open, most people wake up dehydrated. The most advantageous time to drink 16+ oz of water is between 5am and 7am when the large intestine is most active to remove waste from the body. This is also the worst time to drink caffeine since caffeine is a diuretic and can take water away from the body.
Eliminate Flour & Sugar & Dairy. Flour products have become a staple of the Standard American diet. However, with the rapid rise in wheat and gluten intolerance, many people experience un- comfortable side effects such as chronic constipation, mood swings, severe inflam- mation, fatigue, brain fog, painful gas and even advanced aging in the skin. Eliminat- ing gluten and wheat (brown or white in color) means eliminating 100% from your diet. After thirty days, you may notice an improvement in your wellness including reduced gas and softer stool which can improve your ease of eliminating waste from the bowels. For adventurous foodies, bean based food products like chickpea or white bean may be a creative “flour” solution to ex- plore as a substitute in a recipe. However, keep consumption of meals made with this substitute to a weekly bare minimum as not to slow down your digestive tract. Sugar is everywhere even in natural foods. Excess sugar, whether it is in the form of too many fruits added into your morning protein shake or a slice of homemade apple pie a la mode, can prohibit the body from utilizing an essential mineral, mag- nesium. Magnesium plays a central role in nearly 300 cellular biochemical functions including: maintain-ing a healthy immune system, muscle contraction, regulating heart rhythms, detoxification and even regulating blood pressure. For many people, a magnesium deficiency causes noticeable symptoms including: poor di- gestion, chronic constipation, fatigue, anxiety, nausea, poor memory, and even dizziness. Some people find it beneficial to add a magnesium supplement back into their diet to help improve bowel motility. If you choose to do so, please remember to keep each meal super low in sugar by eating mostly low sugar, high fiber vegetables and reducing fruit consumption to a few times a week at maximum as well as eliminating sugared drinks, sugar filled processed foods, sugar substitutes (even natural ones) and alcohol as all reduce the effectiveness
of magnesium. A diet high in cheese, milk and other
low fiber dairy foods can also slow down your digestive tract. If you observe that dairy triggers constipation in your body, there are a few creative substitutions that you may want to explore such as using unsweetened almond milk or low sugar coconut water in the place of milk. How- ever, if you have an allergy to nuts, seed based products may be a viable option.
Exercise: Motility is essential to a healthy diges-
tive system and regular bowel move- ments. Exercise can stimulate the natural contraction of the intestinal muscles and decrease the time it takes for food to move through the intestinal tract. So simply go for a walk, take a qigong class, or have fun dancing around your kitchen even as short as twenty minutes ~ it will make a differ- ence. Stretching and yoga can also allevi- ate constipation by increasing motility; just make sure you wait at least one hour after eating before performing any exercise. When you eat, blood flow increases to the stomach and intestines to assist the body in digesting food. If you exercise right after eating, blood flows toward the heart in- stead of the muscles. By diverting the flow
away from the muscles, the intestinal con- tractions become weaker and waste moves more slowly, which can lead to excess gas, constipation and bloating.
Medication Side Effects: Many prescribed and over the counter medications have a drying effect on the stomach and intestinal tract and contribute to constipation. Some medications in- crease the absorption of water and electro- lytes making the stool harder and can even reduce the sensitivity to the presence of stool in the bowels.
Stress: The most underrated but most com-
mon cause of constipation is stress in due to the demands of our daily life. Stress af- fects the body in many different ways in- cluding activating the sympathetic nervous system otherwise known as fight or flight. When you are under constant stress and functioning under the “fight or flight” mode whether the cause be fear, anger, trauma, anxiety or uncertainty, the sympathetic nervous system tells the body to slow down the movement of the bowels. However, when you are relaxed and joyful, the body taps into the parasympathetic nervous system and shifts into the “rest and digest”
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