If you’re prone to constipation, you might be wondering whether there’s something you can do about it.
Without giving away too much, yes, there absolutely are things that you can do to tackle constipation, but we will get more into these things later in the article.
Before we give you all of our top tips and run through the best natural remedies for constipation, we want to first cover what constipation is and what causes this common bowel issue.
What is Constipation?
Constipation affects 16% of the population at any single point in time, making it a very common digestive issue. It’s a symptom of many different gastrointestinal disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and coeliac disease.
Most of you will know exactly what constipation feels like because although only 16 out of every 100 people deal with it regularly, pretty much everybody has been constipated at one point or another in their lives.
The symptoms of constipation include:
- A reduction in the number of bowel movements you have each week compared to your usual (for example, if you usually go to the toilet every day and this suddenly decreases to just twice a week for a few weeks, you’re constipated)
- Bloating
- Gas (leading to lots of burping and flatulence)
- Abdominal discomfort
- A feeling of fullness or tightness in the abdomen
- A feeling of incomplete evacuation when you go to the toilet (basically feeling like there is still something left in your bowels after you’ve been to the toilet)
If you experience all of these symptoms for just a day or two, but then you manage to go to the toilet on day three and continue with your usual, regular bowel habits after this, it’s not necessarily constipation that you’re dealing with. Constipation is a more long-term problem across a few weeks or months.
What Causes Constipation?
A long list of things can impact your digestive health and function, including a range of lifestyle, dietary, hormonal, and medical factors.
Genetics
Some people are more likely to suffer from ongoing constipation due to their genetics or inheritance. For example, non-Caucasian people, women (especially during pregnancy or shortly after giving birth), and older adults (above 65 years old) are more likely to get constipated compared to the rest of the population.
Inadequate dietary fibre intake
Alongside your genetics, your lifestyle and dietary choices significantly influence your digestive function. Those of you who don’t eat enough dietary fibre, particularly insoluble fibre, will be more prone to constipation.
This is because insoluble fibre remains mostly unchanged in the digestive tract, fuels the probiotic bacteria in your colon, and allows for more effective digestion. Better digestive function means food is likely to remain in your digestive tract and cause a blockage.
Having too much saturated fat or salt in your diet
Eating too much saturated fat or salt can also affect your bowel regularity. Saturated fat (or any sort of fat, for that matter) can slow gastric emptying and make food move more slowly through your intestines, increasing the risk of constipation.
Salt can dehydrate the body by causing water to move out of the cells and into the bloodstream (and eventually into the toilet via urine). When you’re dehydrated, you’re more likely to become constipated because the stool doesn’t have enough water content to remain soft and easy to pass. Therefore, eating lots of ready meals, soups, pre-packaged salty snacks like pretzels and crisps, and shop-bought bread and failing to hydrate your body could be the root cause of your constipation!
Being sedentary
When you’re physically active, whether through regular weightlifting workouts or getting a few thousand daily steps, it helps food move more efficiently through your digestive tract and keeps symptoms at bay.
Conversely, a lack of physical activity can slow down metabolism and digestion, increasing the chance of bloating, gas, and constipation. Leading a sedentary lifestyle could, therefore, be the cause of your digestive issues.
Being dehydrated
As we mentioned above, being dehydrated can increase the likelihood that you’ll get bloated. Your body needs water to efficiently break down ingested foods and absorb the constituent nutrients. So, if you don’t hydrate your body properly, don’t be surprised when your abdomen feels bloated, tight, and swollen, and you’re struggling to go to the toilet!
Having a digestive disorder or hormonal imbalances
There are loads of different digestive disorders that can increase constipation risk, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), coeliac disease, and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). These conditions can cause inflammation in the lower digestive tract or disrupt natural digestive processes, slowing down the rate of food breakdown and increasing the chance of a back-up down below.
Similarly, hormonal fluctuations and imbalances can lead to constipation. In particular, the natural fluctuations in oestrogen and progesterone across a woman’s monthly menstrual cycle can impact digestion. When the levels of these hormones are high, such as leading up to ovulation and just before your period, you're more prone to bloating and constipation due to their ability to slow down gut motility.
If you have a reproductive health issue that causes your levels of oestrogen and progesterone to be too high or too low, you may also experience a lot of constipation. Examples of reproductive health disorders that can lead to constipation include polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), functional hypothalamic amenorrhea (FHA), and endometriosis.
Pregnancy or ovulation
Progesterone is sky-high during pregnancy to help ensure the embryo or foetus can continue growing and support a healthy pregnancy. Because of this rapid increase in progesterone during the first trimester of pregnancy and the maintenance of high concentrations of this hormone throughout the second and third trimesters, women in all stages of pregnancy can be prone to constipation.
Similarly, if you ovulate regularly each month (which most women of reproductive age do (and should!) unless they are dealing with something like PCOS or HA), you might experience constipation around the time of ovulation. Again, this is due to our friend, progesterone, rising around this time of the menstrual cycle.
