Healthy bowel activity is considered to be one or two movements of moderate size every day. Fewer bowel movements, e.g. every other day or once or twice a week is simply not enough for optimum health.

Why does it matter how ‘regular’ you are? Because if body wastes don’t move through the bowel quickly enough, toxins can get absorbed back into the body through the mucous membranes causing a range of adverse health effects.

It’s incredibly important to keep that waste moving. Part of the problem is the ‘modern’ diet, full of processed foods, alcohol, coffee etc. as it causes the digestive tract to produce mucus layers to protect itself from the toxins in these foods and these layers build up and prevent the body from absorbing nutrients from what we eat.

Also, these processed, low-fibre foods rot away in our gut – putrefying, fermenting and leading to bacterial growth and this can lead to unbalanced gut flora. Common signs of this happening include headache, backache, bad breath, body odour, skin problems, irritability, abdominal gas and bloating. This build up of wastes in the digestive tract can be severe; the bowel can become impacted with a huge amount of accumulated material, like an old sewage pipe, until the opening is no bigger than a pencil! Of course, if you want to beat constipation for good and be truly healthy the best solution is to make long term positive changes to your diet and lifestyle.

A Simple Tip to Alleviate Constipation

Put a tablespoon of organic flaxseeds in a large glass of water and drink it. It’s best to do this in the morning. You will need to drink at least 2 litres of pure water or organic herbal teas or juices during the day. The seeds expand and if you don’t take enough liquid, you’ll make the problem worse, not better. The seeds are ‘slippery’ and help move waste out of the colon.

For the best effect, combine this with a simple abdominal massage you can do yourself: Pour a little oil (preferably olive oil or castor oil, you’ll need about 2 teaspoons in all) a bit at a time on to the palms of your hands. Start your (gentle) massage on the lower right side of abdomen then massage up towards rib cage, across the top of your abdomen and then down to the lower left of your abdomen and across the bottom of your abdomen back to the lower right side (a clockwise motion). Spend a little extra time at the lower right as this is where the small and large intestine meet and where lots of people have spasms and gas. Breathe deeply and continue this massage for 5-10 minutes at least.

Want to learn more? Enroll on the Digestive Disorders Course today!

Articles on this website are based upon the opinions of their respective author(s). None of the information on this website is intended as medical advice nor replaces the advice of a qualified health care professional.