Constipation medication is often sold over the counter and is one of those drugs that are easy to get your hands on, but did you know that these medications can harm you?

Constipation medications, also called laxatives, work to force the body to expel waste. Different drugs are designed to work in different ways; some make the waste softer by taking water from other parts of your body and dumping it in the colon; others will expand the waste, so that it’s so much that the body is forced to expel it. Some will even relax the necessary muscles for a while so that you can pass stool.

You will get the relief that you’re after for your constipation, but you are also harming your body each time you take constipation medications. Let’s have a look at some of the dangers of taking laxatives:

1. The first and foremost danger is that you could mask another illness by using laxatives. If you are constantly constipated, you need to find out why so that you can address the problem and not the symptoms. You may have another health problem that’s causing you constipation. Taking laxatives will give you relief, so you will likely not be keen to know what the root cause of your constipation is.
2. Sometimes, you can get reactions like dizziness, nausea, bloating, stomach cramps, and more. This will happen especially with first time users or users who change from one laxative to another.
3. There is the danger of addiction. Naturally, when you have waste that needs to be expelled from the body, your brain sends messages to the necessary muscles to constrict and release the waste. If you use laxatives constantly, your body will understand that it can only expel waste when you take a pill.
4. There are constipation medications that work by pooling moisture from the rest of your gut to your colon so that waste can get soft and be expelled. There are 2 dangers with this kind of laxative; you can get dehydrated and you can get diarrhoea if too much water is put into the stool.
5. Some laxatives can cause mineral and vitamin depletion in your body. Even natural laxatives sometimes do this, so that you will have low levels of vitamins A, D, K and E and magnesium.
6. Constipation medication that causes stool mass to increase can cause muscular damage in the long run.
7. Some constipation medication has been reported to cause kidney stones and kidney failure. This may be due to the fact that it robs the kidneys of the water required for processing waste.
8. When under medication, the use of laxatives can cause reactions. If you are under other medications, you should consult your doctor before you take any kind of laxative, even those that you can purchase over the counter.

Constipation happens to all of us once in a while, but laxative use is definitely not a good solution. If you must use anything for relief, try natural laxatives. Eat lots of raw fruit and vegetables. Drink lots of water. Check on the internet for the best kinds of roughage to treat constipation and add them to your diet. Constipation medication can only cause dependency in the long run.

One way to get rid of constipation is to soften the stool.  The easiest and most natural way to soften your stool is to drink lots of water. There is some confusion as to what lots of water is. Some people recommend 8 glasses, but it can be hard to take that much especially if you are in a temperate climate or if you take lots of other beverages. The best way to measure if you are drinking enough water is to see how soft your stool is with your current intake. There are also other milder indicators: if you wake up in the night to urinate, it’s a sign that you are drinking lots of water – enough to help with all your vital functions and have some left over as waste.

The next best way to soften stool is to eat roughage. Roughage or fibre binds the stool, increasing its mass and forcing it to take in more water. Your consumption has to be consistent to be helpful. Incorporate fibrous fruit and vegetable into your diet so that you take a portion every day.

There are other natural stool softeners that you can use:

Senna

Senna is a herbal stool softener that works for many people who have constipation and difficulty with hard stools. It works by reducing the amount of water that waste looses while it is in the colon through the colon wall. This way, it keeps your stool soft. It’s also very effective because it will stimulate intestinal muscles so that you can pass stools faster.

Castor Oil

This one is classified under mineral oils that help to soften stool. It works by coating the intestinal lining so that minimal water is lost during digestion. Castor oil, and indeed any other mineral oil stool softeners, should be handled with care. Take it as prescribed and wait for it to work – don’t get tempted to increase the dosage. It can have bad effects. You can completely coat your stomach lining such that the necessary enzymes for breaking down food are not produced. This can result in diarrhoea and dehydration. If you are pregnant, do not take a mineral oil stool softener of any kind. It can induce premature labour. Always see your doctor for recommended cures for pregnancy related constipation.

Pulses

As well as being highly nutritious, pulses like beans are an excellent way to soften stool. They have high fibre content, and they work to prevent too much water from being absorbed when stool is at the colon. There are many different kinds of pulses that you can incorporate into your diet. Never go for canned – anything that would be of value nutrition-wise has already been taken out, and they are also usually loaded with chemicals to give them a longer shelf life.

