The Truth: About Constipation

Constipation is probably the least understood condition of the body and the most common problem faced today.

The reason I say it is least understood is because while talking with clients about bowel movements and the importance of regular bowel movements, we are on the same page, until I take the plunge and clarify the issue of frequency.

Most people believe that if they pass a bowel movement once every morning they have a healthy digestive system.

Once a day is certainly not the type of regularity naturopathy believes in. The truth is, that going just once is actually a constipated body.

A healthy body must excrete 2 to 3 times a day.

Before you panic on the amount of time you will then have to spend in the bathroom, please understand that a healthy body does not take 15 or 20 minutes to pass a bowel movement. In fact it will take you a total of 20 minutes but spread over 2 to 3 times. So the amount of time spent in the bathroom is the same.

Over and above that it is also important to know that it is very unhealthy to put pressure or sit on the pot for long periods of time reading or playing on your android, because even if you’re not pushing all the time, the position you’re sitting in with your cheeks apart still allows more pressure on the rectal veins causing haemorrhoids.

The problem with bowel habits is that we tend to acquire the bowel habits of our family based on sharing a similar lifestyle and diet. These then form our only real comparison for assessing our own habits.

Talking about habits, how many of you hold the urge to pass bowel movement if out of the house?

You need to realize that by doing that, you have spared your mind of dealing with an unclean toilet, but you haven’t spared your body. What you don’t eliminate hangs around in your bowels and putrefies, creating poisonous gasses, parasites, and destroying your delicate intestinal tissues. An unhealthy colon also leeches out poisons into your blood. This poisonous blood is a tax on your immune system as well as your liver, and when the poisons are collected and sent for excretion, they end up back in your colon, where you reabsorb them.

Bernard Jenson, widely regarded as a leader in the field of Naturopathy, once wrote that “when the bowel is under-active, toxic wastes are more likely to be absorbed through the bowel wall and into the blood stream. The blood then circulates these toxins to every part of the body and deposits some of them in tissues, with the greatest amount retained in the constitutionally weakest tissues.”

It is important you have your facts right on what is more important, an unhygienic toilet or an unhygienic colon. To understand how germs function and how they exist everywhere from public toilets to your own bed, read my article on The Truth: About Germs.

Just like everything else in life where we are taught, that to improve and evolve, you have to work inside out, whether it is mental or spiritual. Likewise in the body, you have to start with keeping your insides clean to have better outwardly health.

A constipated body leads to bad breath, skin eruptions, dark circles and digestive diseases to name a few. It is becoming more and more important in today’s day and age to monitor what we put in, because a lot of it is like eating shit to start with anyways, let alone holding that in for long periods of time.

Common foods that cause constipation:

Meat, fried, oily and junk foods, bread, cakes, pasta, pizzas, burgers, cookies, fats, excessive salt, White flour (maida), biscuits, preserves and white sugar.

The cure for constipation is very simple:

  • Eat lots of FIBRE and drink plenty of WATER.
  • EXERCISE is essential in the treatment of constipation.
  • PEAR is regarded as one of the best laxative fruits.
  • Drinking lukewarm water with lime juice is also a highly effective remedy for constipation.

let it all out, it’s the only way to be  😉


Written by Sejal Vora

For more information on how Naturotherapy can help you, click here.

The Truth: About Colon Cleansing

Colon cleansing is just another “quick-fix”, and unfortunately it’s under the banner of “natural cures” which makes it more appealing to people. It is in NO way natural and good for health.

If selling colon cleansing to cleanse the colon is not enough, today it is also marketed as a weight loss tool.

A colon cleanse claims to cause a “mass of gunk” to come out of you, but the gunk only comes out of the people who take the product, because the gunk is created by the product!

“Colon Cleansing Kits” claim to “remove old accumulated waste” called “mucoid plaque” that is passed from the human body in the form of long, rubbery bowel movements. The rubber like substance that is produced is NOT what was inside of you, but is a direct result of the substance that you took in the colon cleanse product , this “mucoid plaque” is simply the result of ingested powdered psyllium and Bentonite clay, bonding with the natural mucous lining of the intestinal walls. Most of the colon cleanse products today contain Psyillium (metucil) and Methyl cellulose, both are considered to be bulk-producing agents.

What exactly is a bulk producing agent?

Bulk-producing agents cause the stool to be bulkier and to retain more water, as well as forming an emollient gel. These are the two ingredients that make your stools look sludgy and rubbery.

There is a constant danger with bulk producing agents that when they do not have enough water, they can actually worsen constipation and be the cause of  blockage.

As for weight loss “Cleansing” is often used as an intro to a diet program. Claims can include detoxification, internal cleansing and increased weight loss. The truth is that what is generally achieved is a large drop in body weight, much of it is water weight, glycogen or lean tissue, and if that does anything positive, it’s the psychological boost the dieter gets when they see a 2 to 5 kg drop on the scale in the first week or even a few days. This kind of psychological boost could be considered a potential benefit, because some people give up easily with slow progress and are highly motivated with a fast start. But anyone who really understands body composition (lean body mass versus fat mass versus body water) and who has a long-term perspective will not be all that excited about fast weight loss.

The fact is, our bodies are very well designed, whether by an omnipotent Creator or by millennia of evolution, and the colon does it’s job pretty efficiently on its own.

The best way to keep your colon clean is to follow a regular balanced diet with enough of fiber in it. The fiber in your food acts as roughage and helps you in having regular bowel movements. An adult would require 25-30 grams of fiber per day.

Rather than pursue “colon cleansing” schemes, I’d recommend you call it maintaining “healthy digestive processes.”

How is your regular daily fiber intake? Are you getting 25-35 grams of fiber a day, every day, consistently? If not, then why look for “magic in a bottle”, why not just eat better?

Written by Sejal Vora

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