Constipation
What is constipation?
Constipation is a condition of the
digestive system where an individual has hard feces that are difficult to
expel. In most cases, this occurs because the colon has absorbed too much water
from the food that is in the colon.
If fecal
material sits in the colon, the harder the stool becomes and the more difficult
it is to pass. This condition is known as constipation. It's considered a symptom of various health issues,
rather than a disease in and of itself.
"Normal" bowel
habits differ between people. Some people may pass stool three times a day,
while others may only have a bowel movement three times a week. You're
considered constipated if you have fewer than three bowel movements in a week.
After this point, your stool may harden and become difficult or even painful to
pass.
While constipated, you may strain to pass stool or
feel that you are unable to completely empty your bowels.
Symptoms
The main symptoms of
constipation are increased difficulty and straining when passing stools.
Passing fewer stools than usual can be a sign of
constipation.
Other symptoms include:
·
stomach
ache
·
stomach
cramps
·
feeling
bloated and nauseous
·
losing
appetite
Causes of Constipation
A wide range of factors can lead to constipation,
including:
- Lack of fiber in the diet
- Lack of physical activity
- Low fluid intake
- Certain medications (such as antidepressants, painkillers,
certain antacids and
iron supplements calcium channel
blockers for high blood
pressure and heart disease)
- Frequently taking laxatives or using enemas
- Changes in your life or daily
routines, such as travelling
- Poor bowel habits (ignoring the
urge to go)
- GI tract problems or disorders,
such as irritable bowel syndrome, tumors or other obstructions, celiac disease, and colon polyps
- Various medical conditions and
diseases, including multiple
sclerosis, diabetes, hypothyroidism,
Parkinson's disease, stroke,
and nerve damage
HOW YOU CAN GET
RELIEVED FROM CONSTIPATION ? ?
You can
adapt following lifestyle and dietary practices to get relieved from
constipation :
1. Drink more
water
Being
dehydrated regularly can make you become constipated. To prevent this, it's
important to drink enough water and stay hydrated .
However,
don't start drinking more carbonated drinks like sugary soda, as they're a bad
choice for your health and may make your constipation worse
2. Eat more
fiber, especially soluble, non-fermentable fiber
People
who are constipated are often told to increase their fiber intake .
This is
because increasing fiber intake is thought to increase the bulk and consistency
of bowel movements, making them easier to pass
In
fact, one recent review found that 77% of people with chronic constipation
benefited from supplementing with fiber This is because the type of dietary
fiber that you add to your diet is important.
There
are many different dietary fibers, but in general, they fall into two
categories:
This is
because insoluble fiber can make the problem worse in some people with a
functional bowel problem, such as IBS or chronic idiopathic constipation .
Some
fermentable soluble fibers may also be ineffective at treating constipation, as
they are fermented by bacteria in the gut and lose their water-holding capacity
.
The
best choice for a fiber supplement when constipated is a non-fermentable
soluble fiber, such as psyllium.
To
prevent constipation, you should aim to consume a mix of soluble and insoluble
fibers. The total recommended fiber intake per day is 25 grams for women and 38
grams for men .
3. Exercise more
Exercise helps
constipation by lowering the time it takes food to move through the large
intestine. This limits the amount of water your body absorbs from the stool.
Hard, dry stools are harder to pass. Plus, aerobic exercise speeds up your
breathing and heart rate. This helps to stimulate the natural squeezing (or
contractions) of muscles in your intestines. Intestinal muscles that squeeze
better will help move stools out quickly. Simply getting up and moving can help
constipation. A regular walking plan -- even 10 to 15 minutes several times a
day -- can help the body and digestive system work at their best. If you are
already fit, you might choose aerobic exercise: running, jogging, swimming, or
swing dancing, for example. All of these exercises can help keep the digestive
tract healthy. Stretching may also help ease constipation, and yoga may, too.
4. Drink coffee,
especially caffeinated coffee
Drink Coffee Coffee lovers
can rejoice that the bitter-tasting substances in their cup of coffee can
actually stimulate the digestive tract and provide constipation relief. ... Decaffeinated coffee can help bowels, but it
won't do so at the same rate as caffeinated coffee. In fact, one study
found that caffeinated coffee can stimulate your gut in the same way that a
meal can. Coffee may also contain small amounts of soluble fibers that help
prevent constipation by improving the balance of your gut bacteria.