Nuts

There are many different kinds of nuts as well. It’s not very clear how they work to soften the stool, but it might that they work by inducing thirst. If you notice, after eating a few nuts, you get thirsty. If you eat them regularly, your body will constantly demand re-hydration. Nuts are also full of healthy fats, and these could work to coat the stomach lining as well to prevent loss of too much water.

A commonly asked question is what the difference is between a stool softener and a laxative: a stool softener works t soften stool for easier expulsion. Laxatives induce a bowel movement.

You should resort to laxative use only if you have tried stool softeners and they haven’t worked. Laxatives are not meant for long term use as well, so you might want to stick with stool softeners if you suffer constipation often.

Constipation, especially for formula-fed babies, is common. Breastfed babies hardly seem to get the problem, but if your baby is on formula, you might know just how hellish it can be to have them constipated. They are too young to take regular or natural laxatives, and maybe they haven’t even been weaned yet so you can’t give them fruit or vegetables. What do you do?

Here are some constipation remedies that you can try on your baby if they are constipated. Remember, these are only recommendations, and not prescriptions.

1. Massage works great. You need to massage their tummy and their lower back in circular motions to get blood circulation moving. This will stimulate the cells in the colon and it will cause a bowel movement. Do it right after a bath when baby is fresh and relaxed; lay them on a towel, and using baby oil, gently massage him. There might be some crying as the bowel open up, but get ready because a bowel movement is coming up.
2. Get some exercise into the baby. The best way to do this is to get them into a kind of bicycle ride. Hold their legs so that they are sort of riding a bike in the air – the knees should be bent. Cycle them for a while. This will stimulate blood flow and get them regular again.
3. If the baby is older than 6 weeks, you can try diluted prune juice or diluted grape juice. Do a half and half mix and see if they will agree to take it – sometimes they are averse to new tastes.
4. If you are still breastfeeding, you should check what it is in your diet that could be causing your baby to be constipated. It might be that you are passing something on to them through the breast milk without knowing it. It doesn’t have to be something bad, it’s just that baby’s tummy is not yet ready to digest some adult foods, and they are not broken down enough by the time they get to the breast milk.
5. If you are just weaning the baby, constipation is common at this time. If they get constipated, depending on the degree of the discomfort, you can withdraw whatever food is giving them constipation. If they are not very uncomfortable, then just reduce the amount, and then get them exercised and try diluted grape or prune juice.
6. You should try this only if a doctor has showed you how: a rectal thermometer inserted into the rectum stimulates bowel movement. This is a remedy that doctors use for babies who are frequently constipated.
7. Get them out in the fresh air if you can. A baby who is indoors all the time will have frequent problems, even though they might not be serious. The outdoors is an excellent way to give them a different environment for a short while and to get them stimulated.

Some babies can get so constipated that nothing you try seems to help; let your doctor handle it. It could be a signal to another problem.

What is a normal bowel movement? Bowel movements are a vital health function, and if most people monitored their bowel movements on a daily basis, a lot if abdominal illness and disease would be diagnosed early. The problem is that for most of us, that’s not something we actively think about or pay attention to– in fact, if anything, we try not to think about it.

There’s an old school of thought that says that you should have one bowel movement a day. That’s an assumption, because not all people can or will. Some people have up to 3 bowel movements a day and they are completely healthy. Others will have 3 movements a week and they are healthy too.

Your bowel movements are largely a result of your eating habits. If you eat more, for instance, you are going to have more bowel movements in a day. Remember that feeling you get when you over-eat, about 20 minutes after you’re done? Your body can sense that you’ve stretched things a bit and you need to create some room, so it will ask you to have a bowel movement. On the other hand, if you regularly eat 3 meals a day and then you skip 1 or 2, you might notice that you have fewer bowel movements.

All these are within the normal range. Your body is working with what it’s got. You should get concerned if you have less than 3 bowel movements a week; it could be a sign of constipation.

You should also take note of very loose bowel movements. It’s an indication of diarrhoea, maybe something caused by a stomach infection. Also look at the thinness of your stool. You know how thick your stool usually is so if you get thinner than normal for a few days in a row, it could mean that there is an obstruction in your colon.

Bowel movements should also not be accompanied by cramping – that’s a classic sign that something is not right. You should simply get the urge to go, and then make sure that you do. There are many of us who ignore the urge to have a bowel movement because we are not in the right place. You’re inviting constipation; true, it’s not always possible to have a bowel movement each time you have the urge, but try as much as possible to obey it. When you hold on to stool too long, it gets more and more dehydrated and harder to pass.

Some people will ask what healthy stool looks like. At your healthiest, you will have stool that is brown and that floats in the toilet. There are things which can interfere with that, like alcohol, but if you notice that your stools are too dark or too light and sink to the bottom, then you might want to check if there is a problem. Normal stools are also soft enough to pass without any discomfort. If you feel some discomfort, it’s a sign that you may be developing constipation.

There is no standard bowel movement that can be recommended as the best or the one that shows that someone is healthy, but so long as you are regular, have no blood in your stool and your stool looks at it should, you are ok. Any changes, especially if they last more than a week, should be investigated.

If you are constantly constipated and nothing seems to help, you should try using probiotics. There is evidence today to show that probiotics will help not just with chronic constipation, but other digestive disorders as well.

What are probiotics? They are friendly bacteria that live in the gut. They are also found in the mouth and the throat as well as in the vaginal tract.

How can bacteria be friendly? Doesn’t it cause disease? Yes, most bacteria are harmful organisms that cause us to get sick, but probiotics are bacteria that will attack harmful bacteria and kill them off. They exist in the millions in the intestinal tract, and they come in many different strains. By killing harmful bacteria, they will either stop you from getting ill, or cure already existing illness.

We are all born with probiotics, but as we age, they get less and less. It usually because of lifestyle and diet, and taking of antibiotics – they kill probiotics. If you notice, after a course of antibiotics, you sometimes get diarrhea; it’s because the organisms that would protect you from inflammation and disease have all been killed off. You need to replace them.

How do probiotics work to cure constipation?

When you are constipated, it’s a sign that something is not right in your gut. Constipation is most often related to lack of enough water and dietary fiber, but you may have enough of these and still get constipation. It means that your digestive system is not functioning as it should.

Probiotics will go in and correct the malfunction. Probiotics exist in our gut to give balance to digestive processes. Lack of enough friendly bacteria will lead to digestive problems of different kinds, depending on the kind of probiotics are missing. Lack of enough of the lactobacilli strain, for instance will cause lactose intolerance.

When you take probiotics, you are replacing the friendly bacteria that have been killed off. Because a dose of probiotics will have so many different strains of the bacteria, you will have replaced those that will aid you to digest food and expel waste on time.

Where can you get probiotics?

Probiotics occur in nature, and the best way to take them is in your diet. You can get them in milk and milk products like cheeses, yoghurt, fermented milk and any other milk products that are common to your diet. Garlic is also an excellent source of probiotics, especially when taken raw. Just dice a clove into small bits and then swallow with water regularly. Vinegar is another excellent source of probiotics, especially apple cider vinegar and balsamic vinegar of Modena. For most people, the most commonly available is yoghurt. Taking at least a glass a day is going to give you the probiotic balance you need.

There are probiotic supplements as well, and you can get some good ones over the counter. Check the label to ensure that each gram of the probiotic supplement has at least 2 billion organisms.

The dietary course, of course, is better for you in the long run. Try and incorporate a kind of probiotic source into your meals and you will notice that you get constipation relief and hardly have digestive disorders.

[ad#cons]

You don’t have to reach for a prescription pill every time you get constipated. There are natural remedies, some that can be found right in your kitchen and garden that will do a great job and will not leave any chemical effects behind.

One thing that you must always remember when you reach for a prescription pill when you are constipated is that fine, it will take the constipation away, but it will, with time mess up the mechanics of your natural excretion. Pills basically force your colon into action; they make what couldn’t move, move by force. The way natural excretion works is that once your body feels ready to go for a number 2, it sends signals to your brain. Your brain will in turn send signals to your colon and then the muscular contractions will begin that will send you to the loo. A pill bypasses this process somehow, and it only gets your colon muscles moving. Eventually, your body will “forget” how to naturally function without a pill and you might find yourself more constipated that ever before if you miss that pill.

On the other hand, most natural laxatives do not bypass the process – they go through the whole of it. They will send a message to your brain that its time to go, and in turn, your brain will send a message to your colon; that way all the active parts of your excretion process remain active.

Some Natural Constipation Remedies?

They are many and will vary from country to country and culture to culture, but fortunately most of them revolve around food and herbs.

