Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Constipation - A Sign of Poor Digestive Health

By Sue Thompson

Are your bowel movements regular? Do you often strain when you eliminate but to no avail?

Good digestive health is basically characterized by regular elimination. Constipation usually indicates that there is a more serious medical condition involved. Over 95% of health problems begin in the digestive system and in many cases the cause is often traced to constipation.

In a 24-four period, the number of meals you take should be the same as the number of times you have your bowel movements. If you take frequent meals, then you should also take frequent trips to the john. Not being able to do this means you are constipated. Among Americans, 65% are suffering from this condition.

Traditional Medicine and Holistic Medicine have different theories regarding constipation.

In Traditional Medicine, constipation is defined as the passage of small amounts of hard dry stool. It also explains that frequency of elimination is dependent on an individual's level of metabolism. Since people's level of metabolism vary, the frequency of elimination also varies among each individual.

Holistic Medicine has a more universal approach and that is -- one elimination for every meal eaten daily. A healthy digestive system is able to complete its functions efficiently from eating, digesting, and eliminating within the time frame of 12 to 18 hours. If waste matter stays longer than 18 hours in the body, it becomes rotten and the toxins that result from this create more serious health problems.

The good news is, it is actually quite easy to get rid of constipation. The tips outlined here will help you have easy and regular bowel movements.

1) Drink lots of water to rehydrate your digestive system. Your daily intake of water should be one ounce for every pound of your body weight.

2) Engage in a regular exercise regimen. This need not be extremely strenuous but challenging enough to get your blood pumping. This increased blood flow will help facilitate elimination.

3) Take a good daily fiber supplement that contains ground flax.

4) Make sure your digestive system is well lubricated with Essential Fatty Acids like Flax, Borage and Fish Oils.

It is very important that we maintain good digestive health. We should make sure that our body is efficiently getting rid of waste matter through regular elimination. A digestive system that is constantly crammed with waste creates a toxic environment. This puts a lot of stress on the liver, lungs, lymphatic system, blood, skin, colon, and kidneys as these organs work in cleansing your body off these toxins.

If you have constipation, why not visit a naturopathic medical practitioner? He can offer you healthy alternatives, give you good advice regarding supplements and even share reading materials to help you deal with conditions caused by poor digestive health. - 16004

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