Constipation
Yup. Let the potty humor begin.
Let’s just all go ahead and admit that talking about poop is uncomfortable, and funny at times. But when someone is suffering from chronic constipation, there are few smiles to be found. Constipation can be downright painful and dangerous if unaddressed and continues to become more common as time progresses.
On this week's episode, Ed speaks about the varying reasons people experience constipation and why it can be detrimental to your heath. Topics include the dangers of chronic constipation, why it's important to examine your stool, why the longstanding traditional methods can do more harm than good, and natural means to make you go when you to the most.
Some Topics We Discussed:
Why is constipation so common and why does it happen? (1:26)
What are some lesser known symptoms of constipation? (4:48)
What are some holistic, natural options to help with constipation? (14:29)
How does gut health play a role in constipation? (26:13)
Key Takeaways From This Episode:
A person is constipated if they are pooping three times or less per week. (2:07)
To be considered regular, you should eliminate every single day. (6:54)
Over the counter laxatives are addictive and you can become dependent on them to eliminate. (15:01)
Adding fiber to your diet if you’re already constipated won’t help. Take it after you’re more regular but back off if you’re constipated. (18:57)
Products & Resources:
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL SHOW TRANSCRIPT
Brian Strickland 00:43 Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of The Holistic Navigator Podcast, where we believe in the body's ability to heal itself. I'm Brian Strickland, the producer of the show, and here with me, as always is your host, Ed Jones. Tell me one great thing that happened to you this week.
Ed Jones 01:00 I had a new brand of tequila and it was fantastic.
Brian Strickland 01:06 Well, you know, we don't shy away from the fun topics on this show. And today is no exception. It's not exactly dinner conversation. But the topic of constipation is an incredibly important one to address. So we're going to cover why this is so commonly occurring, uncommon symptoms, and of course, a holistic approach to treatment. So let's go ahead and get started. Hey, can you talk about why this is so common? And actually, how common is this occurring? throughout all the age demographics? Really? is it focused really more on the elderly? Or is this something that everyone can have happened to them?
Ed Jones 01:44 Well, absolutely, Brian, of course, every single living creature can have it happening. But generally, it is focused on human beings because nature and wildlife tend to not destroy their health as we do in this society. In the studies done 20% of the people at any one time in this nation is what you would call officially constipated. In the literature, they're defining it as someone who is pooping three times or less per week. or they'd also add on, if you're doing it more often, but you have little tiny marbles coming out, then you could call yourself definitely constipated. But as most of my conversations focus on, there's a difference between between being average and being optimal. You could easily go the bathroom five times a week, or six. And I was still in some cases call it constipated. Because there's so much that involves this conversation of elimination. And, you know, I always make a blanket statement that I have lived my life with the respect that the human body has almost everything it needs to heal itself, but only if two things happen. One is which we nourish the body with the correct foods and or whatever else we feel valuable. I certainly do with nutrients. But secondly, is removing toxins. Well, we do know a bit in the people who know very little about anatomy, that when you go to the bathroom, you are eliminating toxins. That's why that it has the smell it does. And that's not something you'll probably hear on most podcasts, but it is. So we've got an epidemic of people who throughout their lives, some people have it for months, some only for weeks, but a lot of people have a chronic slowness of elimination. So why does that matter? Well, you know, up until actually, about 10 years ago, most medical professionals believed that the colon was nothing more than a piece of plumbing. It was like your, your tubes under your sink that you just drain things in and drain things out. Well, it's not true. And we know the importance of how it functions in brain chemistry, and how it functions in immune systems. Well, part of this whole plumbing system, all of it actually is transporting toxins and byproducts that the body needs to get rid of. And so it's not just the uncomfortable feelings of of withholding or not, you know, evacuating where there's pressure and other things is actually inhibiting a vital function of the human system, which is again, the gut lining. You know, there's a few people who actually don't really seem to feel worse on it, but most people feel that heaviness they feel that their bellies blown up.
Brian Strickland 04:48 But what are some of the lesser common symptoms that you've seen?
