Are You Full of Cr@p?!?

April 30, 2018

Get your giggles out now -- today's topic is POOP.

We humans are supposed to poop 1-3 times per day. If you're not doing that without a medication or natural supplement, or if you have to strain to go, consider yourself constipated. I know it isn't the most pleasant topic, but pooping is very normal and very necessary -- the body NEEDS to evacuate itself daily. If it doesn't, our internal environment can become toxic.

Constipation is often caused by a lack of beneficial bacteria in the gut (poop is largely made up of bacteria, so if you don't have enough bacteria, you body has trouble forming poops). Luckily, there are many easy ways to cure constipation naturally. Here are a few ideas to try:

1. Increase the amount of healthy fats (olive oil, coconut oil, avocados, grass-fed butter) in your diet. Fat helps coat the stools so they're more slidy -- and it's easier to get them out.

2. Eat your greens. There's nothing like fiber to get the bowels moving along and greens are chock full of natural fiber. Eat some raw greens every day -- either in a salad or in a smoothie.

3. Try supplementing with magnesium glycinate. Magnesium is typically very well-tolerated and can really help move things along. Around 400mg before dinner is a good amount to try (3 of the capsules in the link).

4. Eat fermented foods. Just a condiment-sized portion of a fermented food like raw (unpasteurized) sauerkraut or pickles at least once a day can really increase the amount of beneficial bacteria in your gut -- which is exactly what we need if we're constipated.

5. Drink water. This one is pretty obvious, but most people don't drink enough water so I thought it deserved mentioning. If your body is all dried out, your poops will be all dried out. And dry ones don't move very nicely.

6. Try a Squatty Potty! The natural pose for easy pooping is not, unfortunately, sitting on a toilet bowl with your thighs parallel to the ground. This ingenious invention allows the body to be in a more natural position to promote easy pooping (don't worry, it's easy to hide if guests are coming over).

If these options don't help, odds are good there is something else going on, like dysbiosis or SIBO. Contact me or a naturopathic or functional medicine doctor for more information or for help in determining what's going on in YOUR body.