Q 01/05

Roughly what proportion of fresh human faeces is water?

A) About 75%

B) About 80%

C) About 90%

D) About 95%

Answer · why

A) About 75%

Of the solid part, up to half can be bacterial biomass.

Q 02/05

Up to what share of the solid matter in faeces is bacterial biomass?

A) 25 to 54%

B) 5 to 10%

C) 10 to 20%

D) 60 to 80%

Answer · why

A) 25 to 54%

The rest is undigested plant matter, protein, fat and salts.

Q 03/05

What gives faeces its usual brown colour?

A) Dead skin cells

B) Iron from red meat

C) Bile pigments from the liver

D) Gut bacteria themselves

Answer · why

C) Bile pigments from the liver

Green stool can mean bile passed through too fast to be processed.

Q 04/05

What is the medical chart that sorts stools into seven types called?

A) The Glasgow gut chart

B) The Oxford bowel index

C) The Rome criteria

D) The Bristol stool scale

Answer · why

D) The Bristol stool scale

It was developed at the Bristol Royal Infirmary and published in 1997.

Q 05/05

On the Bristol scale, which numbers indicate constipation?

A) 1 and 2

B) 3 and 4

C) 5 and 6

D) 7 alone

Answer · why

A) 1 and 2

Type 4, the smooth sausage, is considered ideal; some media call it the ghost poop.