Bowel Movements

HOW MANY BOWEL MOVEMENTS ARE YOU HAVING A DAY?

Ideally you should be having 2 to 3 bowel movements a day. Yes 2 to 3 bowel movements a day.
Your first bowel movement should be within 30 minutes of waking and before your first cup of coffee. (Coffee stimulates the emergency exit mechanism of the colon - this should be avoided). This means that your bowels are functionally optimally. 
Your stool per day should be the length from your wrist to your elbow. The stool should not sink but it should not float either. It should not be think and hard. 
Transit time should be between 18-24 hours. If it is much faster then this you may not be absorbing the nutrients in the food you are eating as they are passing through your digestive system too quickly. If your transit time is longer than 24 hours, it can lead to hardening of the stool which will be harder to pass, there can be an increase in the toxins being produced by microbes. Which could increase your risk of bowel cancer. 

CAUSES OF CONSTIPATION

  1. A diet low in fibre, usually a diet that is high in junk food is low in fibre.
  2. Eating a diet high in refined foods, as these foods are low in fibre.
  3. Stress, can shut down your digestive system, leaving you constipated.
  4. An imbalance in your gut flora - known as dysbiosis.
  5. Hypothyroid conditions.
  6. Low HCL (stomach acid) which can hamper digestion and absorption of nutrients. 
  7. Dehydration - lack of fluids to bulk the stool and allow easy passage of waste.
  8. Irritable bowel syndrome can hamper bowel movements.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF CONSTIPATION:

  1. One or less bowel movements a day.
  2. Bloating.
  3. Abdominal pain.
  4. Stool is small in size.
  5. Stool is hard and not continuous - breaks into pieces.
  6. Stool is difficult to pass.
  7. Decreased appetite with prolonged absence of bowel movements.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONSTIPATION:

FOOD:

Avoid or severely restrict your intake of junk food - processed, refined foods and fried food, theses void of nutrients and contain no fibre, they can place pressure on your liver as they do not provide nutrients that support the body and contain toxins or rancid fats that the liver and body need to work on removing from the body. 

FOODS TO AVOID:

  1. Simple white carbohydrates
  2. Alcohol
  3. Stimulants - coffee, tea, energy drinks and fizzy drinks.
  4. Sugar
  5. Artificial sweeteners 
  6. Trans-fats

FOODS TO EAT:

  1. 6-8 cups of water - all dependent on the colour of your urine - refer to hydration.
  2. Help with digestion and consume lemon or apple cider vinegar in water before meals.
  3. Eat protein with each meal - refer to protein goal.
  4. Increase your fibre intake to 25-40g daily - refer to fibre goal. Oats, apples, brown rice, banana, prunes, figs, papaya, berries, sauerkraut, ground seeds (avoid if you have diverticulosis) dark leafy greens, beans etc.
  5. Eat your greens.  Green  foods contain chlorophyll which promotes peristalsis (movement of food known as chyme through your gut).

SUPPLEMENTS:

  1. Essential Fatty Acids: omega 3 to help lubricate the bowels.
  2. Probiotics - to populate the gut.
  3. To aid peristalsis your gut needs calcium and magnesium to aid in the contraction/relaxation of the gut, helping the chyme move through the intestines. 
  4. B complex - a deficiency is B9 folate has been linked to constipation.

LIFESTYLE HABITS:

  1. Move your body to get your bowels moving. 
  2. Reduce stress - stress is a state of mind that has the power to shut down your digestive system - Refer to stress.
  3. Use a toilet stool (squattie pottie) it helps to improve the angle of your colon making it easier the poop….
  4. Consider a detoxification cleanse, this will help to turn your digestive work towards elimination.