When it comes to constipation, the first piece of advice that rings in most people's ears is often: "Eat more whole grains and fruits and vegetables." "So, many friends are especially serious about nibbling corn, drinking millet porridge, chewing sweet potatoes, eating bananas, cucumbers, tomatoes... As a result, to say that there is no help at all, it is a bit of a waste of everyone's efforts, but the degree is limited. Friends who regard the toilet as a battlefield and have suffered from constipation for a long time, I hope that today's article will help you a little.
Before talking about specific foods, you need to understand one thing: a balanced diet of three meals a day and diet structure is the foundation of everything. Whether you can't pass the poop, or you can pass but the poop is too dry and hard, skipping a meal and not eating at every turn is highly undesirable, unless you are asked to fast lightly by a nutritionist or dietitian because you are too fat.
Eat a balanced diet and do not neglect breakfast
Skipping breakfast and missing the best time to have a bowel movement
Breakfast is important because eating triggers the gastrocolic reflex. This reflex increases the movement of the colon (that is, the large intestine), imagine a scene where a large number of goods are sent out in the warehouse and the courier has to start work...
At the same time, the process from lying down to getting out of bed and standing has undergone a transition from supine to upright position. Don't underestimate this transition process, it can induce the rectal reflex. This rectal reflex and the gastrocolic reflex will have a synergistic effect, resulting in the propagation of high-amplitude colonic peristalsis waves, resulting in bowel stimulation - which is why it is easy to have a strong urge to go to the toilet.
However, if you deliberately delay squatting in the toilet because you rush to work, or do not eat breakfast, or because of makeup, yelling at children to school and other things, the body's primitive perception of defecation stimulation will passively weaken, so that the happiness that could have been a rush will be wiped out.
Drinking enough water is the basic guarantee for smooth bowel movements
Otherwise, eating enough dietary fiber may not work
First of all, popular science has an important knowledge: normal stool contains about 74% water, hard stool contains
Friends who have suffered from constipation for a long time, drinking more water is your first and very important homework, 8 glasses of water (1500-2000 ml of liquid) a day is the basic guarantee of smooth stool. Otherwise, even if dietary fiber intake is sufficient, the laxative effect of fiber cannot be fully exerted.
The help of water to laxation is multifaceted: water itself and the ions and inorganic salts in water, such as magnesium ions, calcium ions, sulfates, carbonates, bicarbonates, etc., they are formed in the gastrointestinal tract after a series of transformations, some of which can absorb water from the intestinal wall, help the poop fill with water and soften; Some may irritate colonic reflexes; There is also a part that may have prebiotic effects...
Eat right and eat enough dietary fiber
Rough taste does not equal "high fiber"
For friends who cannot defecate every day due to squatting and straining, painful bowel movements, dry stools and other reasons, appropriately increasing the intake of dietary fiber can indeed effectively reduce your pain.
Many friends mistakenly think that "difficult to chew" = "high fiber", but this is actually a misunderstanding, the typical example is celery, what makes celery unpalatable is not dietary fiber, but its "vascular bundle" as a plant's structure. Dietary fiber, in fact, is "invisible to the naked eye", just like protein, although it is the main nutrient that constitutes meat, eggs and milk, but only our intestines know what it looks like. If you still don't understand, just look at the definition of dietary fiber below -
According to the definition of dietary fiber by the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2010: common characteristics refer to 10 and more than 10 polymerization degree of carbohydrate polymers, and the substance cannot be hydrolyzed by enzymes in the human small intestine and has health benefits for the human body.
Dietary fiber is a large family, according to solubility (the degree of dissolution in water), viscosity (flow resistance), fermentation ability (the ability to be used by intestinal bacteria in the colon to ferment), this family is divided into six very detailed categories, here we will not go into detail, but their function of helping people to go to the toilet happily, mainly from two aspects:
1. Partially or completely fermented by bacteria in the colon, increasing the weight of feces by increasing the number of flora, retaining water, producing short-chain fatty acids and gases, making the poop softer and easier to excrete - this function is mainly completed by soluble dietary fiber that may be moderately fermented, such as gum, inulin, etc.;
2. Increase water and mucus secretion by stimulating the intestinal mucosa, thereby promoting the transport of stool in the intestine - this function is mainly completed by insoluble dietary fiber, such as wheat bran with large and coarse particles.
