The majority of us, at one time or another have experienced constipation. Each time a new client enters my clinic I always ask them, ‘are you regular?’. 9 out of 10 clients will respond with YES. However, my follow up question ‘what’s regular for you?’ delivers a very different response; “Every other day” “5-6 times a day” And even…… “Every 10 days or so…..” Trust me – none of these responses are ‘regular’. My personal poop story is one of the main reasons I started studying natural medicine. I had no idea what being ‘regular’ meant – we didn’t talk about our bowel movements at school, or with my girlfriends, and I don’t remember there being much information available for me to read up about it. Luckily, with some relatively simple changes and modifications, constipation can be an easy fix for most people, so that heavy, bloated feeling of carrying around bricks in your tummy can go – once and for all!

What is Constipation?

Constipation refers to either an inability to empty the bowels on a regular basis, or perhaps being able to empty your bowels but feeling as though they are not completely emptied. Our liver flushes out toxins and dumps this waste into the intestines. If your digestive system isn’t functioning optimally, these toxins and waste get reabsorbed into your body. This can make you feel bloated, tired, nauseas and generally just ‘meh’. Constipation has also been linked to even bigger problems including faecal impaction and an increased risk in cancer. As a culture, we don’t often talk about how often we should be going for a number ‘2’. Most people are surprised when I tell them that being ‘regular’ is going between 1 and 3 times daily and never with any pain or strain. You should be feeling like you have completely emptied your bowel and seeing any blood or mucous on your stool is also a big NO NO.

What causes constipation?

Constipation happens when our bowel, or colon absorbs too much water from the stool, or if our colon’s muscular contractions slow down (which happens often in pregnancy). When either of these things happen, the stool becomes hard, dry and difficult to eliminate.

Top questions to ask if you are constipated?

Am I getting enough fibre?

We all need foods that contain fibre at every meal. This fibre needs to include a mix of both insoluble fibre (think whole grains, non-GMO corn, bran, nuts, seeds and fruit and vegetable skins), and soluble fiber (think chia seeds, flax seeds, oats, beans, lentils and strawberries). We should be aiming for about 30g of total fibre each and every day, in line with current government recommendations. Two awesome types of fibre that are available in supplement form are psyllium and slippery elm. They are unique in that they contain both types of fibre needed by the body, i.e. soluble and insoluble. It’s important to consume both types of these fibres – insoluble fibre acts to bulk the stool and soluble fibre helps to pass it through the small intestine quickly. You could also consider apple pectin for added fibre and charcoal (link to product) to help cleanse the bowel and reduce the absorption of toxins.

Am I insufficient in magnesium?

A BIG constipation culprit is magnesium insufficiency and there are so many reasons for this. One of these is that foods that naturally contain magnesium – think green leafy veg like spinach, nuts, beans etc are grown in magnesium depleted soil. This is thanks to modern day farming practices, specifically the process of mono cropping. Mono meaning 1 – monocropping is planting the same crop year after year on the same land. This can zap the nutrients from our earth and leaves soil weak and unable to sustain and support healthy plant growth. A lot of us consume too much alcohol and caffeine and we eat too much sugar. Again, all of these result in excreting excess of this precious mineral out of the body, leaving us insufficient or deficient. Do one of these scenarios sound like you? Do all of these scenarios sound like you? Magnesium is crucial for help with constipation as it helps with the muscular contractions of our gastrointestinal tract. Increasing our magnesium status through foods alone can be tricky and takes time, so a high-quality supplement such as Herbs of Gold Magnesium Citrate, for a short period of time can help replenish your body’s levels of this key mineral as quickly as possible. Supplementation is a perfectly safe way to reach optimal levels. For constipation, I recommend 200 mg of Mg citrate twice daily and gradually increase the dose by 200mg a week, to a maximum of 1000mg a day until you start going once or twice a day. Taking too much magnesium generally results in looser stool so if this happens, just reduce your dose.

Are you stressed?

Another reason I see all too commonly in clinic is so many of us are just so chronically stressed. If our bodies are in a constant state of stress, or if our body doesn’t biologically know how to recover from this stress, it results in ‘dumping’ magnesium out of the body. Stress is at the cornerstone of too many health problems, including constipation. When we’re stressed, our digestion, including our elimination, slow down. Taking simple steps to reduce the stressors in your life can have such a positive impact. Make time for your meals, stop eating on the run and consider some deep relaxation into your daily and weekly routine – whether it be walking in nature, a daily yoga class or meditating. For more info, Click Here.

Are you active? Do you participate in daily exercise?

We’ve been told a 1001 times that exercise is good for us and the visual benefits are hard to ignore. However, exercise is great for a lot more than just losing weight and rocking a hot bod, so if you need even more motivation to get moving – Exercise is a great laxative.  So, move your body every day to help move your bowels. For more info, Click Here.

Are there reasons why your intestinal flora/bacteria would be out of balance?

A properly functioning gut is absolutely critical to good health. Gut flora requires both prebiotics and probiotics to be in harmony. Probiotics will predominantly add to the quantity, i.e. the number of our gut bacteria. Probiotics are live bacteria and yeasts such as bifidobacteria and lactobacillus species. They are good for your health and come in different strengths and strains. Foods as well can have a probiotic effect including; sauerkraut, kefir, kombucha, yoghurt, and miso. Prebiotics are a little different in that they don’t add to the number of gut bacteria – however they add to the strength and integrity of the gut bacteria, making them strong and robust.  Basically, prebiotics are designed to stimulate and improve existing microbiota in the gut. Many foods are rich in prebiotics and include; bananas, artichokes, garlic, leeks, onion, tofu and other fermented soy products. Grains such as barley, flaxseed and oats are also good sources of prebiotics.

What can you do to support regular bowel movements?

It’s really quite simple…..

• Eat a whole food, high-fibre diet
• Supplement where needed with added fibre
• Flax seeds
• Slippery Elm
• Psyllium Husk
• Charcoal
• Reduce your intake of processed foods
• Add 2 tablespoons of ground flax seeds to your daily diet
• Try MCT oil: One of my favourite natural and food-based laxatives is MCT oil. You can put it on your food (e.g. on steamed veg or on your salads), or breakfast smoothie, or even in your coffee.
• Increase your intake of essential fats – i.e. olive oil, flaxseed oil
• Supplement with magnesium and probiotics
• Drink 8 – 10 glasses of water a day
• Exercise daily

If you’re still struggling after some or all of the above suggestions, maybe it’s time to have your thyroid checked and tested? Having an under active thyroid, also known as hypothyroid is a common condition that can affect lots of functions in the body, including digestive function and may be a major contributor to slowing things down……..including your elimination. Read more about it here.