Relieve Constipation
Foods and lifestyle habits can easily turn into ways to relieve constipation. The truth is that most people who suffer from constipation just need to fix a couple of things in their lifestyle and diet in order to get rid of the abdominal discomfort. Here are non-medical causes for constipation:
- insufficient physical activity;
- a diet rich in refined carbohydrates;
- alcohol and drug abuse;
- smoking;
- improper hydration.
Self-treating to relieve constipation
Each of the above mentioned problems have to be dealt with one by one and solved in order for the body to work within optimal parameters. The system cannot handle dietary and internal pollution well when the conditions are unfavorable.
For immediate constipation relief you need to drink lots of water and cut down on fizzy drinks and soda. A spoonful of honey with a glass of water works wonders.
Add prunes to your diet and other fresh vegetables and fruits that have a high fiber content. Wholegrain cereals also help on the one condition that you drink lots of liquid with them. Without enough water, fiber aggravates constipation.
Do not use laxatives, whether herbal or oral supplements, until you’ve tried dietary measures to eliminate the discomfort caused by constipation.
Warm chamomile tea has the great ability to relieve constipation. It can be associated with a bit of castor oil, which is a natural laxative.
Long-term lifestyle improvement
Constipation has the tendency to return in the absence of the right measures. You can’t expect to solve the pressing problem at hand and keep it away for good, without making improvements to your life.
Physical activity is a condition for healthy bowel movement, fitness and optimal functionality of the entire system. Make sure you engage in a form of exercising that you enjoy. If aerobics or jogging are not a good match for you, dance classes, zumba lessons or just swimming will do fine.
Develop healthy eating habits! It’s not enough to know that too many sweets cause constipation, you have to act on this knowledge. There are only very few cases when major dietary changes happen overnight. It usually takes a while to self-educate and learn the principles of a healthy diet.
In case constipation is associated with overweight, you’d benefit most from joining a complex weight loss program that can help you balance diet, take up the right physical activity and reach an optimal health condition.
Relieve constipation with drugs
Laxatives have both advantages and downsides. They are available as herbal teas, supplements, syrups or pills. Some contain pharmaceutical compounds while others have only natural ingredients. In case you decide for laxatives, you should talk to the doctor and have the right kind of remedy prescribed to you.
It takes between 6 and 24 hours for laxatives to really help you eliminate the stool. The main problem here is that drugs and supplements only treat the symptoms without having any impact on the real cause of the problem. They just relieve constipation without eliminating it for good.