But to remind everyone, whether heated or crushed, processing will not destroy dietary fiber; But raw or steamed vegetables are more helpful for soft poop than cooked vegetables. Because whether it is stir-fried or roasted, it will change some of the beneficial components (such as vitamins, polyphenols) in vegetables, thereby weakening their synergy with fiber.
These laxative "special foods"
It has been shown to be effective in helping bowel movements
The role of food in the treatment of constipation is not only related to dietary fiber, but also related to the synergistic effect of other components such as polyphenols, sorbitol, etc. So, you'll find that although you deliberately eat more corn, millet, celery and other foods that you think are "rough", the effect on improving constipation is still not satisfactory.
Studies have confirmed that foods that can help us loose poop more effectively include the following, so take out a small book to focus on recording!
Fruit group: kiwi (especially golden fruit), plum, prune, passion fruit, pear, apple
Vegetable group: spinach, mung beans, eggplant, fennel, artichokes, broccoli, cauliflower, bitter melon, other legumes
Others: flaxseed, fermented yogurt, fungus, bran
Dietary fiber is not the more you consume, the better
Instead, there may be bloating and flatulence
As mentioned at the beginning, doctors will advise patients with constipation to "consume enough dietary fiber." How much is "sufficient"?
According to the "Dietary Nutrient Reference Intake for Chinese Residents (2013 Edition)", adults should consume 25-30 grams of dietary fiber per day, and children under 14 years old should be calculated according to 10 grams/1000 kcal of energy.
This demand for adults, through not less than 500 grams of vegetables and fruits per day, and no less than 1/3 of the whole day cereals are whole grains, which can generally be met. However, most people do not consume enough, on average only about half the recommended amount.
The above foods that have been confirmed by research to be particularly helpful in relieving constipation will vary from person to person, and does not mean that you have to eat a lot. After all, our appetites are limited, and we need a balanced, diverse food structure to meet the body's multiple metabolic needs. You can't just soften the poop, and it doesn't mean that the more dietary fiber you consume, the better. When dietary fiber intake > 50 grams / day, it may cause bloating, flatulence and other troubles.
For patients with neuromuscular disorders, movement disorder syndrome, chronic opioid use and pelvic floor dysfunction, when they greatly increase their dietary fiber intake but do not drink enough fluids, they are prone to obstruction and defecation disorders, so pay special attention!
The right thing to do is to eat four to five servings of fruit and/or vegetables a day (almost 500 grams or more) and choose whole grains rich in fiber and micronutrients (it is recommended that whole grains make up at least 1/3 of your daily grain intake).
However, whether adjusting poop through whole foods or dietary fiber supplements, please "slow and gradual" to avoid/reduce adverse effects such as bloating, flatulence, and intestinal cramps.
Don't blindly believe in "special medicine" or "special effect tea"
If the symptoms are severe, it is recommended to go to the gastroenterology department in time
Although diet may improve constipation, if the symptoms are severe, please consult a gastroenterologist in time to make sure there are no other triggers;
Friends with alternating constipation and diarrhea, please do not consider the above suggestions for the time being, or go to the gastroenterology department first;
Friends with flatulence or obvious abdominal pain after eating the food mentioned above, please stop the "test" first and see the Department of Gastroenterology in time (it is not ruled out that you will be required to follow up with the clinical nutrition department in the future); Constipation in postpartum women cannot be ruled out to be related to the physiological curvature of the spine or pelvis, and it is recommended to consult a rehabilitation medicine specialist at the same time;
All kinds of "home remedies" and even the so-called "special medicine" or "special effect tea" on social media and online self-media platforms, please do not blindly believe and blindly enter to avoid serious or even irreversible damage to the digestive tract!
Text/Liu Suiqian (Science popularization worker, clinical dietitian, member of Chinese Nutrition Society)