Foods That Relieve Constipation

Once you understand foods that cause constipation , you need to understand the foods that relieve constipation. But...

...rather than thinking of specific foods that relieve constipation, you need to understand how to eat. It sounds like a subtle difference, but that determines whether you'll ever get over your constipation or not. Why?

Because, although a specific food might relieve the constipation you have today, it may further weaken your body and make your constipation even worse. Prune juice is a good example. Here's why that happens...

There's different types of constipation. One is due to dryness (a.k.a. "heat") of the intestines. Another is due to weakness (a.k.a. "cold") of your digestion / elimination organs... that is, they just have too little energy to move the stools.

Now, prune juice does move your bowels, but it's very sweet, and very sweet foods weaken your digestion / elimination. So...

...if your constipation is due to a weakness (rather than dryness) the prune juice will cause your constipation problem to be even worse in the future. Get it?

So, the best foods that relieve constipation are the ones that regulate your body to function properly, and take care of the constipation once and for all. And, that leads us to...

The Chinese Dietary Principles To Get Over Constipation

Many years of observation in the Orient have shown that most people will prevent and recover from constipation (and many other diseases) while getting adequate nutrition and promoting their health when they follow these principles.

Note - Since there's different types of constipation, this is a "balanced" method that works pretty well for just about everybody, regardless of whether your constipation is due to dryness, weakness, stagnation or other types. Here goes...

Eat a diet of:

• Fresh, lightly cooked vegetables (a big variety) - not raw. This should be the largest part of your diet.
• Beans
• Whole grains (but avoid wheat). Eat more vegetables than grains
• Eat small amounts of animal protein (2 or 3 oz. per day). Think of it as a flavoring for your meals, rather than the main course.
• Drink room temperature or warm water

Limit everything else to only small amounts. And, even though some doctors recommend large amounts of fruit for constipation, the Chinese discovered differently. Despite it's high fiber content...

...eating lots of fruit can weaken the digestion / elimination for many people, due to its sweetness - particularly if your stools tend to be long, thin and not dry. (It's beyond the scope of this site to go in depth about that).

You probably already know that your foods should be natural, not processed, and organic whenever possible (more for your overall health than just constipation).

Additional recommendations...

If you follow the above recommendations on foods that relieve constipation, you'll be in the ballpark. The following rules are inherent in those recommendations, but here they are anyway...

• Eat cooked and warm foods, not raw or straight out of the fridge
• Avoid "sweet" tasting food
• Avoid cold foods and drinks
• Eat very little greasy or oily food
• Avoid alcohol
• Avoid dairy
• Avoid caffeine
• Avoid yeast
• Avoid boxed, packaged and processed foods
• Drink about a teacup of warm water with meals. Green tea is o.k. if your stools are not dry, but avoid tea if you have dry stools (tea is a diuretic - it dries you out.)
• Moderate use of spices like ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and pepper are ordinarily beneficial, but in excess they create too much "heat" in your intestines if you have "dry stool" type of constipation

Avoid:

• Eating late at night
• Eating in a hurry
• Overeating
• Eating while stressed

These foods that relieve constipation are based on Chinese Dietary Principles proven over thousands of years to promote health and help your body recover from disease.

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