Some of the Indirect Constipation Causes

Constipation causes – Apart from many direct causes like dehydrated body, low fiber diet and lack of physical exercises, there are a number of indirect causes that make you constipated. We will look into such most common causes of constipation.

• Bed rest constipation

When you are forced to have bed rest because of health problems, some cases of pregnancy, accident etc., your physical activity is practically zero. However, you are not going to reduce your food intake. Added to this, you are fed with low fiber foods like bread, chocolates, ice cream etc.. People think they are easily digestible high energy foods.

If you take non-veg foods for the sake of strength and energy, its worse, as all animal foods have zero fiber. Another negative aspect of non-veg foods is they take much longer time to digest.

During rest, most of the body muscles relax – including intestinal muscles. When muscles of small intestine become lazy, food moves slowly and takes more time to digest. When colon muscles relax, stool moves slowly.

The longer the stool stays inside the colon, more water gets absorbed from it and makes it sticky and hard. When colon contractions are weak, secretion of mucus that lines the colon walls is also less. All this 'cause and effect' make stool much harder, resulting in constipation.

If your physical condition forces you to take someone’s help for evacuation, things get even more difficult. If you get the urge when no help is around, the urge goes after some time. Even if you are one among those that feel embarrassed in such situations, the result is same. This is one of the frequent constipation causes.

People tend to take laxatives in such situations. Laxatives as temporary solution are ok. Long term usage makes you addicted and in due course, you need to increase the dose. Any external stimulating agent makes the colon muscles lazy and get accustomed to them.

Many are not aware that when your physical activity is less, your body needs less food. Especially if you are recovering from an accident, eat less. When the digestive system is resting, your body concentrates fully on repair and you recover from the injury much faster. Avoid low fiber food, particularly non veg.

The best thing for bed rest constipation is colon cleanse. Go for plain water colon cleansing enema. Sine no chemical are involved, no additional side effects.

• Banana constipation

You find conflicting views on this issue – do bananas relieve or cause constipation? My experience as well as majority of the views expressed in various articles, is banana is good for constipation. But, if your body is dehydrated (drinking less water in a day...Importance of drinking water ), you get constipated whether you eat bananas or any other food.

Ripe bananas are good source of fiber and are very good for bowel movement. They rarely fall among constipation causes. Fruits are the most easily digestible food. Cooked food takes much longer time to digest. Ideally, you should eat fruits separately. If you eat them along with cooked food, fermentation takes place, resulting in release of gas.

Don’t eat good quantity of fruits along with other foods. Very limited quantity of around 100gm is ok. If you like to eat in large quantity, let one of your meals consist of only fruits.

• Beer and constipation

One of the common constipation causes among beer drinkers. The alcohol content of beer causes constipation. Different beers contain varied amounts of alcohol, generally ranging from 4% to 6% by volume. You get beer with alcohol content as high as 15%. The sheer quantity of beer people drink contributes to high alcohol intake.

Alcohol is diuretic – causes excessive urination. When alcohol enters the blood, body takes away extra water from blood as well as from other parts of the body in the process of removing alcohol from blood. This makes the body dehydrated. Related to constipation, 4 things happen in a dehydrated body.

1.  Water content in the stool is less.
2.  Body absorbs more water from stool
3.  Stool movement gets difficult as colon walls produce less mucus.
4.  Water shortage causes improper colon contractions.

All this causes dry stool and constipation. Consumption of alcohol, even moderately, is not good. The problem with beer is the quantity. I haven’t seen people stopping at one or two mugs or cans.

• Calcium constipation

Calcium as part of food never causes constipation. But, as a supplement, if taken in large doses can be one of the constipation causes. The possible reason is, large doses of calcium supplement causes more compact and dry stool that takes more time for evacuation.

One way of avoiding constipation is by drinking a full glass of water with the supplement. Taking the supplement immediately before or after food is preferred. You need to drink sufficient quantity of water per day. Avoid taking large doses of calcium.

It is also claimed that supplements with calcium carbonate cause more problem compared to supplements with calcium citrate.

• Chocolate constipation

Chocolates do cause constipation, if consumed in large quantity. It is one of the common constipation causes in children. Chocolates contain almost zero fiber, good amount of fat, refined sugar and milk. Some chocolates have more milk than others. All these in large quantities cause constipation. If you are already constipated, it makes the
situation worse.

One of the major constipation causes in the modern times is junk food. Any foods containing liberal dose of chemicals in the form of preservatives, flavoring and coloring agents are bad for the digestive system. Chocolates are notorious in this aspect. People suffering from IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) get worse by eating chocolates.

A healthy person shouldn’t have any negative effects by chocolates, if eaten moderately. The problem with chocolates is – they are addictive. Many people turn to chocolates when stressed and practically live on them. They tend to have more frequent bouts of constipation.

What should you do if you are severely constipated?
 
1.  Stop eating chocolates.
2.  Clean your colon with colon cleansing enema.
3. Take preventive measures so that you won’t get constipated again