Do you suf­fer from con­sti­pa­tion? There’s noth­ing to be ashamed of. We all have to “go”, and at some point or an­oth­er, the process can be­come a bit jammed. Some­times it’s easy to get things reg­u­lar­ly flow­ing again, but oth­er times, noth­ing seems to work and you can’t help but bear the dis­com­fort of not, let’s say, off-load­ing for days on end.

Con­sti­pa­tion is what hap­pens when there is dif­fi­cul­ty in emp­ty­ing the bow­els and is usu­al­ly as­so­ci­at­ed with pel­let-shaped or hurt­ful, hard­ened stool. It can be caused by a num­ber of things, most com­mon­ly the reg­u­lar con­sump­tion of processed foods, poor hy­dra­tion, in­fre­quent ex­er­cise, ir­ri­tat­ed bow­els, cer­tain med­ica­tions and stress. Con­sti­pa­tion may be harm­less if its ef­fects are short-lived. How­ev­er when it is long-last­ing it can pose a threat to your over­all health, and can man­i­fest in the form of ir­ri­tabil­i­ty, poor con­cen­tra­tion, bad breath, bloat­ing, headaches, back­ach­es and can be the fes­ter­ing ground for a num­ber of dis­eases be­cause of the tox­ic en­vi­ron­ment cre­at­ed with­in the gut.

The good news is that you can re­move the road­blocks that may be hin­der­ing the reg­u­lar flow of di­gest­ed food through your sys­tem.

Here are some reme­dies that are sure to help.

Sen­na Pods or Leaves

For im­me­di­ate re­lief, sen­na is an ex­cel­lent herbal lax­a­tive. With its po­ten­cy be­ing with­in its pods or leaves, sen­na can be con­sumed as a tea. Its pods or leaves may be pur­chased at most phar­ma­cies and may be used with­out pre­scrip­tion. To make this tea, boil a few sen­na pods or leaves in a small pot of wa­ter. Let cool and drink a small cup of the tea at bed time. You may add a few grains of Ep­som salts to the brew to re­duce the pain of grip­ing. It is not rec­om­mend­ed that you be­come de­pen­dent on lax­a­tives for bow­el move­ments, as this could dis­rupt the body’s nat­ur­al bal­ance of di­ges­tion and elim­i­na­tion. Sen­na should not be used more than once week­ly.

The Daniel Fast

The bet­ter, long-term so­lu­tion to con­sti­pa­tion is im­prov­ing the di­et. Fast­ing is a su­perb prac­tice that light­ens the load on the di­ges­tive sys­tem and pro­motes vi­tal­i­ty in the body and mind. The Daniel fast is a bib­li­cal di­et fol­lowed by the prophet Daniel in the self-named book in the Bible. This type of fast will great­ly re­duce in­flam­ma­tion in the body and pro­vide suf­fi­cient roughage and nu­tri­ents to help the di­ges­tive sys­tem to re­gain its bal­ance. It al­so im­proves men­tal alert­ness and clar­i­ty.

To per­form this fast, ei­ther for 10 days or 21 days, you are to com­plete­ly elim­i­nate all forms of an­i­mal pro­tein from the di­et, in­clud­ing meat, milk, eggs or cheese. Al­co­hol, sug­ar, and processed foods are al­so to be avoid­ed, in­clud­ing flour (and gluten prod­ucts), oils and non-nat­ur­al drinks. What can be con­sumed are: fresh or frozen fruits and veg­eta­bles, nuts, grains, oats, peas, beans, herbs, spices and plen­ty of wa­ter. Com­bine (this di­et) with reg­u­lar ex­er­cise and you’re sure to gain great ben­e­fits from this fast.

Ef­fec­tive hy­dra­tion

Some­times, when we drink wa­ter can be more im­por­tant than how much we drink when we do. Here are some quick dos and don’ts for ef­fec­tive hy­dra­tion that can help to re­lieve con­sti­pa­tion:

Do: Drink one (or more) glass of warm wa­ter in the morn­ing up­on ris­ing be­fore you eat any­thing at all. A few drops of pure lemon juice or ap­ple cider vine­gar to your glass will make it even bet­ter for bow­el move­ments.

Do: Drink a glass of wa­ter an hour be­fore or af­ter meals.

Do: Drink a glass of wa­ter be­fore you take a bath.

Do: Drink a glass of wa­ter an hour be­fore bed.

Don’t: Drink large amounts of wa­ter (or oth­er bev­er­ages) with meals. This di­lutes the gas­tric juices in the stom­ach and slows the di­ges­tive process.

Don’t: Sub­sti­tute wa­ter for juices or soft drinks. Wa­ter in its plain form is what the body needs to hy­drate it­self. Sug­ary drinks can in­stead con­tribute to con­sti­pa­tion.

Slip­pery elm

Last­ly, slip­pery elm bark (avail­able as cap­sules in most phar­ma­cies) is a sooth­ing herbal di­ges­tive aid, as it coats the mu­cos­al lin­ing of the stom­ach and in­testines and en­hances bow­el move­ments. Act­ing as a lu­bri­cant, it can make the “go” smoother and less painful. Be sure to take these cap­sules as di­rect­ed by your phar­ma­cist, prefer­ably on an emp­ty stom­ach.

By fol­low­ing these reme­dies, you’re sure to be on your way to say­ing good­bye to con­sti­pa­tion and hel­lo to a health­i­er colon and a hap­pi­er you.

Best wish­es on your jour­ney to bet­ter health.