Pooping is good for your brain: Using the toilet before mental tests improves performance, according to new study

When preparing for a big test or athletic event, try to take a load off.A new, small study found that triathletes performed better on a cognitive test that simulates the experience of rapid decision-making in sports when they pooped beforehand.The 13 participants took the Stroop test three times a week apart — the first time without pooping beforehand, the second time an hour after going to the bathroom and the third time with the help of a magnesium oxide laxative.“Stroop test performance was improved in all (100%, 13/13) of the participants after magnesium-induced defecation and most (69%, 9/13) of the participants after non-magnesium-induced defecation,” the international team of researchers wrote in the new issue of the Sports Medicine and Health Science journal.In the Stroop test, participants were presented with color words printed in different ink colors (like “red” written in green ink) and told to quickly name the color.The study authors used the results to measure their selective attention and mental judgment.The researchers previously found that going No.2 greatly improved cycling performance and increased blood supply to the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain where decisions are made.They used this study to show that pooping gives your body more energy to spend on cognition and exercise intensity.They linked better performance on the Stroop test to a significant increase in oxygen consumption in the area below the belly button post-poop.

There was less of an effect on the prefrontal brain.The researchers theorized that the enteric nervous system surrounding the rectum may play a role in immediate cognitive tasks by sending signals to the brain based on conditions in the gut.This describes what’s commonly known as a “gut feeling.” Subscribe to our weekly Post Care newsletter! Please provide a valid email address.

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