The stomach and the intestines need something to work with or they will stop functioning. Therefore, your food should contain whole meal and plant food. Eat at least 600 g. of fruits and vegetables a day. The fibre in food stimulates intestinal movement and binds some of the dangerous fats - thereby preventing cardiovascular diseases. The fibre also bind to the bile acids and help them to be excreted in the stools instead of being returned to the blood and later transformed into cholesterol in the liver.
The risk of cancer, overweight, and diabetes is also reduced with a diet rich in fibre, and fruit and vegetables contain a large amount of natural anti-oxidants. A breakfast rich in fibre, rye bread, wholemeal bread, all kinds of vegetables, or porridge is good food for the intestine.
Without water we become dry both internally and externally. In case of a liquid deficiency in the body we also stress our water depots in the large intestine, thus making the stools hard. A diet rich in fibre is therefore only healthy if you also drink a lot of water. The need for water is normally two litres a day but if you sweat you have to drink more. To make sure have bowel movements on a daily basis and to keep them normal it is a good idea to follow the old ayurvedic advice of drinking a large glass of warm water on an empty stomach. The water should be heated cold water; not warm tap water. Our food contains quite a lot of water but this should not be factored into the two litres of water that you should drink daily.
If you use your body a lot by working or exercising, your intestinal movements and digestion is strengthened. An old Arab medical advice is walking a thousand steps after every meal. If you lie down on the sofa immediately after eating your whole system stops, resulting in bloating. It is a good idea to make exercise pleasurable or you will never get started. Dance and team gymnastics are good forms of exercise, and a good walk a day can provide you with a lot of joy. A desk job, where you sit all day, might very well lead to constipation.
Make sure to go to the bathroom as soon as you feel the need to have a bowel movement. The body functions best with regular rhythms and most people get sick if they do not have daily bowel movements. Choose a time when it is quiet, preferably after a meal even though it was once believed that it was not proper behaviour to go to the bathroom after supper. Bring along some good literature or put up a shelf with books and magazines in the bathroom. Toilets used to be placed so that there was a full view of nature when sitting on them.
It is not a good idea for the intestine or the blood to press too much when having a bowel movement. Let the intestine do it by itself and when the reflex sets in, press gently to support the natural evacuation. You can use acupressure to stimulate your evacuation reflex. You can press on/massage a spot three fingerbreadths below your navel. Only press gently, but continue to do so for several minutes. It is recommended to lie on the bed under this self-treatment but it also works during the actual visit to the bathroom.
Fatty food does not help emptying the bowels. It is simply absorbed into the body and deposited there. Lotion application can help constipation if a dry lump is situated right inside the constrictor muscle making it difficult to get going. A miniature enema might do wonders.
If you use the normal constipation remedies, you whip the intestine and thereby often get an effect. Afterwards, however, the intestine is "tired" and cannot as easily work on its own. Then you have to take more of the constipation remedy and quickly become dependent on it. Therefore, it is best to avoid constipation remedies, teas, and prunes etc. If you need a little help, magnesium oxide is one of the best things as it pulls water into the stools and thereby eases the evacuation. Make sure to drink plenty of fluid, however. Other possibilities are fresh blueberries, apples, tamarind, and milk of magnesia.
Relevant herbs:
- Asafoetida; the oil regulates digestion and is used for intestinal gas, distention, bad digestion, and constipation.
- Coffee (Coffea arabica); 1 cup of coffee a day can kick-start weary digestion.
- Curled dock (Rumex crispus) is mildly laxative and should be tested first.
- Dandelion, root (Taraxum officinale) is mildly laxative.
- Fenugreek seeds cleanse the large intestine and support a normal intestinal function - beneficial together with flaxseed.
- Flaxseed cleanse the large intestine and support a normal intestinal function - good with fenugreek seeds.
- Fleawort seeds (Psyllium) cleanse the large intestine and support a normal intestinal function.
- Liquorice root is mildly laxative.
- Rhubarb (Rheum palmatum) is laxative in large doses (in the form of tablets).
- Senna (Cassia senna) is highly laxative and should only be taken if other remedies have not had an effect - can be taken together ginger, Zingiber officinale.
Enemas
With symptoms such as slow intestinal function, bloating, bad smelling faeces, candida fungus growth, and so on, an enema can be an effective way to empty the bowels completely and ease these symptoms. This can either be done yourself after thorough instruction or by a professional.
