Constipation: I Keep Trying to Fix It, But It’s Not Working!

1. Why Is Constipation Called a Functional Digestive Problem?

The symptoms of constipation are varied¹. A key component of it is functional, meaning you can’t find reasons for it. For instance it could be a mass that is blocking elimination. This is why it’s important to get checked out by your doctor. Usually your doctor will try different treatments or do a colonoscopy to visualize the intestines, dependent on your age. Other times they may try lifestyle changes and treatments first.

2. What are the Symptoms of Being Unable to Have a Good Bowel Movement?

The most common symptoms are that you are uncomfortable in your abdomen or belly, you feel bloated, you may have gas and you may feel pain as well. You may produce dry pebbles or hard stools. Often you go less than 1 time per day. According to the Mayo Clinic², constipation is classified as less than 3 bowel movements per week.

3. How Does it Feel to be Constipated?

There is a very distinct feeling of constipation. You push and push and may go a little but you feel like not everything came out and it was a lot of hard work. It also takes you longer than most to go to the bathroom. The term used is incomplete evacuation and straining.

4. Why am I Gassy and Bloated When I’m Constipated?

Gas and bloating is part of constipation and functional digestive disorders⁴. Even though gas is uncomfortable, it’s one of the natural ways that the body signals the intestines to move. Hydrogen gas, in fact, is known to have beneficial effects for the colonic mucosa, including functioning as an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. This, in effect, would help it to move out your poo⁵.

Good gas (I know, I know, how can it be good?) is produced by good bacteria, like probiotics. It stimulates the natural action of the intestines to move stools downward. If the bacteria in your intestines are unhealthy (conbiotics™ as I call them) such as the archaea species of bacteria that produce methane, then it can actually slow down bowel transit time. This is linked to constipation⁶.

5. How Often Should I Have a Bowel Movement ?

A normal bowel movement should happen every day. Men seem to go more than women. The statistics show that on average, men go every 1.7 days and women every 2.5 days^7. Ideally in my practice our goal is for all patients to go daily, for this simple fact. You eat daily, so what goes in, should come out. Otherwise there is backup.

If you want to get more in detail about what your poo says about you, get your free download here 

6. Why Do Men Go to the Bathroom More than Women?

Men have a higher average of bowel movements because let’s face it, women are more complicated. Yes I am admitting that. But science shows this too. It has to do with the fact that we have a broader hormone mix than men. Estrogen can be very problematic to women and have an affect on your bowel movements. 

7. How Does my Thyroid Affect my Bowel Movements?

When you have an underactive thyroid (A.K.A. hypothyroid) or a condition known as Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, a common symptom is constipation. Think of a thyroid condition as an overall slowing down of your metabolism. If your body is slow, then your bowel movements will be much slower too, leading to constipation. 

8. Why Do my Estrogen Levels Affect My Bowel Movements?

If you are carrying extra weight, taking the birth control pill or other estrogen-replacing drugs or are exposed to fake estrogens (A.K.A. xenoestrogens – which every human being on the planet these days is) you have a higher level of estrogen than most.

Progesterone balances estrogen in the female body. Progesterone is necessary to have healthy bowel movements. When your levels of estrogen are too high, you lose the proper balance between estrogen and progesterone to have those healthy bowel movements.

9. Why Can’t I Poo?

We’ve talked about a few, but there are so many reasons why you can’t poo⁸.
It has to do with:

– Your nervous system
– Your hormonal system
– Your immune system
– Your digestive system
– Inflammation that you have in your body
– The amount of weight that you are carrying in your abdomen (central obesity)
– The types of bacteria you have in your gut
– The types of foods you are eating
– The foods you may be eating that you are allergic, sensitive or intolerant to
– How much fluid you are drinking
– How many caffeinated beverages you are consuming daily
– How much sleep you are getting
– How stressed you are
– How depressed you are
– How deficient you are in certain vitamins and minerals that support good bowel movements
– Your genetics

And the list goes on and on.

