Constipation

Having trouble with irregular bowel habits is called constipation. For better health it’s easier to pass stools daily that aren’t so hard without straining. Ideal bowel habits are going one to three times a day. The bowel movements are easy to pass and pain-free. They’re smooth and long or they can be broken into pieces.

Attached is the Bristol stool chart. Number 4 or a number 5 on the Bristol stool chart are best. People who are constipated are having type 1, type 2 and sometimes type 3 bowel movements on the Bristol stool chart. These are definitely the ones to avoid. Going forward aim to have type 4 or type 5 once or twice daily with a feeling like everything’s coming out.

Being constipated is like collecting your rubbish bags throughout the week and leaving them at the door but not actually take them outside. Similarly taking a few bags of rubbish out of the house but not all of them. Not to mention the smell if the bags of rubbish were building up.  If your house is not cleaned regularly, you’d have a lot of smelly mess and nobody in your family would like it. It’s kind of the same thing with constipation.

Constipation increases the toxic burden inside the body. In addition, it increases your chances of a lot of other more serious health conditions such as haemorrhoids, megacolon, diverticulitis and other conditions.  Avoid straining and pushing as this can link with haemorrhoids. Therefore, we want easier and regular bowel habits to lower your risk of any further health complications.

In Naturopathic Nutritional Therapy the way to overcome constipation is to look for the root cause. Initially find the underlying problem, and secondly to find a solution for it. The result is that you can start having normal motility and regular bowel habits.

The cleansing and detoxification process in the body uses the large intestine, kidneys, bladder, lungs, ovaries, the skin and liver. If any the organs get overloaded with toxins and extra waste, they may need assistance for the body is removing them. Unfortunately, it’s more difficult to get away with what people got away with 30 years ago. We live in a different world that is packed with stressors, technology, chemicals, and pollution.

Short-term solutions like Movicol are habit-forming chemical laxatives.

When the elimination pathways are working efficiently the body can safely rid itself of harmful substances. If they are taken in faster or if the pathways are not working well “toxic” states may potentially develop. Better solutions are to remove toxicities from inside the body and protect the good gut flora.