How to Normalize Stools and Restore Natural Bowel Movements

Moving bowels is an instinct, not an acquired trait. You don't need to teach newborns to move their bowels — it comes to them just as naturally as breathing or crying. Similarly, some seniors have never had a problem moving their bowels regularly and are free from common colorectal disorders, such as enlarged hemorrhoids, diverticular disease, or incontinence. So, why, then, so many other people aren't as lucky?

There are several noteworthy characteristics of these natural bowel movements that equally apply to happy babies, healthy seniors, and everyone in-between:

• Strong defecation urge. Ideally, an intense sensation to move bowels is experienced after each principal meal, or at least once daily.

• Small-sized stools. The stools are small, soft, and finger-sized, sometimes barely formed. By the Bristol Stool Scale classification, they correspond to type 4 to 6.

• A small volume of stools. The weight of the stools is usually no more than 100-150 grams per bowel movement.

• Unnoticeable act. The act of defecation is an effortless, quick, and complete passing of stools. It is no more noticeable than the act of urination. There is absolutely no conscious effort or straining.

If your bowel movements aren't as described above, it means they are no longer "natural," and you may be facing an elevated risk of major and minor colorectal disorders. They range from the ubiquitous hemorrhoids to colon cancer, and, in-between, just about anything else you can find under the Colorectal Diseases heading of any medical reference.

This guide will teach you how to restore natural bowel movements (assuming the damage you've already acquired hasn't gone too far), how to prevent new damages, and, above all, how to protect yourself from colon cancer.

Medical textbooks don't have a definition for a natural bowel movement, but there are plenty of terms which describe "unnatural" bowel movements. These are irregularity, costivity, large stools, hard stools, straining, incomplete emptying, constipation, and constipation-predominant IBS.

When patients seek help with any of the above conditions, medical doctors commonly translate all of them into two succinct terms — constipation or irregularity. For brevity, I'll use the term "constipation" throughout this guide instead of an awkward and lengthy "unnatural bowel movement," or an unspecific and tentative "irregularity."

Diarrhea is also an unnatural condition but on the opposite side of the spectrum. Because many aspects of this fast-moving disorder may require immediate medical intervention (particularly in children), its management, prevention, and treatment are entirely outside of this site's scope.

If anyone is crazy, it's definitely not you!

When doctors themselves seek guidance, they check out The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, a highly influential and revered compendium of medical know-how. According to its publisher, it‘s "the world's most widely used medical textbook." Here is what the Constipation[1] section of the manual tells them (image modified to fit this page):

As you can see, according to Merck, unnatural bowel movements are perfectly acceptable. On the other hand, expecting a natural bowel movement is an "incorrect belief."

I don't know who the "experts" were who wrote this heresy, what sources they consulted while writing it, and who the editors were who let it get printed, but that's exactly what it says. Damn the endless body of human experience, damn academic knowledge, damn existing medical textbooks, and damn published research.

And the manual goes on to reinforce the dogma: "Physicians must explain that daily bowel movements are not essential…" And if patients ignore these recommendations, they are likely to be "obsessive-compulsive" and may get depressed "from the failure to defecate daily." Considering Merck's indisputable stature and authority, neither doctors nor patients are likely to question these recommendations.

As certain as rain in Georgia, a well-meaning doctor — already preconditioned to think that anyone complaining of constipation may be a psychotic crank — translates this asinine advice into comforting language, so the nutcase in front of him won't go postal:

— You have nothing to worry about, dear (...cranky bitch!..). It‘s probably in your head (...get a shrink, dummy!..).

— Thank you, doctor (...you, patronizing asshole!..). Thank you very much (...thanks for nothing, bastard!..). I‘ll try not to worry (...I need to find a better doctor...).

— You are very welcome, dear (...what an idiot...). And don‘t forget the fiber! See you soon. (...God, make her disappear...)  Next patient, please!

This theater of the absurd plays day in, day out in medical offices everywhere. So it shouldn't surprise anyone to learn that constipation happens to be "the most common digestive complaint in the United States, outnumbering all other chronic digestive conditions [2]."

Here is what a genuinely knowledgeable and concerned doctor or nutritionist should have told you about restoring natural bowel movements, whatever your complaints and complications happen to be:

The primer on fecal engineering
(Bowel movements demystified)

Ideally, dear, you should move your bowels every day, preferably after each major meal. Your stools are supposed to be small, light, and barely noticeable, just like when you were a baby and enjoyed completely natural bowel movements.