1. Water – Many people in this world do not drink nearly as much water as the body needs for the digestive process to take care of itself. There is a lot of emphasis given to water for the skin, but enough to how important it is for digestion. If you understand constipation, it usually happens (in most cases) because the resultant matter, after food is processed is too hard to push out. Taking in lots of water through out the day will help ease the problem. Don’t wait to get constipated and then reach for water – it will make you feel full and uncomfortable. Take water as a regular part of your lifestyle and you’ll realize that constipation will go away by itself, unless there are other underlying issues.
2. Roughage/fibre – This comes in many forms and can be found anywhere in the world. A meal of plain vegetables, kales or spinach are great. So is cabbage. They act as binding factors, at the same time allowing your stool not to lose too much water in the process. Sources of roughage are endless – grains, whole fruit (that you can eat with the rind on), whole, unprocessed wheat – really inexhaustible. If you eat this once or twice a day, even 3 times a week, you will find that you’re rarely constipated

[ad#consbanner]

3. Aloe Vera – As far as herbs go, this one is an excellent bowel mover. The only problem is that it’s usually very bitter. There are 2 ways around this: You can put the leaves on slow simmer over-night and by morning, both the leaves and the resultant juice will have taken on a pinkish hue that will not be so better. The other way is to peel the aloe leaves themselves and boil them – you’ll get a kind of gel that will not be bitter at all. Aloe juice will move your bowels wonderfully within hours. And it leaves you with side benefits too – great skin, hair and nails, a sense of more energy and well-being.
4. Beetroot, which is common in many places, is also good when eaten raw. It will get your bowels on the move in a few hours. It may – most likely will – stain both your urine and your stool, abut that’s a small price to pay. The secret with beetroot is to make it a part of your diet if you are regularly constipated. There are great salad recipes for raw beetroot; one of the easiest being just slices of beetroot and tomatoes with a dash of olive oil and black pepper. If you make it a habit to eat this, you may never experience constipation again.
5. Neem leaves or the bark of a neem tree– those who know them and have used them swear by them. In Africa and Asia, they are trusted to cure a myriad of ailments, ranging from the very serious to everyday complications. Everything has a price though – they come really bitter. The secret is to boil either leaves or bark and then add a teaspoonful or 2 into your herbal tea or soup. Neem has no known side effects so you can add as much as you feel you can stand the bitterness. The best time is before bed – it’s almost a guarantee that if it was normal constipation, your first destination in the morning will be your toilet, and you’ll come out with a happy face.
6. Stinging Nettle – This, surprisingly, grows all around the world and so a bit of search should surface a few leaves of it, or even some crushed powder. It is not bitter – it actually tastes like herbal tea. If you get the leaves, handle them in gloves – they sting. But once you have them in a pot, covered in water and the fire going, the sting disappears almost immediately. Nettle leaves, other than just constipation relief, have been known to give people naturally great heath for years. If you have some near you, you don’t even need to wait for a bout of constipation to come around – go for it and take a huge mug of it each day. You’ll notice infrequent illness and a general feeling of health and energy all day long.

There you are! No need to face the pharmacist any more. Go about treating constipation your own way. The only disclaimer here is that all the above don’t seem to work, a trip to your doctor is advisable – there may be something else the problem.

References
www.nativeremedies.com, Meital James – www.ezinearticles.com, www.myhomeremedies.com, Linnea Lundgren and Betsy Hornick – http://health.howstuffworks.com

Natural herbal laxatives

[ad#laxative]Constipation can be uncomfortable, but you don’t need to reach for a medical laxative every time you get a bout. There are things that you can incorporate into your diet that will help you sort out your constipation without visiting the doctor or the pharmacy, unless of course there are other symptoms that come along with the constipation itself. If there are, you should have the doctor take a look at you, just to eliminate chances of other more serious illness that you may be suffering from.

The reason why you should always strive for a natural laxative is that chemical laxatives become addictive – your body goes into a mode where you cannot have a bowel movement unless you take a pill. Also, remember that pills are chemical ridden and are not good for your liver or kidneys in the long run.

