When was the last time you talked to someone about your poop (the quality, color, or smell)? For most of us, the answer is probably not since we finished potty training.
Talk show host Wendy Williams and the American Gastroenterological Association want to change that. They've teamed up with Allergan, a pharmaceutical company, to encourage people to talk to "have the poop talk."
The campaign, which they've titled Toilet Talk, aims to raise awareness around gastrointestinal health for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Awareness Month.
Part of that campaign was a video, created with Wendy Williams, in which a woman randomly approaches people on the Santa Monica Pier in California and asks them to sit on (not-functional) toilets and talk to her about their bowel movements.
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"Excuse me," she said to one man walking on the pier, "can I ask you a few questions about your bowel movements?" He, of course, looked mortified.
But he, like several other people on the pier that day, agreed to chat with the host about his poop. Although most people look a little uncomfortable with the topic at first, some of them seemed to get into it by the end.
The video makes the important point that, even if you'd rather not discuss poop with your friends or family, you should be talking about anything abnormal with your doctor.
"I don't shy away from talking about taboo topics, and talking about number two, isn't any different," Williams said in a statement shared with Refinery29. "Once we explained that bowel health is a vital component of your overall health, it was easy to get people talking about poop."
Changes in your bowel movements — like suddenly having to go multiple times a day, or going from solid to liquid stool, or having frequent constipation — can indicate that something is going on with you health-wise, according to the American Gastroenterological Association, including that you might have IBS.
That's why having "the toilet talk," at least with your doctor, is so important to your overall health.
Watch the video below: