I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating. This helps massage the colon, which encourages peristalsis and helps relieve constipation. Before going to sleep at night, gently massage your belly in a clockwise motion for 10 minutes. Increase your intake of water and get regular exercise. If they give you gas, reduce the amount and take digestive enzymes like pancreatin with meals temporarily. Beans and whole grains, or bran added to your morning cereal or juice, are particularly useful. Increase your intake of high-fiber foods in your diet. Modify your diet and lifestyle Beans, a great source of fiber Read labels carefully and avoid phenolphthalein. The FDA has proposed a ban on phenolphthalein, but it’s still in some products. A number of laxatives contain phenolphthalein, a chemical linked to an increased risk for cancer. It works, but while it stimulates muscle contractions and relieves constipation it can cause your intestines to lose some elasticity, creating a laxative dependency. Many people with constipation reach for a laxative containing senna. Men and postmenopausal women, but not premenopausal women, had a significant drop in triglyceride levels after taking 15 grams of psyllium. Another group of elderly patients had a 20 percent reduction in total cholesterol after taking psyllium for four months. A group of people who took a little over five grams of psyllium twice a day for two months had lowered total cholesterol and LDL levels. It lowers total cholesterol and the potentially harmful LDL cholesterol. The longer you take this fiber, the better it seems to work. In one study, psyllium decreased the occurrence of incontinent stools by a full 50 percent. Psyllium’s ability to absorb water also makes it valuable for people with diarrhea. But to be effective with hemorrhoids, you need to take it for at least a month. It significantly reduced bleeding from hemorrhoids in a study of 50 people. The mucilaginous effect of psyllium soothes your intestines. But again, check with your doctor before taking anything for constipation to make sure you’re not masking symptoms from a more serious condition. It even reduced constipation by 37 percent in some patients who had rectal and intestinal disorders. Psyllium worked in 85 percent of people with chronic constipation with no pathological cause. You may be able to avoid more expensive medications. When colitis patients were given 10 grams of psyllium seed twice a day, their remission was the same as when they took drugs containing mesalamine. The same butyric acid that blocks cancer cells may be responsible for psyllium’s beneficial activity in people with ulcerative colitis. In one study, a group of colon cancer patients who took 20 grams of psyllium seed a day for three months had a 42 percent increase in their butyric acid levels. Butyric acid prevents the development of cancer cells and appears to protect against colon cancer. It contains more fiber and it breaks down more slowly, producing large amounts of butyric acid. The seed has several benefits over the husk. Psyllium is particularly resistant to fermentation, so it’s not likely to cause gas. Both are mucilaginous, which means that when you put them in water, they absorb a lot of water and form a gel, softening and increasing the size of solid wastes. Sometimes the seeds and husk are used as a bulking agent. Psyllium seed comes from the Plantago ovata plant. But you don’t need one with sugar or aspartame. Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic, Sunshine Sentinel Press, Inc., West Palm Beach, FL). Aspartame is an artificial sweetener linked to so many health problems that it takes a book that’s nearly 1,000 pages long to document all of them (Roberts, J.J. Sugar feeds the bad bacteria that can lead to fermentation, gas, and a suppressed immune system. If so, you may be pouring sugar or aspartame into your intestines. If you don’t get enough roughage in your diet, or if you’re constipated or have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), you may be taking a bulking agent like Metamucil, Citrucel, or Fiber-Con to make your stools larger and softer.
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