Constipation, irregularity, and hard stools have many causes. dysbacteriosis; the use of fiber to replace dead bacteria; the enlargement of internal hemorrhoids; an unfortunate tendency to withhold stools until the right bathroom is available; the use of laxatives; nerve damage related to medication, diabetes, or nutritional deficiencies; the fear of having pain or bleeding while moving bowels; the side effects of many commonly used medicines; and some others.

Your age, dear, doesn't affect natural bowel movements directly unless you've been experiencing problems for a long time, and your colon, rectum, and anus have already been irreversibly damaged by large stools. Obviously, the older you are, the more profound the damage. That's why people connect abnormal bowel movements with age.

If your colorectal organs are healthy, a regular diet doesn't play a significant role in natural bowel movements, even with a moderate amount of fiber, except for the dietary fat factor. Fat is essential to stimulate defecation. This diet-constipation connection is one of the most difficult to accept because people commonly equate food with stools.

Let me explain to you this food-stools connection in greater detail, otherwise you'll have a hard time restoring natural bowel movements or getting rid of constipation:

The largest component of stools is water — 65% to 85%. With low-fiber diets, undigested food remnants represent from 5% to 7% of total stool volume. With high-fiber diets, they represent 10% to 15%. That‘s why healthy people who fast or can‘t eat solid food because of a sudden medical emergency continue to move their bowels — food, as they say, doesn't make the weather.

This surprising disconnect between food and stools becomes self-evident after breaking down food staples into six essential components — water, carbohydrates, protein, fat, fiber, and ash. Only fiber is indigestible. The rest are digested either completely or almost completely:

• Water from food and drinks is completely absorbed in the small and large intestine. Only about 100 ml (3 oz) of "embedded" water is excreted along with normal stools, but this is proportionately more in a high-fiber diet. Water content over 85% [3] — just a 10% difference — is characteristic of diarrhea.

• Simple and complex carbohydrates (sugars and starches) digest completely in the small intestine (except lactose, which is fermented) and are absorbed into the blood as glucose, fructose, and galactose. More than 0.5% of undigested carbohydrates in the stools is considered abnormal [4].

• Protein from meat, fish, fowl, dairy, seafood, and plants digests completely and is absorbed into blood as amino acids. So there‘s no protein in normal stools, except burned meat.

• Close to 95% of all consumed fat is absorbed in the small intestine. Fat in stools above 6% [5] of consumed fat is considered abnormal. This condition is called steatorrhea.

• All food contains insoluble mineral salts and the earth‘s minerals, which reach the large intestine undigested. This indigestible portion of food is called ash and is determined by cremation. Normal stools contain from 0.2% to 1.2% of ash.

Thus, if your daily menu includes 200 g of meats (2 g of ash), 100 g of fat (5 g undigested), and 200 g of digestible carbohydrates (1 g of ash), only 8 grams — one-and-a-half teaspoons — of undigested food residue will reach the large intestine. That‘s not enough to even get noticed in the toilet bowl.

The feces are kneaded into stools by intestinal peristalsis, with a generous serving of mucus secreted by the intestinal mucous membrane. The mucus binds together food residue, intestinal bacteria, and metabolic debris — dead body cells and remnants of metabolic activity shed by the liver along with bile.

After all is said and done, normal stools contain around 75% water. In other words, if you consume a low-fiber diet, your body expels 25 grams of undigested organic and inorganic matter for every 100 grams of stools, and only eight of those grams come from food.

The water in formed stools is retained by dead cells and intestinal bacteria, which are also single-cell organisms. Bacteria reside on the surface of the mucous membranes. They divide and die in huge numbers round-the-clock. The dead siblings are shed into the lumen (colon‘s cavity) and become an essential part of the stools. By some counts, dead bacteria represent up to 50% of dry stool matter, or almost 11 grams for each 100 grams of stools. (100 g – 75 g water – 5 g fats ) * 50% = 10 grams.

When bacteria are present, fiber has a moderate effect on the size and weight of stools because the bacteria ferment up to half of the insoluble fiber, while soluble fiber gets fermented completely. Thus, if your intestinal bacteria are alive and well, and you consume daily 20-30 grams of fiber from natural sources, it may add only 30 to 60 grams (the approximation of remaining unfermented fiber along with absorbed water) to the weight of your stools.

But if the intestinal bacteria are mostly dead (which is what causes constipation in the first place), and the dietary fiber remains unfermented, your stool weight will go up by 100-150 grams, because fiber attracts water up to five times its weight. The ensuing doubling of the stools‘ weight and size — the bulking up, conventionally speaking — will eventually cause the metamorphosis already described in all of the preceding guides.

According to Human Physiology by Schmidt and Thews — a textbook for medical students — people who consume fiber-rich diets excrete around 400 grams of stools daily. But that goes down to just 72 grams on a low-fiber diet, which is ideal! But with such a minuscule amount of normal stools, it‘s paramount not to miss bowel movements. Otherwise, small stools quickly dry out, become costive, and get difficult to pass out.

Keep in mind that the drying out of stools happens regardless of the bacteria count — normal stools become dry when the moisture content drops as little as 10% down to 65%.

When bacteria are missing altogether, the stools are dry from the get-go. That‘s why "fiber replacement therapy" works not just figuratively but literally — fiber retains water in place of the missing bacteria, though it isn‘t as efficient at keeping up the moisture as are bacterial cells. Remaining live bacteria keep devouring fiber and causing all of those prominent side effects of "rumination."

There is only one reliable way to prevent the drying up of stools and ensuing costivity — move your bowels after each big meal because the act of eating ALWAYS initiates the sequence of events that stimulate defecation. These successive unconscious events are called, respectively, the gastrocolic reflex, peristaltic mass movement, and the defecation urge. That‘s how our gut is wired by nature to move the bowels.

Unfortunately for most Westerners, once the potty training begins, the parents and teachers work really hard to unwire this miracle of nature. That‘s so that you can finally leave the house without a diaper and sit through a class without interrupting it. It‘s possible because the final stage of defecation doesn‘t take place until you consciously permit it by relaxing your external anal sphincter.

As we grow up, we learn to suppress the defecation urge by constricting our rectums with our pelvic muscles. While still young, we squint, grimace, and cross our legs to accomplish it; later in life, we can suppress all but the strongest urge, unnoticed and wrinkle-free.

But this essential social skill has a downside. If you keep suppressing defecation for too long, usually over a day, retained stools gradually impact, dry out, harden up, and require straining to get expelled regardless of size. When that happens, the chaffing of dry stools against the delicate lining of the anal canal causes big-time pain and scary-looking bleeding. (The straining makes matters much worse, as described here...)

To summarize, you should move your bowels as soon as you sense the defecation urge, usually after each big meal. In this ideal situation, stools are soft, small, and barely formed, which is perfectly normal. They weigh no more than 100-150 grams.

If this optimal frequency isn‘t attainable, you should pass stools at least daily, usually after breakfast. In this case, the stools accumulated over a 24-hour are larger, heavier, and more formed, but still passable.

On the other hand, when:

• Your stools are larger than your middle or index finger, or… [These two sections — How Large Is To Large and The Final Frontier Between You And the Toilet Bowl — explains the connection between the size of stools and chronic constipation, a very important read]

• Your stools weigh substantially more than two standard-issue ballpark wieners, or…

• You need to strain, or you are experiencing discomfort, or…

• You don‘t have effortless stools at least daily, or…

• You are supplementing with fiber, or rely on prune juice, oatmeal, and/or laxatives...

…or all of the above, this truly means that something is wrong. Nonetheless, you aren't considered constipated until you don't move the bowels for more than three consecutive days. Thus, as long as you can keep straining to squeeze out stale, stinking, chaffing stools every three days, then, medically speaking, you are just irregular or not yet worse enough to warrant medical treatment. That's the essence of it.

— Thank you, doctor, this was a great explanation. I am beginning to understand now. But I am still not clear on how to get rid of constipation?

— Unfortunately, dear, there are no drugs or treatments that I can prescribe to you. And you are better off not using fiber or laxatives.

— So what should I do, then, doctor?

— I would love to help you more, but our appointment is already 30 minutes too long. Your insurance company isn't paying me a penny for talking 'crap', and I have other patients waiting. There is this medical writer in New Jersey, whose name is Constantine-something, and he wrote a GutSense.org web site. That's where I learned these things I just told you. Read his site. Find what applies to you, and follow it. You will not suffer from constipation ever again! I am embarrassed to admit it, but it helped me too! This guy is a genius.

— But what about The Merck Manual, doctor? The printout I brought is the complete opposite of what you just told me.

— Oh, forget about this rubbish, dear... It's a pharmaceutical company, for laughing out loud! They peddle Miralax, for heaven's sake... From their perspective, if you are complaining about constipation, you are a nutcase! Would you like me to send you to a psychiatrist, dear? I hope not...

— Thank you, doctor! Thank you very much! I am so lucky to know you! And I mean it... (...crying...)

— See you soon, dear. Don't cry, you‘ll be fine now... Just get rid of that fiber!.. Don't strain!.. It's g-u-t-s-e-n-s-e-dot-com. (...God, I lost another patient... She is so cute... Oh, well...) Next patient, please!

Bad advice: the harder they try — the faster you die...

That was, as I said, a best-case scenario. In real life, even if you meet a friendly, caring doctor who won't take you for an obsessive-compulsive psycho and who will go out of his/her way to help you, the primary recommendations would still boil down to the following well-known list:

(1) Consume 20 to 30 grams of fiber daily to ensure adequate stool bulk;

(2) Drink at least eight glasses of water daily to keep stools moist;

(3) Exclude animal fat because it causes constipation;

(4) Exercise regularly to stimulate intestinal activity;

(5) Tone up lax abdominal muscles because they improve elimination;

(6) Reduce stress because it contributes to constipation.

Too bad none of these recommendations are even remotely helpful for restoring natural bowel movements! And some are downright harmful. So, let's go over them one by one:

Q. Is it true that dietary fiber prevents or relieves constipation?

No, it isn‘t. As I already explained in my book, here, and pretty much elsewhere on this site, fiber from fruits, vegetables, grains, bran, and laxatives is the PRIMARY cause of chronic, persistent constipation and related colorectal disorders.

For those who are familiar with the large intestine‘s anatomy, it isn't difficult to comprehend why fiber‘s most heralded asset — its ability to bulk up stools — is complete nonsense. The fiber‘s journey inside the large intestine begins not by going down, but by going up, up, and up the ascending colon. And the weightier it is, the longer it takes because the peristaltic propulsion inside the colon isn‘t strong enough to move up very heavy 'loads.'

This also explains how astronauts who spend months on end in the International Space Stations don‘t experience constipation, even though their stools are WEIGHTLESS. And when they do, they don‘t use fiber, but conventional laxatives, such as Ducolax® or Senade [6].

Q. Is it true that drinking more water prevents or relieves constipation?

No, it isn‘t. Actually, sipping two, three, five, ten or more liters of water wouldn‘t produce soft and moist stools because drinking water per se never reaches the large intestine of a healthy person. In fact, death from water intoxication would happen faster than this water reaching the bowels.

For starters, the gastrointestinal tract isn‘t a straight pipe. Next, water gets absorbed in the small intestine long before it reaches the large intestine. In case it doesn‘t, you get hit with diarrhea. It only happens when inflammation, soluble fiber, or laxatives cause intestinal malabsorption.

Next, the large intestine excretes about 100-150 ml of water a day along with normal stools. That‘s around six-nine tablespoons of water from about 30 to 40 liters (8 to 10 gallons) present in the adult body at any time — more than enough to keep stools moist long after you die from dehydration.

Even more facts: According to Karl Fischer‘s [7] method of measuring the water content of feces, the difference in water content between hard, formed, grayish stools (that‘s as bad as it gets) and normal stool is less than 15 ml — a tablespoon‘s worth. In other words, you don‘t need to drink two liters of water to make up for one tablespoon.

Finally, the large intestine recovers sodium chloride — table salt in plain English — back from stools. Salt is needed body-wide to keep blood adequately salty, prevent edema, avoid dehydration, make sweat, and synthesize hydrochloric acid for gastric digestion. If you don't consume enough salt, stools get dehydrated even faster thanks to the intense recovery of sodium chloride from the large intestine.

It‘s worth noting that regular table salt is also the primary source of dietary iodine in the American diet. Iodine is required for a healthy thyroid function. Hypothyroidism happens to be one of the major causes of persistent, chronic constipation.

