Constipation: the Fast, Easy Answer to Something No One Talks About > NetSparsh

Home
>
Alternative Medicine
>
Constipation: the Fast, Easy Answer to Something No One Talks About

Constipation: the Fast, Easy Answer to Something No One Talks About

Everyone jokes about constipation, but it's no joke if you're the one suffering from it. And "suffering" is the right word for it! It's a miserable feeling. You may feel bloated, sluggish, and often you'll have a low-grade headache. But perhaps we can make that feeling no more than a memory.

Constipation is, simply put, an inability to move your bowels. The body is designed so that waste products will move quickly through the system, and out of the body. Although several things can be the cause of it, the root cause is a lack of moisture in your digestive system, and water is the primary cure for that.

The best way to deal with constipation is to prevent it. And a regular system of getting water into your body is the best way to practice prevention.

Most conventional medical advice is that there is no "normal" routine for the human body to have bowel movements. Some will tell you with a straight face that "for some people" it's normal to have a bowel movement every 3 or 4 days.

And while I agree that our systems will vary widely in their "normality" it is not normal to go for days without a bowel movement. Your body is taking in food several times a day. It just makes sense that your body will also need to get rid of waste products at least once a day.

There's no need to become greatly concerned if you go a day without a bowel movement. But if skipping days becomes a routine, you might want to step up your prevention program -- especially if you start feeling lousy.

Prevention starts off in the morning. During the night, your body has been fasting -- on an involuntary basis! Unless you are in the habit of eating a midnight snack, your body will often have gone without food for 7 or 8 or more hours.

During that time, your digestive system has been resting -- like the rest of your body. And you should give it the chance to rest! If you've ever eaten a large meal, and then quickly gone to bed, you know it's not a recipe for a good night's sleep. Most people sleep poorly and restlessly after a large meal, because the digestive system's having to do a lot of work. And digestion is hard work.

When you awaken in the morning, immediately drink 2 to 3 glasses of lukewarm tap water. This is not the time to have ice water. You don't want to slow your body down, and that's what cold does. If you don't like the taste of your tap water first thing in the morning, you might try adding something to perk it up -- a twist of lemon is a good water pick-me-up.

After drinking your water, do not sit down. Remain standing. This is the time to read the newspaper, empty the dishwasher, or whatever. Just remain in an upright, standing position. You see, chairs are not the optimal position for the human body. All of your digestive organs get scrunched together. Until a few hundred years ago, chairs were not common, and people traditionally stood or squatted in most situations. Now, I don't think I'm going to get you to give up your chairs, but at least for the first 30 minutes of so of the day, pretend you don't have a chair, and give your body a chance to work without being scrunched up.

After 15 minutes, drink another 2 or 3 glasses of water. Your body will be working to get the digestive system kicking back in. A side benefit is that you will find yourself waking up much faster than you have in the past. Part of the grogginess most of us feel is simply a side-effect of dehydration.

For most people, your bowels will move after the second couple of glasses of water. If they haven't, don't worry about it ... it will happen later in the day as you continue drinking water. Remember, aim for drinking 20 glasses of water every day. As you get into that regular habit, you will find that constipation will take care of itself.

Jim Huffman, RN specializes in natural and alternative healing therapies. His first book is 'Dare to Be Free: How to Get Control of Your Time, Your Life, and Your Nursing Career,' and is aimed at helping other nurses find satisfying, dynamic careers. His website is http://www.NetworkForNurses.com and his health blog is at http://www.shababa.blogspot.com

In The News:

This RSS feed URL is deprecated, please update. New URLs can be found in the footers at https://news.google.com/news

Mashable
Kobo Forma review: A great, but pricey Kindle alternative
Mashable
Huge 8-inch screen • Extremely lightweight at 197 grams • Waterproof up to 60 mins in 2 meters of water • Backlight changes from blue to yellow during evening. The Bad. Expensive for an e-reader • Will not fit in your jeans pockets • Ultra-thin screen ...

and more »

BBC News
Alternative Miss World contest - the night where bizarre is beautiful
BBC News
It's outing number 14 this weekend for Andrew Logan's unclassifiable extravaganza the Alternative Miss World contest. The first event in 1972 was at his flat in London. This weekend it returns to the stage at Shakespeare's Globe theatre. The contest is ...

ModernHealthcare.com
Week Ahead: AMA, RAND gauge physicians' interest in alternative pay models
ModernHealthcare.com
Oct. 24: So, how do doctors really feel about alternative payment models? We'll find out when the American Medical Association and RAND Corp. release findings from a new study. Initial research conducted in 2014 found that docs were participating in ...

Institutional Investor
Report: Alternative Investment Industry Will Hit $14 Trillion By 2023
Institutional Investor
The alternative investment industry is expected to grow by 59 percent by 2023, reaching $14 trillion in assets in five years' time, according to new research from alternative investment industry data provider Preqin. The industry managed $8.8 trillion ...

BBC News
Hi-tech glasses offer alternative to bifocals
BBC News
Prescription lenses that can change focus from far to near and back again have been developed in Japan by TouchFocus. When a sensor on the frame is activated the liquid crystals set into the lower half of the glasses change positions, altering the ...

and more »

New York Times
NBA G League to Offer Prospects $125000 as Alternative to 'One and Done'
New York Times
Elite 18-year-old basketball players will soon have another alternative to playing a “one and done” year at college. The N.B.A. announced Thursday that, beginning next year, select players would be able to earn $125,000 to play in its development ...
Penny Hardaway, JB Bickerstaff weigh in on NBA G League one-and-done alternativeThe Commercial Appeal
Woj Doubts G League Alternative, Says Players 'Get Paid' in NCAA TooBleacher Report
NBA G League Offering $125K Alternative to One-and-Done College CareersComplex
ABC News -WMC -CBSSports.com -ESPN
all 311 news articles »

Chicago Tribune
Faith or fallacy? Alternative treatments failed my mother
Chicago Tribune
She had for years believed strongly in naturopathy, so after a six-month period of remission, when her cancer returned after a round of integrating complementary medicine with chemotherapy, she chose to treat her cancer solely with alternative treatments.

Western Line needs new plan for alternative-school students
WRAL.com
A district in the Mississippi Delta will have to come up with a new plan for where it teaches alternative-school students. The Delta Democrat-Times reports that the Western Line School District is not complying with an accreditation standard that ...

InvestmentNews
Market volatility brings alternative investments back into focus
InvestmentNews
"It's definitely difficult to raise assets in alternative strategies, even 10 years into a bull market, but volatility helps get people thinking about alternatives," said Dick Pfister, founder and president of AlphaCore Capital, which has grown to $350 ...

Alternative healing center set to open in the spring
The Keene Sentinel
The Russells, who live in Surry, plan to open Community Healing Arts, a center for a range of alternative health practitioners. While the building needs renovations such as new flooring and paint, Russell said the structure is perfect — the space has ...

Google News

Constipation: the Fast, Easy Answer to Something No One Talks About

Alternative Medicine Alternative Medicine