12 Tricks To Beat Constipation

My tips to achieving healthy bowel movements are:

1. Hydrate well – 2Lt p/day (H2O, herbal tea)
2. Avoid processed foods
3. Avoid alcohol
4. Decrease reliance on laxative medication
5. Avoid food allergens & sensitivities
6. Play around with fibre quantities that work for you
7. Don’t hold it in
8. Massage your belly / intestines
9. Use magnesium supplementation
10. A crucial element of my day is to drink the 200 – 300ml freshly pressed juice my wife makes daily.  It consists of:
    • • Juicing
      • 1 x Apple
      • 4 x Spinach leaves
      • 1 x Radish
      • ¼ Beetroot (small)
      • 1 x Celery Stick
      • 2 x Carrots,
        and you can also add:
      • Turmeric & pinch of ground pepper
      • Peppermint leaves
      • Ginger
      • Ground flax seed
      • Chia seeds / Psyllium Husk Fibre
11. Use a box or stool under your feet to squat or sit at 35° to help open the colon for better elimination, opposed to the normal 90° seated position where the colon path is blocked.
12. Assist your body by moving.
    Movement in general is important for stimulating the bowels to help move the food bolus, gas and ultimately, waste, through your system. A common cause of constipation, gas and other tummy troubles has to do with our fast-paced and often unhealthy lifestyle. Poor eating choices, stress and busy schedules can manifest in your digestive system as hard and infrequent bowel movement or in more rare cases – very loose stools.While we don’t have to face hungry animals like our ancestors had to, our “fight-or-flight response”, a physiological reaction where the sympathetic nervous system prepares us to fight or flee quickly,  is stimulated by all the stressful modern-day situations. This stimulus caused by chronic stress sets off hormone secretions, which affect our body and decreases the peristalsis, or movement of the bowels, slowing your metabolism.If you imagine your gut were a road, the path needs to be clear so that vehicles can move along easily but eventually when everything works too slowly, the vehicles start to pile up until nothing can move at all.If  your belly feels strained, bloated, full and distended there are very simple exercises that can relieve your discomfort. Twisting motions, inversions and forward folds promote elimination, relieving tension and supporting detoxification.

    Many yoga poses increasing blood flow, massaging the digestive tract and pushing things along through the system so that your body can form healthy bowel movements and prevent constipation. It is also beneficial for stress reduction, which is important in treating many gastro-intestinal disorders, particularly Irritable Bowel Syndrome, where the mind-body balance is of central importance. Yoga is a non-religious science and its overall effects, linked with deep breathing, are very beneficial.

    You can exercise in a subtle level without over exertion on the body and no fancy equipment is required.

    It is a natural way to help get things moving. On a technical level yoga relieves constipation in different ways:

    Give these yoga poses for constipation a try for a few minutes at the beginning or end of the day and your digestive system will be moving again. The rule of thumb is if it is painful, don’t do it. A little discomfort is okay, if it is not painful. If you struggle with twists, consider sticking to supine twisting, on your back or seated twists. For contra-indications please visit http://www.loveteachingyoga.com/yoga-contraindications/