Incidentally, a low-salt diet lowers blood pressure not because salt causes it (salt consumed in moderation doesn‘t, the idea that it does is another big lie, waiting to get debunked), but because, at least initially, sodium deficiency causes dehydration. In turn, this reduces the volume of blood. Less blood in the system = less blood pressure. That‘s a no-brainer.

Later on, the low thyroid function kicks in and slows down the metabolism. Slow metabolism, in turn, reduces heart output and muscle tone. Along with hypotension (low blood pressure), these are the top reasons behind chronic fatigue in general, and "colon fatigue" (a.k.a. lazy gut) in our particular case.

If you are still in denial over eight glasses of water, the arch-conservative Journal of the American Dietetic Association nods in agreement with some of these points:

"It is a common but erroneous belief that the increased weight [of stool] is due primarily to water. The moisture content of human stool is 70% to 75% and this doesn‘t change when more fiber is consumed. In other words, fiber in colon is not more effective at holding water in the lumen than the other components of stool [8]."

If there is a connection between water consumption and constipation, it‘s the complete opposite: the more water you consume, the drier the stool gets because the excess water consumption causes the depletion of sodium chloride (table salt). Salt happens to be one of the most critical factors responsible for water retention in the stools. This very pervasive fiber-water myth is discussed in Chapter 2, Water Damage. 

And, by the way, all that calcium and magnesium that your heart, teeth, joints, and bones are craving 24/7 gets pissed away as well. The more you drink, the faster...

End of story.

Q. Is it true that regular exercise stimulates intestinal activity?

No, it isn‘t. In fact, you can exercise yourself senseless and get even more constipated because, among other things, vigorous physical activity inhibits motility — a fancy term for forward propulsion of stools inside the large intestine. Reconfirmed by checking up Rome II:

"Active or chronic [sic] physical exercise has probably no major effect on the functions of healthy colons. [ 9 ] " 

Besides, most people move their bowels for the first time just after waking up and having breakfast. A good night‘s sleep is hardly 'exercise.'

That erroneous concept came from correctly noting that fit and healthy people complain of constipation less often than sedentary types. But that concomitance (more exercise — less constipation) is an outcome of good health habits, not exercise. If there were a connection, constipation simply wouldn‘t exist among athletes, laborers, gym-goers, and beach jocks and bunnies. But of course, that isn‘t remotely the case. It doesn‘t mean that you shouldn‘t exercise. You absolutely should for all the other benefits it gives you.

There are several good reasons behind morning stools. First, while you are asleep horizontally, the large intestine propels feces toward the rectum. The propulsion up the ascending colon in the upright position is quite limited. Second, you are relaxed and not yet constrained by clothing. Third, eating breakfast stimulates the defecation urge. Finally, because you may be more comfortable using your own bathroom, you are less likely to suppress the defecation urge and will take immediate advantage of all of the above circumstances.

If you don‘t eat breakfast at home, you may stimulate defecation by slowly drinking a glass of warm water. This simple method is often as good a stimulant as eating. If you don‘t experience any urge, you may have anorectal nerve damage caused by fiber, straining, hemorrhoids, scarring, enlarged colon, medications, laxatives, diabetes, vitamin deficiencies, surgeries, and other factors described here.

Q. Is it true that toning up lax muscles helps to relieve constipation?

No, it isn‘t. Actually, stronger pelvic and abdominal muscles only help you to strain harder, and straining aggravates constipation and its side effects more than any other single factor. And that‘s before considering the  impact of straining on hemorrhoids, rectal prolapse, hernias, diverticular disease, intestinal obstructions, genitourinary disorders, and other possible complications. As I already explained, normal defecation requires no more abdominal "push" than urination. It ain‘t childbirth, dahlings…

If you still keep straining after reading this, consider taking a Lamaze class to reduce pain and anxiety. Just imagine the helping hand and reassuring voice of your beloved spouse guiding you along: exhale darling, push, push, push, poop… You are doing great!… Inhale, relax, relax, relax… OK, let‘s do it again!

Please note again that I am not against having toned and beautiful "six-pack abs" per se, but against using them to "relieve constipation." A small but significant difference.

Q. Is it true that stress causes constipation?

Yes and no, depending on personality type, circumstances, and stress severity.

