Constipation - How to Keep Things Moving, Naturally

Constipation is not something many people want to talk about, but the fact is most of us will be affected by it at some stage.

As we get older constipation becomes more of an issue for many of us, and it’s something that affects women more than men.

While it’s not really a polite conversation starter it is certainly worth knowing more about what causes it, and even more importantly how to tackle it.

Things such as the medications we take, foods we eat, the amount of exercise we get, the reduction in our muscle tone and the amount of fluids we get each day all have their part to play in causing constipation.

Exercise, just getting up and moving around a little each hour, can certainly help to get things moving down there. It is about keeping all your muscles working, internal as well as external, that will help keep your bowels going regularly.

Some of the medications that we have to take as we get older can also have a part to play in causing constipation. Some pain medicines, heart medicines and even sinus prescriptions can lead to an in increased difficulty in keeping regular. Whilst we can’t do much about this, we can alter our diet to overcome this.

Fibre is your best friend here along with lots of fruit and vegetables. Here in New Zealand we’re really lucky that we have fantastic access to one of natures best little fibre packed fruits in our kiwifruit, they work a treat – and taste good too. Increasing your intake of apricots and/or their juice, bananas, figs (best soaked overnight in water), lemon juice, prunes and/or their juice, watermelon, avocado, beetroot juice, carrots and rhubarb will all prove very useful too.

Taking some bran, linseed or psyllium husks each day will help to keep you going.

It is very important that we really watch that we have enough to drink each day as that will provide the lubrication that the bowels require to work properly.

There are also some natural ways of helping your bowels to stay in shape. Taking a daily probiotic can help to reduce constipation as can taking a gentle laxative tea – green tea is very good as are teas containing ginger, liquorice, dandelion, yellow dock and burdock.

Diet and exercise can play a major role in helping to keep you regular, however, we can sometimes find that we need a little extra help. Docs Orders have got a great range of products that can help.

Have a look online here, or give them a call on 0508 362 767.

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