POO: SHOULD WE BE PAYING MORE ATTENTION TO IT?
Stool-gazing may sound like something Gwyneth Paltrow dreamt up, but we’ve been doing it for centuries. A 1958 article in the British Medical Journal explained why. It said that “stools are like the skin, being readily visible, frequently examined, accessible to study and scrutiny, subject to loathsome and malodorous diseases.”
The ick factor, plus questions over its reliability as a diagnostic tool, mean it goes in and out of fashion. In the noughties, television presenter Gillian McKeith encouraged people Her qualifications were later questioned and the practice passed out of public consciousness once again. For most of us, gazing into the toilet bowl looking for answers was about as much use as reading tea leaves.
