Constipation

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Constipation

 

CONSTIPATION AND HOW TO GET RID OF IT

 

Constipation is one ailment that you need never have

again. It is certainly important to put the right

kind of food into your body, but it is also essential

to get wastes out. Naturopaths

frequently address illness, bowel first, and with good

reason. Scientific studies have shown increased

incidence of diverticular diseases, heart diseases,

and cancer among constipated persons. It is common

for arthritics to have a history of chronic

constipation. Probably at least one third of all

diabetics would require less insulin simply if they

had more fiber in their diet.

 

Throughout much of Africa and Asia, people eat a great

deal of vegetables, grains and legumes (beans,

lentils, etc.). These people have a digestive transit

time of 18 hours or less. This means that what's left

of the food they just ate will be excreted as a bowel

movement about 18 hours later. In Westernized

cultures, a transit time twice as long (36 hours) is

the rule, and 48 to 72 hours is not uncommon. This

means the wastes stay in the body much longer,

allowing greater opportunity for those toxins to be

reabsorbed.

 

Your colon (or bowel) is designed to collect and hold

wastes, but only for a while. If the colon is not

emptied regularly, it begins to resemble a backed-up

sewer. Fecal matter packed into the bowel can stretch

it out of shape, which reduces muscle tone, and poor

elimination is the result. Wastes then become more

and more compacted and concentrated, and harder still

to eliminate. Stools become foul smelling as normally

beneficial colon bacteria give way to a polluted,

pathogenic bowel.

 

Here are ways to end constipation.

 

1. Become a vegetarian. Less meat and more produce

guarantees easier bowel

movements.

 

2. Eat lots of fresh, uncooked fruits and vegetables.

Salads are the answer, not laxatives.

 

3. Drink a glass of water, preferably warm, right

after you awaken in the morning.

Store-variety herbal teas are good, too.

 

4. Make a habit of sitting on the toilet for five

minutes right after breakfast. Your body will soon

get in the habit of an early morning bowel movement.

 

5. Adding fiber to your diet is easily accomplished

by eating better snacks. Popcorn, vegetable sticks,

fruit, and nuts are excellent.

 

6. Molasses is a good natural laxative if you need

one. About one third cup will do it.

 

7. Freshly made raw cabbage juice is even better.

Juiced zucchini works equally well. One or two

8-ounce glasses will probably be enough.

 

8. A can of sauerkraut, juice and all, is a fine

laxative.

 

9. 4,000 to 6,000 milligrams of vitamin C taken AT

ONE TIME has a laxative effect.

Adding two teaspoons of calcium-magnesium gluconate

powder is even better.

 

10. You can encourage a bowel movement with a gentle

abdominal massage.

Generally, you follow the bowel. Begin in your lower

belly, below and to the right of your navel. Move

up, and then across. Then, move down your left

abdomen and finish just above the groin area. Repeat

this a few times, and in a while you will likely

notice an urge to have a bowel movement. This is

especially helpful for children. Do not massage if

there is a pregnancy or any medical or surgical reason

why you shouldn't.

 

11. Walking, yoga postures, bicycling and other

light-to-moderate exercise is always

helpful for regularity.

 

12. Stewed fruits (such as prunes) still work well

for many people. When I was a kid, my Mom invited a

friend over for lunch one day. I was sorry to see

that dessert consisted of stewed prunes. I did not

like stewed prunes. To my genuine amazement, my

friend not only ate his serving but mine as well. He

then proceeded to have additional helpings. After

lunch we went out to play, and my Mom counted pits.

There were about thirty pits on my friend's plate. My

mother dutifully telephoned his mother, and apologized

for inadvertently letting him eat so many prunes.

 

It all came out (the story, that is) about two days

later. It seems that the

neighbor's toilet was working overtime. That, of

course, is not surprising. What

IS a surprise is that we stayed good friends.

 

I do not seem to remember if he ever had lunch at our

house after that.

 

The moral? Perhaps thirty prunes at once is more

than you might want. Or need.

 

Now, who would buy an expensive car with a bad exhaust

system? Even a Rolls-Royce needs to get rid of wastes

properly, if you expect it to operate well.

 

So do you. Just take it easy with the prunes.

 

Copyright C 1999 and prior years Andrew W. Saul.

From the books QUACK DOCTOR and PAPERBACK CLINIC,

available from Dr. Andrew Saul, Number 8 Van Buren

Street, Holley, New York 14470.