10. Why is the Digestive System called the Center of Our Body Universe?

The gut and digestive spot is the center of the universe when it comes to your body. You have health if you have good bowel movements.
So if you’ve had problems figuring out why you can’t go, it’s because you haven’t hit the nail on the head yet or you have a combination of different factors working against you, causing you to be constipated. You want to be looking at your stools for the clues.

As you can see it is a HUGE topic!

11. How Often Should I Poop?

What goes in, must come out. If you ate every second day, then you should poo every second day. But because you eat daily, you really should be having a bowel movement daily. Otherwise, you are constipated.

Your body is an environment that requires flow. Intake of good stuff, outpour of bad stuff. Think of it like a fish tank. When your fish poops, the tank must clean the water out from time to time or the fish begins to swim in his own filth. You don’t want the cells inside your body to begin to swim in its own filth. This is clearly not healthy.

12. How Come Most of my Friends Don’t Poo Daily?

The reality is that constipation is reaching epidemic levels. 14% of the world population⁹, which equals approximately 1 billion people, are constipated. The worst part is that it is a life threatening epidemic, because if you think about it, all natural environments, including your body, need to eliminate waste. If you can’t eliminate waste, the waste back ups and that is bad.

13. The anatomy of the intestines: How much should you poop each day? 

Did you know that your lower descending colon is the length of your wrist to your elbow. This is the amount of food, fiber and fluids that you ate the day before and should be what you eliminate daily. Remember, what goes in, must come out.

Have you ever thought, “Wow, here I am eating all this food and where is it going? If it’s not coming out of me, where is it?” It’s just sitting there causing problems. Let’s figure out what we can do to make it better!

14. What is The First Step to Have Better Bowel Movements?

To know what to do, it is important to know what the problem is. Peeking after you poo every time you go is key. Start to keep a log about it (pun completely intended!) Our Queendom is loving The Log Book | A 7-Day Logging Exercise. It is not only great for tracking your stools, but also your gratitude practices, your health practices, your food & water intake, your sleep & so much MORE!

15. What is the Best Supplement-Free Tool to Help With Constipation? 

Castor Oil Packs are legendary, biblical treatment that have been used since the beginning of mankind to treat constipation. They are used in all forms of medicine including the Ancient Chinese, Indian, Mediterranean, Egyptian and Caribbean cultures to help with all things having to do with the gut.

The Castor Oil Pack for Liver IMPROVES:

– Digestion
– Absorption
– Elimination¹⁰

They have shown to reduce pain and inflammation^11,12 associated with these processes no matter the cause. So anything that might be irritating your intestine like food sensitivities, allergies or intolerances, it will make it better tolerated so you can digest better.

Research shows that Castor Oil Pack practice results in less pain and bloating because it helps to improve factors in digestion that are making you feel horrible when you eat food. I can’t tell you how many times I have thrown on a pack when I’ve been bloated or really suffering in my guts. Whether it be from butterflies rocking my belly, or from serious gas.

If absorption is an issue, chances are you’re low on some of your vital nutrients. Castor Oil Packs help to replenish those deficiencies naturally, simply by helping you better absorb your food. To be able to digest food, you need amino acids from protein in order to make digestive enzymes. If you don’t absorb your food properly, how can you expect to make digestive enzymes? Improving this function helps your body work better.

Not only do the Castor Oil Packs stimulate the movement of the digestive tract, but they also help to get things out as well. It has been researched in comparison to stimulant laxatives and shown to produce improved satisfaction and sensation of complete evacuation, reduced straining and patients overall had a better bowel movement experience¹³.

On top of that it also helps to improve the antioxidants and factors in your body that help with cleansing, like glutathione^14,15.

Remember as well there are so many possible ROOT CAUSES for your CONSTIPATION so troubleshooting can be very difficult. This is an easy way to set the foundation and start off by removing the most common factors. Then as you look and learn from your poo, you can be your own best digestive detective to understand what might be the underlying problem and then fix it!

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