How Often Should You *Really* Be Going No. 2?

It's easy to sense when you're visiting the bathroom a little too often or not often enough -- but medically speaking, is there an optimal amount of times you should be going No. 2?

Not necessarily, Dr. Anish Sheth -- a gastroenterologist affiliated with University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro -- says!

"It can be as frequent as three times a day or as infrequent as once in every three days," he explains.

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"[If] you go to the bathroom and it's not straining and it's not coming out hard," he goes on, "[your frequency] may be normal for you. And that's perfectly okay."

Whatever you do, though, don't hold it in!

And if you can, the doc *does* suggest setting aside 15 minutes each morning to allow your body to naturally go if it needs to.

"The body loves routine," Dr. Anish stresses. "I don't think there's any better way to start the day than having a good bowel movement."