Being more stressed than usual
Stress causes the release of cortisol, a hormone that causes blood to move away from the digestive tract to the skeletal muscles in the periphery of the body (the arms and legs). The idea behind this is to provide the muscles with oxygen and nutrients so they can help you run away from danger.
Although the modern-day lifestyle is full of stresses that we don’t need to physically run away from, such as a full inbox or financial worries, our brains still interpret stress as danger. As a result, cortisol is released, and blood is diverted away from the stomach and intestines.
With less blood in the gastrointestinal tract, digestion slows down, and constipation is more likely.
What Are Some Home Remedies for Constipation?
Whether you’re constipated because you’re stressed, dehydrated, or dealing with a health issue, there are lots of natural remedies that can help you. We have covered some helpful strategies below that you can try if you’re bunged up.
Modify your diet to include lots of fibre-rich and probiotic-filled foods
Making a few simple dietary changes could completely transform your digestive health. There is a long list of foods that can promote bowel regularity due to having a natural laxative effect and another list of foods to avoid due to having the opposite effect.
Foods to include more of in your diet when you’re trying to alleviate constipation naturally include:
- Apples
- Beans, such as kidney beans, pinto beans, and baked beans
- Berries, including strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries
- Leafy green vegetables, such as broccoli, spinach, kale, and Swiss chard
- Legumes, including lentils and chickpeas
- Miso
- Oats
- Pears
- Prunes
- Sauerkraut
- Seeds, including chia seeds and flaxseeds
- Whole grains, such as wholemeal bread, brown rice, and whole wheat pasta or noodles
- Tofu and tempeh
- Yoghurt and kefir
Most of the above foods are packed full of soluble and insoluble fibre, which are essential carbohydrates for healthy digestion and regularity.
Soluble fibre helps to regulate glucose absorption into the bloodstream, preventing huge spikes in blood sugar levels after eating. Insoluble fibre remains in the colon, where it fuels the probiotic bacteria and softens the stool, making it easier to pass.
Yoghurt, kefir, miso, and sauerkraut are examples of what are known as probiotic-rich foods. Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that reside in the gut and are found in lots of fermented foods. They help to break down ingested foods and produce nutrients like vitamin K2 and B12.
Consuming probiotic-rich foods promotes healthy digestion and reduces the risk of symptoms like constipation, gas, and bloating.
Drink more water to keep your body hydrated
Alongside adjusting the foods that you eat each day to lower your risk of constipation, you could also change your fluid intake, which will also help to stop bloating and abdominal discomfort. If you’re somebody who forgets to drink water throughout the day, buy yourself a snazzy water bottle to keep by your side and encourage you to drink more.
Aim to consume around eight glasses of water a day, although you might need more than this to hydrate your body if you have done a high-intensity workout or it’s been particularly hot and humid that day.
Take a digestive enzyme supplement
Digestive enzyme supplements are great for boosting your overall health. They can tackle constipation and other unwanted symptoms by supporting your body’s natural production of digestive enzymes.
Normally, digestive enzymes are secreted by the salivary glands, stomach, small intestines, and pancreas when you eat to break carbohydrates, proteins, and fats down into smaller molecules that can be absorbed into the bloodstream through the intestinal wall. However, if you have a medical condition that causes you to produce fewer digestive enzymes than average or your digestion has been a little off recently, you might find it beneficial to take a digestive enzyme supplement.
You should always read the instructions on the packaging of your chosen digestive enzyme supplement. However, generally, it’s best to take your enzymes just before or after a meal.
Incorporate a natural laxative supplement into your routine
If you don’t want to rely on synthetic laxatives to relieve your constipation, you can always try taking a natural laxative supplement, such as A Dose For Blocked Bellies. Our supplement contains a proprietary blend of ingredients that have natural laxative properties and promote great digestive health and function.
More specifically, A Dose For Blocked Bellies contains:
- Fennel Seed Extract - when taken alongside other plant extracts, fennel seed extract has a constipation-relieving effect.
- Rhubarb Root Extract - this particular plant extract has natural laxative effects and is great for short-term use in treating constipation.
- Slippery Elm Bark - if you're dealing with constipation secondary to irritable battle syndrome, slippery elm bark is one of the best natural laxatives that you can try.
- Ginger Root Extract - ginger root has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, promoting healthier digestion and reducing the risk of gastrointestinal symptoms like bloating and constipation.
- Prune Juice Extract - prunes are one of the most well-known natural laxative foods. They are packed full of dietary fibre, which promotes bowel regularity.
- Aloe Vera Extract - aloe vera contains compounds, such as barbaloin, which can stimulate the smooth muscle in the bowel.
- Magnesium Citrate - magnesium citrate is a form of magnesium that is known to support digestive function.
- Rice Extract - rice extract is packed full of fibre, which fuels your gut bacteria and promotes efficient digestion.
Of course, if you would rather try a different natural laxative supplement, we won’t be offended! Do some research to discover the best supplements for your needs so you can be sure to get the maximum benefits out of your choice.
