Women's Health Overview of Constipation

Why is constipation so prevalent in our US society? If it is chronic in your body the results could seriously affect your good health in many areas.



A good rule of thumb is if you have a healthy colon you will have a bowel movement twice a day. Usually the first one occurs without about an hour of waking up in the morning, and the movement is very easy. There is no straining or waiting for things to happen. A good bowel movement also releases a lot of solid waste material at once. When your colon is healthy for instance, that first of the morning bowel movement is generally three to five feet long. If you do not have a bowel movement at least twice each day minimum, you're constipated. Likewise if you do not eliminate several feet of waste material at once, you're constipated. If you have to sit on the toilet and wait for your bowels to move - or worse, you sit on the toilet and strain hard for your bowels to move - you're constipated.



And when you're constipated, there can be any number of other physical things wrong with you.



The colon is the primary method the human body uses to get rid of toxic materials, bacteria, and wastes. That colon is over five feet long though, and it touches every area of our body through nerve endings. So if waste materials are backed up inside your colon - a.k.a. you're constipated - this can cause you to be sick, generally not feeling well, or have any number of so called syndromes and conditions which are so common in society today.



The colon is where solid waste material ends up in our body, and the colon's job is to keep that waste material moving until it is expelled through a bowel movement. The liver however, is what actually starts the waste creation process. The liver filters and processes our blood, removes the toxins and bacteria that is harmful to use, and creates bile from the filtered materials. That bile is then sent on through to the colon for disposal.



When the colon is backed up however, the liver is not able to do it's job as efficiently, because it has no place to send the waste material it's creating. So it must wait until the colon clears before it can continue doing it's job. And that's the first problem, because when the liver is not able to filter toxins from our body, we start getting sick.



The second problem though, occurs within the colon itself. When you're constipated, that waste material is just sitting there in the colon, and it's leaking the toxins and poisons back into your body through the thin colon walls. Essentially, the waste material is slowly poisoning your body, and that's the second reason we start getting sick. Constipation



Because of the way many people choose to live their lives, constipation has become a very common, widespread, and chronic problem. Being constipated is not just uncomfortable and sometimes even painful though. It can also cause more severe health issues to arise if left untreated for too long.



The colon is one of the primary ways our bodies get rid of wastes and toxins. The liver filters out a variety of toxins, wastes, and harmful bacteria which it then sends to the colon to be disposed of. The colon moves that waste along, and eliminates it from our bodies in the form of stool passed during bowel movements.



The colon is a very large organ though. At five to six feet in length, it holds and moves a lot of waste material through our bodies. And the material it's supposed to be moving out of our body can actually get clogged in there, and sometimes it can become crusty and hard so that it's difficult to move forward. This is when problems can occur. The colon walls are thin, so if too much backed up waste material stays in the colon for too long, the toxins and bacteria from that waste can leak back into other areas of the body and cause health problems for other major organs.



Like muscles though, if you don't use your colon regularly it will become weaker and less effective. In other words, if you don't have daily bowel movements then the colon can become weaker and not be able to move things through and out of your body as effectively.



Many specialists feel that a healthy person should have at least two good, effortless bowel movements each day. You should feel the urge to go, sit down and have it happen almost immediately, without strain or pain.



If you're not having at least two movements each day, or you have to sit and wait awhile, or you have to strain and push to make your bowels move, you're constipated.



There are many very easy, completely natural ways to resolve constipation problems though, particularly if the constipation is mild. Here are several natural ways to make sure your bowels move regularly and easily...



1. Fruit juice. Plain old apple, grape, or prune juice often does the trick quite nicely. These are the strongest bowel moving juices too. If you just need to keep your bowels moving regularly though, you might choose a citrus juice such as orange juice or home made lemonade instead.



2. Fiber. Adding fiber to your diet will help keep the waste moving regularly too, because it's not digested by your body. So fiber acts as a "broom" when it's inside your colon. Fiber can be added from foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables, or you can take fiber supplements instead.



3. Water. Drinking plenty of water each day will help keep your bowels moving regularly. In most cases, drinking two to three quarts of water a day will do the trick.



4. Herbal supplements. There are a variety of herbs which will help relive constipation. Some of these work quite quickly, while others may take up to 24 hours. Here's just a few that work wonderfully:



- Chickweed: An excellent herb for relieving constipation within a few hours of taking it, this herb also strengthens the stomach and bowels, and helps carry out toxins.



- Slippery Elm: Another wonderful single herb that works for both constipation and diarrhea, because it normalizes the stools while soothing, coating and healing the intestinal tract lining. Slippery Elm should be taken with lots of water to help move it through your system.



- Cascara Sagrada: This is one of the strongest herbal laxatives and it's commonly added to over the counter medications for use in relieving constipation. Take an herbal capsule at night with a large glass of water.





Discover How To Get Rid Of Constipation Using Natural Remedies. All Aspects Of Colon And Constipation Are Covered





Note: Some statements in this article may not be approved by the FDA. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as professional medical advice.