Yes, because depression and anxiety inhibit gastric and intestinal peristalsis and sometimes result to conscious suppression of bowel movements.  Additional culprits are the medicines taken for anxiety, depression, and insomnia — along with a runaway mind, drugs dull the nerves and muscles vested with elimination duties all too well.

No, because intense stress may cause the complete opposite of constipation: diarrhea of equal intensity. Hadn‘t you ever experienced a nasty churning inside your gut while facing a first date, or crucial exam, or job interview, or speed trap, or close call, or IRS audit, or… perhaps even from reading this article?

I discuss the connection between stress and constipation at length on this page: Does Stress Cause Constipation And Why?

Q. Is it true that animal fat causes constipation?

No, it isn‘t. In fact, it‘s the complete opposite: low-fat diets cause constipation, while excess fat causes diarrhea. Anyone who tells you otherwise needs a mental check considering that vegetable oils have been used as potent laxatives for millennia. Chemically, flax, olive, or castor oils are fat just as much as lard, tallow, or butter — except they are liquid and easier to swallow in one large dose.

Any fat taken at once in large quantities as a "purgative" overwhelms the intestinal fat-breaking enzymes and remains largely undigested. This condition blocks the absorption of fluids throughout the entire length of the small and large intestines and causes a surge of fluids straight down into the rectum. The large volume of fluid inside the rectum causes diarrhea, just like an enema does. That‘s all there is to it.

Is this a safe fix for persistent constipation? No, it is neither safe nor effective. First, you may end up dehydrated because fluids can‘t be absorbed. Second, oil-based laxatives cause soiling or persistent fecal incontinence. Third, vegetable oils may contain carcinogenic trans fats, plant-derived toxins, and allergic irritants that may cause intestinal inflammation. Fourth, mineral oil (it‘s indigestible, but still gets absorbed into the blood) may cause severe poisoning and lipid pneumonia.

Adding insult to injury, oil-based laxatives are impractical for severe constipation because oil coats up hardened stools and prevents surging fluids from breaking them down. The resulting diarrhea is called paradoxical, because fluids flow around stools, while they remain stubbornly lodged inside the large intestine.

Finally, why do low-fat diets contribute to constipation? Dietary fat stimulates the release of bile from the gallbladder, which, in turn, stimulates the gastrocolic reflex. This, in turn, stimulates peristaltic mass movement, which, in turn, stimulates defecation. No fat in the diet = not enough bile in the system to get the ball rolling:

"Energy-rich meals with a high-fat content increase motility [propulsion of stools]; carbohydrates and proteins have no effect." (Source: Human Physiology [10])

Case closed!

Apparently, that harebrained conjecture about animal fats and constipation came from observing the Atkins diet's costivity effect. But this fluke has nothing to do with fat and everything to do with fiber — or, more accurately, with the absence of fiber in low-carb diets. Naturally, stools sans fiber lack the bulk to get coaxed out on their own from a large intestine damaged by years and years of fiber dependence.

I‘ve lavished extra attention on the fat-constipation connection because anything remotely related to fat, and, indirectly, to cholesterol, is so controversial.

Talking of cholesterol… Every single cell in your body is covered by membranes made from the molecules of cholesterol. The intestines happen to be one of the most demanding consumers of cholesterol because all of the cells that make up intestinal membranes get turned over (replaced) daily. The cholesterol needed to make up these cells comes from food or is synthesized by the liver as LDL ("bad") cholesterol. Whenever you restrict food sources of cholesterol, your liver has to produce more LDL cholesterol to compensate for the deficit.

On the other hand, HDL ("good") cholesterol is the principal component of bile. The more fat you ingest, the more bile is made by the liver to digest it, and, correspondingly, the level of HDL cholesterol goes up.

Thus, if you limit dietary fat and cholesterol, the "bad" goes up to kill you, and the "good" goes down to kill you more. On the other hand, with its plentitude of animal fat and cholesterol, the Atkins diet has been consistently shown to lower the "bad" and raise the "good" cholesterol — just what the doctor ordered.

This phenomenon — less animal fat, more "bad" cholesterol — hasn‘t, of course, escaped the attention of statin-makers (LDL-lowering drugs such as Lipitor, Zocor, Crestor, Mevacor, Pravachol, Vytorin, etc.). No wonder they promote low-fat diets with the vengeance of John McClane — the less animal fat you consume, the higher the LDL. And that sells more statins.

