Hey guys, this is Heather from healthyeatingstartshere.com. Today, we are going to talk about diet for
constipation relief. Now, before you shy away and get scared off talking about poo, this
is really, really important for your overall level of health.
Itís an indicator of how things are working, and having regular bowel movements ó youíre
aiming for two or three per day - it can help efficiently remove away the waste from the
food that youíre eating out of your body. And those foods, when theyíre allowed to
sit around theyíre going to create toxins, and those toxins are what contribute to cancer.
So, if you want those moving out as quickly as possible, you have to make sure you're
on a diet for constipation relief. Some things to look for in a healthy peace of poo are
a light brown color, about an inch around. You want it to be solid but not hard, and
not too soft. You donít want to see any undigested food in there except for things like corn
or flax seeds which never digest so donít worry about.
That can actually be a good indicator of transit time. One thing to do when you on a diet for
constipation relief is to eat a bunch of corn and time how long that takes before you see
it in a toilet. That will tell you how efficiently things are moving through your bowels. So
these are some things to look for if you have poos that are too hard or too small, or just
not very often, those are all indicators of constipation.
You donít have to wait until your poos have entirely disappeared before you can say Iím
constipated or start a diet for constipation relief. If you're just having less poo than
normal, that is still constipation.
So, some things that we can do to help alleviate constipation - there are some really easy
things that we can do for your diet.
Number one is fiber, you probably always here that. Add fiber to your diet, but there are
two types of fiber ó soluble and insoluble. You want to get a mix of both ó 50/50 for
those two. Soluble fiber is fiber that absorbs water and turns to like a gel. Some effective
factors in your diet for constipation relief are to eat things like flax seeds, psyllium
husks, and the pectin in apple.
So thatís mostly in the seed but also in the actual apple. And those types of fiber
are great, but if you get too much of them, they can actually cause a blockage, because
they're going to absorb so much water that they are going to turn into this sticky jelly
mass ó so donít get too much. Cilium is the one that often gets emphasize perhaps
a little bit too much, with all the fiber cereals and stuff like that, so donít get
too much of that.
And then you also want to make sure that you get some insoluble fiber in your diet for
constipation relief, which does not absorb water and thatís were we talk about insoluble
fiber. So, lettuce, other green leafy green vegetables, the skins of fruit vegetables,
and pretty much any raw fruit and vegetables could be a good source of insoluble fiber.
You can also cook them if you have some sensitivity in your digestive system. It might not give
the same volume passing through, but itís often what makes it more easily digestible.
So the next thing in your diet for constipation relief plan would be water. If you are dehydrated
your colon will be dehydrated, and your colon works by constructing muscles to move the
food along.
And if your colon is dehydrated itís not going to be able to do that job. So you got
to make sure that you have enough water and this well help with a whole other bunch of
other health issues as well. Not just your colon, but for constipation, that is the one
of the most important things to look at ó is getting enough of water.
Now the next thing would be to look at the level of healthy fats in your diet for constipation
relief. Now you donít want to go pounding back the oil, but if youíre not eating any
fat at all, youíre poo will actually get hard and it wonít be able to move easily.
So get things like nuts, seed, avocados, those healthy whole food fats can really help soften
up your stool, and get it moving through the core.
So those are three things to look for in your diet - fiber, water and healthy fats. If youíre
missing any of those, try that first.
Then, some other things you can do for constipation are to get some exercise. This can really,
really help. Like I said, your colon works on muscle contraction, so having a healthy
system overall will help the healthy muscles of your colon.
Just a movement can help. Things can start to move. So, if you ever notice, if you go
run in the morning it can really get things moving, but sometimes its not so fun if your
halfway through your run. But what happens is when your body wakes up from sleep nothings
really moving very fast, so if you get moving even if you get out for a walk you can find
that really helpful.
If you've ever seen books or movies that talk about morning constitutional thatís going
for a walk and then that triggers you to have a bowel movement. Iím not sure if thatís
exactly what they meant but thatís how I read it.
Now sitting on the toilet in the proper way can actually help facilitate movements. In
Asia they do squat toilets which they donít necessarily do because of a lack of technology
ó they know that itís healthy to sit in a squat position because it encourages the
colon to move.
You can imitate that at home by putting a stool or phonebook by the toilet. Put your
feet up on there, and then give your self time in the morning or whenever you want to
ó whenever you have time to sit around for a little while, to wait.
But, giving it time to move is really important. You might not feel that you have to go, but
if you sit up with your fit up a little while, read a book, read a magazine, or read the
newspaper, you might find that things can get moving ó and there you go.
Now, the last resort would be to take some laxatives - herbal laxatives or some laxative
foods. The reason why itís the last resort is because it doesnít fix the underlying
problem. And it really just triggers out things in a short term basis, and once you stopped
taking them, youíre going to go back to not being able to have bowel movements.
It can be helpful in a dire circumstance, but for the most part try those other methods
first. So, some herbal laxatives would be some things like cascara sagrada, senna or
even prunes, those are dried plums, and if you eat them whole, you get a lot of fiber
in them. But they also have just a compound that helps to keep things moving. So, even
if you have prune juice that will help.
Alright, so thatís it for my diet for constipation relief tips, and Iím not really shy about
talking about poo. I actually have a couple of friends - we have detailed discussions
about poo. But I want to hear from you guys.
Are you, or do you feel shy about talking about poo, or do you try not to talk things
like this diet for constipation relief, and can you see it in the overall scheme of health,
how it is an important thing? Even if you donít talk about it with other people, as
long as you can see it yourself and not be shy to notice things about your poo, thatís
important.