The herbs and foods suggested here contain ingredients that will help you combat constipation:

1. Aloe Vera – It’s unpalatable, but it usually works. There are ways to prepare it to make it easier to take, but either way, it works and it’s almost instant. You can take the fresh leaves of an aloe plant and boil them. If you boil them for only a short while, the resultant juice will be almost too bitter to drink. But if you leave them on a slow boil overnight, you will notice in the morning that both the leaves and the juice have taken on a pinkish hue and they are much less bitter. You can add honey if it’s still too bitter for you. A big glass of this will have your bowels moving in a short wile. To make sure that you eliminate all the waste that has been sitting in your colon, make sure that you continue with the juice for 2 or 3 days at least once a day. Don’t take it for longer than that because it’s been known to cause stomach irritability. If you want to take it for a long time, on an every day basis, make sure to peel off the green off the leaves of the aloe. This will leave a pulpy strip which you can then boil for the same effect. It’s also much less bitter. You may opt for commercial aloe vera, but remember that all these have a chemical element in them, and may have very trace amounts of aloe at the same time.
2. Cabbage is great. You can eat it raw if you choose, but there are numerous ways to prepare cabbage to make it delicious either alone or as part of another meal. If you have frequent constipation, make it a habit to eat cabbage twice or thrice a week. It works as roughage, and binds the waste in the colon for more efficient excretion.

[ad#laxativeb]

3. Pears work great. In fact, if you over eat raw pears, you will have the opposite effect – you will diarrhoea. Eat one fresh pear raw, and you will have a bowel movement soon after.
4. For those who can get guavas, they work as well as pears. They will get your bowels moving in no time, especially if you don’t go for the ones that are too ripe. Choose one that’s almost ripe but not quite. If they are small in size as many guavas tend to be, eat 2 or 3, but remember that if you eat too many, you might get diarrhoea.
5. Beets are excellent, especially if eaten raw. You will notice reddish urine and stool, but this should not worry you. This is just the beets coming out. A beet will get your bowels moving in a few hours, and it has many other side benefits too.

There are hundreds of home  remedies for constipation relief and these are just a few. Avoid reaching for laxatives that come in the form of drugs unless you have tried all the above and they don’t work. Notice too, that the above can be used on children and the elderly as well. You may try them and find that one works better than the other, so you get to choose which one works best for you. The best thing about all these natural laxatives is that they have other nutritional benefits too.

References:
nativeremedies.com, Meital James – ezinearticles.com, myhomeremedies.com, Linnea Lundgren and Betsy Hornick – health.howstuffworks.com Constipation remedies

You probably know the feeling. You’re sitting on the toilet and its taking a while. So you reach for a 20 page Beano. You get through it and nothing. At this point, you reach out either for The Economist or a Cosmopolitan – they have more content. Depending on just how bad it is, you may or may not succeed. Constipation can be bad – for some people, it take up to 3 weeks to go for a number 2 (you should ideally go daily, at worst 3 times a week), and they are eating all their meals regularly. Though usually not painful, it will get uncomfortable at some point. You start to feel the extra weight, and you start to daydream about the moment you will be able to shed it off.

So what leads to constipation?

To understand it better, its better to first understand how your food moves through your system as soon as you eat it. It will go on into your stomach, get broken down by acids and then move on you your small intestines where it will then be absorbed through little hairs, called villi that line the entire small intestinal tract. The food, now mostly water matter moves on to the large intestine or colon, and at this time, water absorption takes place. Once water absorption has taken place, and the waste is sufficiently dry to be eliminated, a message is sent to your brain, and muscular contractions begin. That’s how you know you’re ready for a number 2.

At the colon, 2 things can happen that will cause constipation:

• Either too much water was absorbed into the body, leaving the resulting mass too dry and hard.
• Or your colon muscle movements are sluggish and not strong enough to compel stool to be expelled.

What causes the above 2 things to happen? In other words, what causes constipation?

