WHAT IS CONSTIPATION?
Constipation refers to bowel movements that are infrequent or difficult to pass and is a general term used to indicate fewer bowel movements, hard solid stools, painful defecation and bloating, abdominal discomfort, or incomplete elimination. It is a very common gastrointestinal disorder that most people experience at some point in their lives.
What Causes Constipation?
Constipation may simply be due to a poor diet with insufficient fiber, poor fluid intake, or a side effect of certain medications. Sometimes it can be due to a mechanical obstruction or a serious problem like colon cancer. Constipation occurs when the large intestine absorbs too much water from the stool with the result that dry, hard stool is removed. It may also be due to inadequate contraction of the intestinal walls to expel faeces and waste product.
Diet Tips to Avoid Constipation in Ayurveda
It is essential to make healthy food choices so that you avoid constipation in the first place—and to resolve it as soon as possible when it does crop up. By implementing a few routines in your daily life you can easily avert and work to resolve constipation.
- Avoid foods that contain white flour, white sugar, other processed foods.
- Eat light regular meals, and make sure that the last meal is you eat is at least three to four hours before you go to bed. Regular meals not only keep constipation at bay, but they also enhance metabolism and assist in weight loss.
- Include fresh, local, organic, in-season fruits and vegetables into your daily diet. . Follow a healthy diet plan that emphasizes fruits, green leafy vegetables, and other vegetables and a diet high in fiber.
- Incorporate flavorful and aromatic digestive herbs such as black pepper, fennel, cumin, coriander, and ginger to cooking.
- Stay hydrated by taking in, on average, a half ounce per pound of body weight of water, daily. Thus, for a person who weighs 150 pounds, this would mean drinking 75 ounces of water per day. Drink warm water is much preferable to drinking cold water.
- Get to know the food combinations that make digestion difficult.
- Avoid combining two different protein groups in one meal (ie: meat and eggs; chicken and tofu).
- Avoid eating proteins and complex carbohydrates in the same meal (ie: fish and rice; chicken and noodles). Proteins and carbohydrates use very different digestive processes and digestive enzymes. The digestive system can not work on both at the same time; one food group (the carbohydrates) putrefies while the other is tended to.
- Avoid combining dairy products with sour or acidic fruits, animal proteins, and grains.
- Drink a glass of warm water early in the morning (this aids in the gastrocolic reflex and results in a bowel movement)
- Practice regular exercise.
- Avoid suppressing natural impulses, excess tea, coffee, smoking.
The treatments are available in AM Ayurveda Barcelona are:
i. Snehapana (internal oleation)
ii. Sarvanga sveda
iii. Virechana (therapeutic purgation)
iv. Vasti
v. Natural herbs.
