Many people have experienced the pain of constipation, and a considerable number of people have been troubled by it for a long time. Although it is not a serious disease, it greatly affects people's quality of life.
Experts interviewed
Director of the Department of Rectal Surgery at the Rocket Force Specialty Medical Center Ding Jianhua
Fan Zhihong, Professor, College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University
Constipation, what is the "blockage" of the body?
The "Nikkei Shimbun" article pointed out that traditional constipation can be divided into three types: rectal constipation, spastic constipation, flaccid constipation, plus less known twisted constipation, these four constipations have their own causes and characteristics, to be treated symptomatically.
Rectal constipation
Sitting on the toilet for a long time, reading, playing with mobile phones, etc., leads to dull bowel movements and accumulation of stools in the rectum.
Breaking bad habits such as reading while going to the toilet can help slowly restore sensitivity to bowel movements. In addition, sitting posture can also affect the smoothness of bowel movements, which can be used in a squat position or a small bench under your feet while sitting.
Spasmodic constipation
Mainly triggered by pressure, the stool is granular and has a relatively hard texture.
You can exercise and eat more fructo-oligosaccharide-containing foods such as barley, garlic, onions, rye, potatoes, etc.
This type of constipation, the most important thing is to reduce stress, do not be entangled for a while, even if you can have 1 bowel movement in 2~3 days. Once the pressure is gone, bowel movements will also fall.
Flaccid constipation
It is caused by the lack of intestinal muscle strength, resulting in relaxation of the intestine and the inability to push the stool out.
People with this symptom should not take too much constipation medicine or laxative tea, because it contains intestinal stimulation components, regular use, but will make the intestines tired and the bowel function decreased.
Exercise more and exercise regularly can effectively relieve this type of constipation.
Twisting constipation
The main reason is that a certain part of the intestine is twisted and "knotted", resulting in poor bowel movements. Over time, the unpassed stool will dry and harden, irritating the intestines and causing pain in the area.
According to the pain area, you can roughly determine which section of the intestine has "traffic blockage", and massage can promote laxation and relieve symptoms.
Specific method: lie on your back, bend your legs, pad a pillow about 5 cm high under the waist, put your left hand on the abdomen, put your right hand on the left bottom of the navel, massage back and forth towards the center of the abdomen for 1 minute, and do it in the other direction.
Constipation makes many illnesses worse
When constipation encounters other diseases, it can make matters worse for patients:
cirrhosis
In patients with cirrhosis who have long-term constipation, bacteria multiply in the intestine and break down to produce a large amount of ammonia. Excess ammonia will cause a series of damage to the brain through the blood-brain barrier, and finally cause hepatic encephalopathy, resulting in abnormal behavior, slow response, restlessness, confusion and other symptoms, as the symptoms continue to worsen, and even hepatic coma.
Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases
Many sudden cardiovascular and brain diseases occur in the process of defecation, mainly because of the increase in intra-abdominal pressure caused by forced defecation, which in turn leads to a sudden and sharp increase in blood pressure, inducing cerebral vascular rupture and bleeding, angina, arrhythmia, myocardial infarction and other problems.
fissures, hemorrhoids
For patients with fissures and severe hemorrhoids, defecation will always be accompanied by severe pain, dry and hard stool makes this process particularly painful, and even some patients dare not excrete with stool, so that the feces stay longer in the intestine, thereby aggravating the problem of constipation.
Dry, hard stool leads to longer toilet time, aggravates the blood circulation around the anorectum, and leads to a vicious circle in which the fissure does not heal.
Abdominal hernia
Hernia refers to the entry of an organ or part of an organ in the body from its normal anatomical position to another site through a congenital or acquired weak spot, defect or pores, with abdominal hernia being the most common, and the contents of the hernia are mostly the intestinal tube.
If the patient is chronically constipated, exerting force during defecation can lead to increased intra-abdominal pressure, which can lead to an aggravation of hernia.
Bad eating habits invite constipation
If you have long-term constipation, you should first go for a medical examination to rule out various pathologies, and then think about the cause and improve intestinal function by adjusting diet, exercise and lifestyle habits.
1
Too little food
About half of the contents of the large intestine are microbial ferments, and microorganisms rely on food residues that the human body has not fully digested and absorbed. Once the total amount of food is low to a certain extent, the number of food residues is also greatly reduced, which not only causes hunger in the stomach, but also deflats the intestines, and there are not enough food residues to stimulate intestinal peristalsis, and naturally it will lose its normal excretory function.
At the same time, long-term dieting will lead to malnutrition, lack of protein, vitamins, minerals, so that the renewal and repair speed of intestinal cells is reduced, exercise power is weakened, and it is easy to lead to intestinal dysfunction.
solution
Increase the amount of food to eighty percent full, the volume must be enough, vegetables and other foods rich in dietary fiber should be more, protein should also be sufficient, it is best to be able to supplement some vitamins and minerals.
2
Too little fiber
The large intestine mainly relies on fiber to absorb water to fill the volume, if the dietary fiber is too little for a long time, the peristalsis of the large intestine is seriously insufficient, not only the slow defecation rate, the lack of "food" needed for the reproduction of beneficial bacteria, but also greatly increase the risk of bowel cancer.
solution
Replace half of the white rice and white steamed buns with whole grain rice, bean porridge and potatoes, oats, buckwheat, sweet potatoes, red beans, mung beans and other high-fiber grains are all recommended.
All kinds of vegetables and fruits also contain a lot of fiber, such as spinach, kale, Chinese cabbage, cauliflower, bamboo shoots, various mushrooms and other vegetables are rich in dietary fiber.
Among fruits, fruits with small seeds such as kiwifruit, dragon fruit, mulberry, blueberry, and strawberry have a better effect on promoting the movement of the large intestine.
3
Irregular diet
Eating too much causes food accumulation, or eating too little and often starving, and if there is no meal, the stomach and intestines will also work disorders.
solution
Eat on time and in small quantities to maintain a normal bowel rhythm.
4
Insufficient drinking water
Constipation occurs when the intestines absorb excess water. Once the body is dehydrated, the intestines absorb more water to replenish fluids, resulting in dry stools. Eating too much dry and salty fried, smoked, fried goods, and eating too spicy food in dry areas will also deprive the human digestive tract of water, which is easy to cause constipation.
solution
Drink plenty of water and eat foods rich in soluble dietary fiber to bring water all the way into the large intestine and keep the stool softer. For example, fungus, silver fungus, kelp, oats and other foods are rich in soluble dietary fiber.
Eat less nuts and oilseeds such as sesame, almonds, peanuts, and melon seeds fried with salt, and you can cook them and eat them; Meat should also be stewed and not smoked and fried. ▲
Editor of this issue: Deng Yu