1. Lack of fibre in your diet. Think of fibre as the binding stuff that helps your stool to come together and be expelled. In fact, fibre has little other use in the body other than to assure regular bowel movements. If you eliminate fibre from your diet for any reason, you are likely to suffer constipation.
2. Ageing – older people, especially because they don’t move around much, have a bunch of weak muscles and sphincters lying about in their bodies. This will lead to poor muscle movement even when a bowel movement is needed – the brain will receive the signal, but the body will not have sufficient energy to move the bowels properly.
3. One of the commonest causes is ignoring the urge to have a bowel movement. Once your body receives the signal, you will be uncomfortable for a while, and then it will realize that you are not going and stop sending the signal. The result is that the waste gets overly dry, and will need that much more effort from your body to push it out.
4. Some medications cause constipation. Antacids are well known for this. So are iron tablets, antidepressants, antispasmodics and anticonvulsant drugs. Especially with antacids, you should not take too many of them. As an aside, some antacids will cause you to have constipation, while others will cause you to have diarrhoea, depending on how much calcium and magnesium they contain. Always talk to your pharmacist about this.
5. Not drinking enough water is another common cause of constipation. By the time your food gets to your colon, it barely has any water left in it, but the colon is still doing its job. The result of course, is constipation.
6. Pregnancy, for reasons not so well explained, seems to cause most women to suffer constipation. It may be because the water intake required is for 2, but the mother is only drinking for herself.
7. Less common and more serious are obstructions in the bowels. These may be caused by tumours, or gallstones, or even a twisted intestine. This will manifest with pain in the stomach and you should consult your doctor immediately.
8. People who suffer problems with their thyroid gland may also suffer constipation. The thyroid produces lower than normal quantities of thyroxin, and this may lead to hard stools that are hard to expel.
9. A change in lifestyle, travel or diet may also lead to constipation. Long distance travellers, especially those who take flights for many days may be familiar with the feeling. It will come about because you have been “living” on a plane for several days, eating a different diet and going through different kinds of weather as you moved from zone to zone.
10. Irritable Bowel Syndrome can also cause constipation. Sufferers may have it both ways, such that at times they experience diarrhea and at other times constipation.

Almost every living person has suffered constipation at some point in their lives. Unless it’s a medical condition, you can make sure to stay regular by eating enough roughage, drinking lots of water, staying active, taking supplements such as probiotics. And when you do get the occasional bout of constipation, unless it comes accompanied by other complications, a natural laxative or home constipation remedies should be able to help you out.

references
WebMD Newsletter – http://www.emedicinehealth.com International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders – www.iffgd.org American Gastroenterological Association – www.gastro.org MedlinePlus – www.medlineplus.gov

Constipation is one of those things that we live with – it doesn’t stop you from getting out of bed and going about your business, so what’s the harm anyway? In fact, most people treat the flu more seriously – they’ll take a day off work and stay indoors. Whoever heard of someone taking a day off because they were constipated?

But constipation is a sign that things aren’t right in your digestive process, and you need to get them fixed. Left unchecked for a long time, it will eventually lead to other complications which may well have been avoided had the initial discomfort of constipation been checked and addressed in the first place.

So What Can Long-Term Constipation Lead To?

1. To understand this, you need to understand the excretion process. It’s as simple as that – your body getting rid of what it does not need. This, along with any toxins that you may have consumed along with your food. You may be wondering about toxins? Yes, and they are plenty, especially in pre-packaged foods that don’t come fresh. They undergo a chemical process that gives them a shelf life. Your body is kind and wise enough to get rid of all these toxins during excretion. Even some fresh foods may come with toxins that should get out of your body as soon as the digestive process is over. Imagine what happens when all these toxins are jammed in your colon and going nowhere. The toxins are left to lie in your digestive tract, and the dangers can be many, the most common of course being colon cancer.
2. When you are constipated, it means that your stool is very hard. And no matter, you still have to go at some point. Your anus will suffer, because it was not created to excrete such hard things. You will find yourself with anal fissures, which will be a whole different problem altogether. It will make going to the toilet even more painful, especially if you are still constipated.
3. Most people who suffer constipation suffer haemorrhoids. When stool is really hard and is trying to push out, it will sometimes come out with bits of your colon, and they have no way of going back in unless through medical intervention. They are packed with blood vessels and that’s why they get to be really painful – even sitting down can be a problem. Left untreated, and if you continue to be constipated, the problem only gets worse.
4. Long term constipation can lead to intestinal obstruction. Faeces become so compacted that they become like little stones sitting in your intestines. Any food you eat will not get anywhere past these obstructions. This is a much more serious condition that will require medical attention, and maybe even surgery.
5. Constipation will affect your general health too – you are often full and don’t feel like eating. As a result, your nutrition suffers. For most people, when this happens, they reach for a laxative pill – but these eventually cause what is known as lazy bowel syndrome, where your bowels cannot move unless urged on with a pill.

All these can be avoided, because constipation, unless caused or accompanied by other more serious conditions, is easily treatable at home. Seek out home treatments recommended here and use them often – they usually come in the form of healthy food and herbs anyway so frequent use should not be a problem.