At this point, it shouldn‘t surprise you that constipation and diarrhea are listed among the most common side effects of statins [11]. Oh, well…

Recommendations: no downside, just upside-down 

For starters, let‘s not pile up any more damage. Exercise for health, fun, and weight-loss reasons, but exercise doesn't stimulate intestinal activity — it inhibits it. If your colon is stuffed with week-old stools, then exercises that engage abdominal muscles may have a stimulating effect. But that's similar to straining and has nothing to do with normal defecation.

It's also perfectly OK to tone up lax abdominal muscles to improve your body shape, but don't use these muscles to squeeze out stools—unless you have a death wish! By all means, reduce stress in your life because stress hormones affect your cardiovascular system, your mood, your sleep, your appetite, and so on. But it makes no significant difference for constipation. In fact, an occasional jolt of stress is a very effective laxative.

Now, let's get down to the business of restoring natural bowel movements:

Step 1. Reduce fiber consumption and break any dependence on laxatives to the absolute minimum as described throughout this site, and particularly here. It's best if you read Fiber Menace — its last three chapters deal exclusively with a trouble-free transition to a low-fiber lifestyle. This step is essential to reduce stool size and restore proper (physiological) stool morphology.

Step 2. Reduce water consumption, as described in Chapter 2 of Fiber Menace: Water Damage. This step is important, particularly if you already have upper digestive disorders or are over 40, because overconsumption of water causes indigestion, gastritis, enteritis, and, surprisingly, dehydration related to the loss of essential electrolytes with excessive urination. This condition that may contribute to the onset of dehydration.  You are better off avoiding and preventing all these conditions to avoid their cascading influence on constipation.

Step 3. Get off fat-free diets. Fat is the single most crucial factor in the physiology of defecation as we have already established above. Fat is also critical for normal digestion, a healthy GI tract, vitamin absorption, heart and brain function, blood cells, hormones, supple bones, and, of course, to overcome constipation. You can learn more about it here.

Step 4. Normalize stools. Use Hydro-CM program to attain small stools. The goal is to eliminate straining, reduce pressure on internal hemorrhoids, and restore anorectal sensitivity. If you are still relatively young and "undamaged," you should be able to restore natural bowel movements within a few weeks to a few months.

Step 5. Restore your intestinal flora. This step is executed in parallel with Step 4. An in-depth background about the role and function of intestinal flora is available here.

Step 6. Restore/awaken your anorectal sensitivity. Without this, you'll never feel the urge to move your bowels and won't be able to initiate unassisted, regular bowel movements. Even when the anorectal sensitivity is beyond repair, there are "ways and means" to attain desired results. More on this subject is here.

And that's all there is to it — a ton of fun reading, several inexpensive supplements, some bowel re-training, and "they moved their bowels happily ever after." Good luck!

Author's note

While preparing this page for publication, I came across an article about constipation on the web site of The International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (IFFGD), which I quoted in Fiber Menace all the way back in 2005. Here is their new tune regarding dietary fiber:

"Dietary fiber is often effective in improving mild constipation. However, it has less consistent results with more severe constipation, possibly worsening symptoms in patients with slow colonic transit (colonic inertia) [12]"

Despite the good beginning, the rest of IFFGD's site still recommends fiber to relieve and prevent constipation—though only for healthy people this time around. That's one good way to become unhealthy and turn "mild" constipation into "severe."

No surprise there — Procter & Gamble, the maker of Metamucil, is one of IFFGD‘s corporate sponsors [link], so IFFGD is already "covering its bases" with a skillfully worded disclaimer to absolve itself from future culpability. When there is a choice between making a buck and making people healthy, the buck wins..

Please don't forget to send a link to this page to anyone you know, suspect, or believe may be affected by constipation. For all the work I do, nothing elicits as much happiness and joy among my readers as being able to go to the bathroom without a fear. Make someone happy and joyful again!

Konstantin Monastyrsky

Footnotes

You can click the Backspace key on your keyboard or the browser's Go back button to return to the referring text.

Click the [link] to view the source site or document in the new window (when available). The references for this guide were compiled in early 2008. Some of the links may not match at a later date because publishers may revise their web sites. In this case, try searching cached pages on Google, or contact the respective publishers.