Chronic Constipation Causes and Treatment

Constipation symptoms
So what is considered to be normal? Some people would regard it as normal to open their bowels three or four times a day, while normalcy for others would be restricted to once a week. Certainly, the human body can function quite well at either extreme, but most people probably open their bowels every day or every couple of days. It is wise not to get obsessed by the need to open the bowels daily, but if you experience a change of bowel habit that persists then you should seek the advice of your doctor. More often than not people suffering from constipation have either a foul breath, or a developing beer belly or even horribly dry skin. Thanks to the dehydration in the body, the system depicts these symptoms for the want of treatment.

Causes of Constipation
A change in diet or dehydration or a change of daily schedule may lead to constipation. Certain medications, especially some painkillers are known to be the real rogues. Sometimes the cause is a bowel disorder, but this of course is an exception rather than being a rule.

Foods that cause constipation
Over recent years it has become apparent that people who eat more fiber are less prone to various bowel diseases and also are likely to be healthier in other ways. Fiber, in any form is known to diminish transit time (i.e. the length of time it takes for something that is eaten to pass right through the system) and thus reduce constipation. Of course the amount of water you drink is also as important as the food that you might have. Yeast and other related products that contain yeast are great for your digestive system. White breads and pastas along with refined and processed foods have less fiber and more of the unwanted fat making you lethargic.

The lethargy takes only nano seconds to get into your system and refrain you from drinking water. Funnily enough, if you take more fiber it will tend to normalize bowel habit, and may well cut down the frequency of motions in somebody tending towards diarrhea.

In general it is wise to eat small meals often and plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as having plenty to drink (one and a half to three liters of fluid daily). Foods containing fiber include brown rice, whole meal pasta, whole meal/brown bread, potatoes with their jackets, etc. It is also wise to take regular exercise or at least remain active. When you suffer from constipation, you are most likely to have dry skin as the constipation removes any and trace of water from your body.

With the cells devoid of water, there is havoc being played in the bowels making your body completely covered with various toxins and these toxins spread all kind of smells, giving you a truly stale breadth. Moreover, you tend to weigh more with the excess undigested food that lies in your tummy. You should not make a habit of putting off the "call of nature", as this can make the body's natural functions more sluggish.

Constipation Treatment and Remedies
Sometimes people become so constipated that they or their doctor feel that other action is required. There are various medicines/tablets to help constipation (laxatives):

* Fiber supplements, which come as powder, which makes up a small drink, granules, tablets containing bran or indeed raw bran and even papaya, which is a laxative in its most natural form.
* Osmotic laxatives, which act by drawing more fluid into the bowel.
* Irritative preparations which tend to introduce contractions of the bowel
Irrespective of what you might eat, the fundamental solvent we need to consume each day is the miracle liquid called water, there may not be any other liquid that could possibly be as powerful as this one!