It is generally believed that waking up early in the morning and having a
good breakfast would help to keep us going the whole day long. But
sometimes it is not so, especially if it fails to create the necessary
bowel movement which may lead to discomfort. Constipation, which is a
very common yet most private issue, is faced by large number of people
who try to tackle it with all kinds of solutions. The need to treat
constipation usually arises when we fail to prevent it. That is to say
that getting trapped in a restroom is avoidable.Conventionally, people use variety of things and techniques to create
intestinal peristalsis like drinking strong tea and coffee on any empty
stomach, eating some sort of herbs, eating lot of papaya, apple, banana
and prunes, drinking warm milk, castor oil etc. Interestingly, it all
directly or indirectly helps get rid of the problem in some way or
another. Since the mode of action of some of these ‘aids’ is unknown, it
may lead to serious adverse effects as well. But trial and error
doesn’t always help in getting a solution. In order to solve the
problem, we must try to find its root cause.
The root cause lies in our lifestyle that includes lack of
physically activity and exercise, consuming large and heavy meals,
increased consumption of fast food and caffeinated products, low intake
of fibrous food and water, coupled with mental stress and ignoring the
urge to defecate, improper eating and sleeping habits, etc. However, it
may sometimes be due to some medical condition as well like pregnancy,
diabetes, arthritis, hypothyroidism, colorectal disease and some
metabolic and neurological disease as well. It has also been observed
that constipation may be the side effect of various medicines like
mineral supplements, some pain killers, flu medicine and other medicines
that affects the nervous system. On the other hand, constipation, if
left untreated, can cause headache, stress, bloating, feeling of being
unwell discomfort and in the long run may result in serious consequences
like anal fissures, haemorrhoids or piles, faecal incontinence,
appendicitis, colorectal disease and cancer.For reversible causes, some simple and feasible interventions can be
devised of which the most important is changing one’s lifestyle. It not
only helps to prevent constipation but also prevents some other major
illnesses. Lifestyles changes include having a proper sleep schedule
which means a good six to eight hours of sleep. After waking up, it is
important to exercise for 30 minutes (it can be in any form that suits
you) to warm up the body and prepare it for the day.
It also plays an
important role in mental relaxation. After burning the calories, the
body can be fuelled up for the day with a healthy and hearty breakfast.
Similarly, small frequent meals help more than having large and heavy
meal thrice a day. Furthermore drinking plenty of water (around eight
glasses a day) and consuming lots of fresh fruits and vegetables helps
not only to prevent constipation, cancer, etc. and also helps weight
loss (but remember not to drink excessive amounts as it may overload
your kidney and have adverse health effects). Evidence also suggests
that eating whole grains and cereals instead of refined ones and
increasing consumption of yoghurt helps to regulate the mechanics of our
body in a healthy way.
Constipation not only brings physical suffering buts also brings
social, psychological and economic burden as well. Therefore, in order
to keep the engine of the body in motion and to keep it on the road to
health, we must adopt a healthy lifestyle and prevent constipation
before it starts bothering us as prevention is surely better than cure.
