropriate frequency of bowel movements be. Some experts believe that the number of meals a day should equal the number of bowel movements. Others recommend that a daily bowel movement is a sign of good bowel health. Some conventional doctors fail to agree, claiming that you should not worry if you do not have a bowel movement every day. However, most experts do note that infrequent bowel movements are often caused by a diet high in refined flour and sugar.

When you are able to have healthy bowel output, you can take this to be a sign that the foods you ate have been well digested, assimilated and waste is properly produced for discharge. There are many benefits to healthy digestion: reduced abdominal pain, higher energy levels, improved mental clarity, as well as all round wellness.

However, if you are experiencing bowel movement problems, then you need to look for ways to improve your digestive health. Get to the root or your problems by visiting your health care professional immediately.