Can Dieting Cause Constipation

Can Dieting Cause Constipation – Amy Myers, MD is an occupational therapist, trained and certified by the Institute of Occupational Medicine. Dr. Myers received his Doctor of Medicine (MD) at LSU Health Sciences Center and completed his Emergency Medicine residency at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Dr. Myers retired from his practice medicine clinic, Austin UltraHealth, where he served thousands of patients who had failed conventional medicine. She is a 2x New York Times bestselling author and the founder and CEO of health and lifestyle e-commerce brand, Amy Myers MD.

Can Dieting Cause Constipation

Have you gone “number two” today? Yesterday? The day before that? In traditional medicine, the basic requirement for regularity is three bowel movements per week. However, the best sign of a truly healthy stomach is pumping one to three times a day.

What Causes Constipation & How To Relieve It

Bowel movements are often the leading indicator of a well-functioning digestive system, yet approximately 12% to 19% of the North American population, approximately 63 million people, suffer from constipation, resulting in $235 million in medical costs annually.

Our elimination system is designed to remove toxins and waste from our bodies. When you don’t eliminate it regularly, these toxins sit in your gut, which can leak back into the bloodstream through a leaky gut. Waste in your gut sits idly by, breeding bacteria that can disrupt the balance of healthy flora in your gut and lead to inflammation.

Although the symptoms of constipation are easy to spot, their malfunction can be caused by many factors, including an underlying health condition, medications, or your diet and lifestyle. Let’s dive deeper into what causes constipation and what you can do to get relief naturally.

When you think of constipation, you probably describe it as the feeling of needing to go number two and not being able to empty your bowels. However, the medical definition of constipation is fewer than three bowel movements per week.

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Bowel movements are different for everyone. Some people have bowel movements several times a day while others may go once or twice a week.

As long as you stay consistent with whatever your bowel pattern is, there’s nothing to worry about. Even occasional constipation is very common and usually not serious.

Constipation becomes a problem if there are fewer than three bowel movements per week. Other symptoms of chronic constipation include constipation that interferes with a person’s personal or work life and when it is not relieved by dietary or lifestyle changes.

Women and people over the age of 65 are at a higher risk of experiencing chronic constipation. Pregnancy and lack of physical activity also increase the risk of chronic constipation.

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Poor diet and lack of exercise are common causes of temporary constipation. However, underlying health conditions such as autoimmune disease, hypothyroidism, small bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), Crohn’s disease, stomach cancer, and irritable bowel syndrome can cause chronic constipation.

I will go into more depth about the causes of constipation later. First, let’s go over the more specific symptoms of constipation.

As I said, the most common symptom of constipation is having fewer than three bowel movements a week. More specific symptoms of constipation include:

Traditional medicine will treat the symptoms of constipation. As a functional medicine doctor, I can get to the root cause of your constipation so you can take the necessary steps to get rid of it.

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Now that you understand what constipation is and what the symptoms are, let’s talk about seven common causes of constipation.

Just like your home’s sewage system, our indoor flushing system needs adequate water to function properly. This is one of the most common causes of constipation and the easiest to avoid. If you don’t drink enough water, drinking coffee, soda, and alcohol can cause dehydration. Hydrating your digestive system is a simple and inexpensive step to support normality.

The alimentary canal does not digest itself. Instead, dietary fiber travels normally through the stomach and intestines, allowing more water to be added to the stool and helping to move waste through your system.

Eating high-fiber foods such as prunes, beans, and flax seeds can support a healthy gut process. However, these foods are difficult to digest and/or high in sugar which can make conditions like SIBO worse. Leafy green vegetables, cauliflower, and zucchini are high-fiber foods that can support a healthy digestive process.

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Your digestive system is home to a jungle of good bacteria that help break down and absorb food and then eliminate waste. Many factors such as taking antibiotics or oral contraceptives, stress or inflammation can disrupt the natural gut flora leading to yeast overgrowth, SIBO and leaky gut, all of which cause constipation.

Hypothyroidism, an underactive thyroid, slows down many body systems, including elimination. To eliminate waste from your body, your intestines must contract, and slow or weak muscle contractions can be signs of hypothyroidism. It’s estimated that 27 million Americans have an underactive thyroid, and most have no idea what they do.

Constipation can be a common symptom of a common digestive disorder associated with food sensitivities as the body struggles to stop and eliminate nutrients at the root of inflammation. Although food sensitivities can be triggered by many foods, gluten and dairy are the most common culprits.

Autoimmune diseases arise when your body works hard to protect itself from something dangerous, such as an allergen, poison, infection or even a food, and fails to distinguish between an intruder and a foreign body. your own body This leads your immune system to attack your own organs. Autoimmune diseases can affect many systems in your body; These include neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease, thyroid diseases such as Hashimoto’s and systemic conditions such as lupus. All of these diseases can cause constipation because they attack your intestinal tissue and stop the intestines from moving food properly through the digestive system.

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A more serious cause of constipation can be an obstruction in the small or large intestine that prevents stool from passing through. Common causes of intestinal obstruction are scars or adhesions due to abdominal surgery, hernias, tumors, Crohn’s disease (which can narrow or twist the intestine), and even cancer.

Of course, there are many other factors that can cause constipation, such as not getting enough exercise, excessive stress, or taking dangerous over-the-counter pain medications. It is best to take a thorough look at your health and what factors may be contributing to your constipation. By understanding what causes constipation, you can better treat it.

As mentioned earlier, the easiest way to get rid of constipation is to drink lots of water. You use water in all of your body’s processes. In fact, this water makes up 60% of your body. That’s why it’s important to drink enough water to keep all of your systems, including your intestines, working optimally. There are many ways you can support your digestive system and get natural relief from constipation.

As the saying goes, keep your pipes flush by drinking water. Tap water and bottled water contain toxins and are full of harmful chemicals. When it comes to hydration, clean, pure water is the best option. Recent studies have shown that ideal water intake is 15.5 cups for men and 11.5 cups for women per day. It can be more or less depending on the weather and how much you exercise.

Tips To Prevent Chronic Constipation

Dietary fiber absorbs water and can support soft stools to reduce the causes of constipation. Eating foods rich in dietary fiber is the foundation of regularity. Good sources of fiber are avocados, strawberries, raspberries, carrots, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and leafy greens.

Men are recommended to consume 30-38 grams of dietary fiber per day and women 21-25 grams per day.

When reaching for fiber-rich foods, avoid foods that lead to inflammation, especially gluten, dairy, corn, soy, and sugar. Food sensitivities and inflammation triggers are unique to each person, so I recommend doing an elimination diet to identify food sensitivities.

While treating the underlying causes of your constipation, you can immediately help your symptoms with magnesium citrate supplements, which play an important role in digestion and aid in bowel movements by attracting water to the intestines.

Foods That Can Cause Constipation And How To Prevent It

In my clinic, I recommend magnesium citrate to my patients after treating all the above causes for constipation. Magnesium citrate is the perfect form of magnesium to support healthy bowel movements.

You don’t need to accept constipation as a normal part of your life. If you continue to struggle with constipation, examine your diet, your environment and your activity level to uncover the root cause of your constipation and discover the right solution to fix it!

Best-selling author and internationally acclaimed occupational therapist. Dr. Myers specializes in enabling people with autoimmune, thyroid and digestive issues to reverse their conditions and restore their health. In addition, she is a successful wife, mother, and founder and CEO of Amy Myers MD®.

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