5. Don’t ignore the urge to poop
Overall, women get constipated more
often than men. That’s especially true during pregnancy, when hormonal changes
can easily disrupt your digestive system. Add the pressure a growing baby puts
on your plumbing, and it’s no surprise you have trouble going to the bathroom.
These problems are also common after childbirth. But the urge can sometimes come at the most inopportune moments.
Perhaps you’re in the middle of an important client meeting, on a hot date, or
in an airplane and have a fear of letting it out in the sky (totally reasonable
fear, by the way). So you do what any rational adult would do:
You
hold it in until you can go a little bit later. It can’t be that bad, can it? Simply, poop is a combination of waste material and
bacteria, as a result of your body’s digestive process. After you eat, it takes
your body a little less than 53 hours for it to do its thing and
push that sandwich from your mouth through your digestive tract and out the
other end (fun fact: the food spends roughly 40 of those hours just in your
large intestine, a.k.a. your colon). When the digested food finally reaches the
end, the rectal walls are stretched, and that sends a complex signal to the brain
that it’s “go-time.”
6. Include Prunes in Diet
Dried plums, known as
prunes, are widely used as a natural remedy for constipation.They contain high
amounts of fiber, with 2 grams of fiber per 1-ounce (28-gram) serving, or about
three prunes.
The insoluble fiber in
prunes, known as cellulose, increases the amount of water in the stool, which
adds bulk. Meanwhile, the soluble fiber in prunes is fermented in the colon to
produce short-chain fatty acids, which also increase stool weight .
In addition, prunes
contain sorbitol. This sugar alcohol is not absorbed well by the body, causing
water to be pulled into the colon and leading to a laxative effect in a small
number of people.
Finally, prunes also
contain phenolic compounds that stimulate beneficial gut bacteria. This has
been hypothesized to contribute to their laxative effect.You can enjoy prunes
on their own or in salads, cereals, oatmeal, baked goods, smoothies and savory
stews.
7. Relaxation
Techniques to Reduce Toilet Straining
What
type of relaxation technique could you use? One is visualization. Close your
eyes and visualize yourself in a calm and beautiful scene such as at the
beach, in a garden, or in a forest. Open up all of your senses to imagine what
you would be seeing, hearing, smelling, and touching.
Deep
breathing exercises are
another relaxation technique.
Muscle
relaxation exercises,
tensing and releasing groups of muscles from head to toe, are yet another
technique. You can alternate these three types of relaxation exercise or
choose just one or two.
For
best results, practice your relaxation techniques two to three times a day in a
quiet, comfortable place, and then use the techniques to help keep you relaxed
while you are sitting on the toilet. Remember that the best time to encourage a bowel movement is in the morning when intestinal
contractions are likely to be at their peak.
Enjoy
a fairly large breakfast, preferably with some fatty foods, to stimulate
the gastrocolic reflex. Then make time for a relaxing visit to
the toilet. Refrain from straining, and use your relaxation skills to help you
to stay calm. Try to visualize the muscles in your intestines contracting in a
calm rhythm to comfortably move the stool along.
To summarize that HOW YOU CAN RELIEVE YOURSELF FROM CONSTIPATION ?
- Drink two to four extra glasses of water a day,
unless your doctor told you to limit fluids for another reason.
- Try warm liquids, especially in the morning.
- Add fruits and vegetables to your diet.
- Eat prunes and bran cereal.
- Exercise most days of the week. When you move
your body, the muscles in your intestines are more active, too.
- If needed,
use a very mild over-the-counter stool softener or a laxative. Don’t use laxatives for
more than two weeks without calling your doctor. If you overdo it, your
symptoms may get worse.
- Adapt
relaxation techniques for reducing toilet straining.
- Don’t
ignore urge to poop.
I hope my this blog help u in relieving u from constipation.If any
friend or dear one of your is a sufferer of constipation then share the blog
with them.Thank you for reading J
If any query write on comment section.
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