If feces is the bits of food that our body couldn’t digest or use, is it possible to eat a diet that our bodies can use 100% and never have to defecate? And, if so, could such a diet ever be healthy or would it always be deficient in some nutrients?

Question

If feces is the bits of food that our body couldn’t digest or use, is it possible to eat a diet that our bodies can use 100% and never have to defecate? And, if so, could such a diet ever be healthy or would it always be deficient in some nutrients?

In: 90

Answer 1

You will always need to poop.

People still poop even when they are on [Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN)](https://ameripharmaspecialty.com/total-parenteral-nutrition-tpn-faq/). TPN patients can no longer digest food at all, temporarily or permanently. Instead of eating or drinking, they have a nutritional solution injected directly into a vein. Some patients do some oral food with the TPN, but many are not putting any food or drink at all into their mouth, stomach, or intestines. And yet they still occasionally poop to get rid of waste products like dead cells.