Ed Jones 04:53 Well, one symptom and men who are listening to this, usually don't associate it but you know, as men get older, and I think if I have an opportunity to talk to our higher power, I want them to redesign the man's body because the pelvic area is so narrow as far as urination, that the slightest little issue as far as swelling or inflammation or pressure actually makes us have more difficulty urinating. Well guess what, the prostate is not that far away from the stool as it passes through the lower intestines. So when you have a lot of backed up material, it's pressing on the whole pelvic area, and you can end up having a lot less efficiency of urination. And so people are like, Oh, I need to, you know, take saw palmetto or I need to do this, you know, many times you just need to have really great elimination. So that's one of them. It actually can affect hormones. So when you have a lot of backed up stools, you're going to have disturbance of the balance of a lot of your human chemistry and one of those is hormones. And you know, and it will affect your sleep. People who are constipated have a history of more insomnia. Part of that is because again, as I mentioned, the gut lining produces brain chemicals. Well, if you have altered brain chemicals, a lot of times that's anxiousness. Well, do you take you fix anxiousness? By taking Xanax? No, you fix it by figuring out why you have anxiety and you do the best you can by putting the tools together and finding a trusted team to help you.
Brian Strickland 06:39 So what is considered regular?
Ed Jones 06:41 Good question. Well, part of it is is like what do you consider the optimal sleep for a person, you have to look at it based on individuality, because we can't compare one to another. But here's the big deal. We need to poop every day. That's the absolute best that they if we have to boil it down to any one Golden Rule, you need to be eliminating every day. Now there are people who eliminate every day who are still constipated because of the size and the quantity or lack of the hardness. The devils in the detail of the explanation here is and I love this website. It is called stoolanalyzer.com. And it spelled like stoolanalyzer.com. I am 60, almost 62 years old. I have stood up and looked at my poop for as long as I can stand. Sometimes that like grosses people out, it's very important that you have a regular routine of examining your stool. One is because that's the main way you're going to evaluate whether you're constipated other than not going. And if you just keep your eyes shut, you're never really going to know is it truly a good evacuation or not? Because I love on the Mercola's website, he actually says that when you poop, it should be quiet and have a gentle dive into the water. It should fall into the bowl with the slightest little whoosh sound, not a loud Cannonball splash that leaves your tush in need of a shower. That's pretty good explanation. If without even looking, you know, if you're shooting bullets down and is splashing up. You're having little rock hard, constipated poops. This smell should not be repulsive. But of course, it's also not great. It should have a uniform texture. It should be between one and two inches in diameter and up to 18 inches long. That's pretty much laying it right on the line in it, Brian.
Brian Strickland 08:54 You heard it here first. Lord have mercy.
Ed Jones 09:02 If a stool is totally black, it can indicate that you have some hemorrhaging or bleeding. In that case, I would highly recommend you know consulting a health professional that you trust. Secondly, if you're not in that position, and you don't have insurance, you don't have a lot of money, go to the drugstore and get a fecal occult test. The fecal occult test is something you do at home, you throw it in a toilet and it's gonna say there's blood in it or there's not blood in it. That can be very important to knowing what your next step will be. If you're still as yellow, it may indicate gallbladder problems. If it is got undigested food, well, it's very obvious that you know there's something going on why you're not digesting needs to be discussed. If you have a lot of mucus in the school stool, you know sometimes it can be associated with things like Crohn's disease or kaleidos. So and if it's white, pale or gray, It may indicate a lack of bile, which is something that the gallbladder will secrete in order to produce or digest fat. And then you know, medications can definitely affect the look of the stool. And that's something that, you know, is certainly easy to Google and find out if you're on medications, and they also can affect your inability to go to the bathroom. I mean, the opioid, and the painkillers. And the the things that so many people are on when you kind of paralyze by your pain sensation, and your muscles. Well, don't you think that the colon itself is a muscle? It is because you know, it is because it constricts, it constricts? So it pushes things out? Well, if you cut the cord on that, and you lessen the constructive ability, obviously, it's not going to eliminate as well.
Brian Strickland 10:51 So with that being said, what are what are some of the dangers of chronic constipation? I mean, if somebody isn't eliminating maybe once a week, or even longer than that, I mean, if that continues, you know, semi long term, what are the dangers in that?
Ed Jones 11:05 Well, when you look at different cultures around the world, who first off eat a diet that's not refund, when I say, around the world, we're having a more difficult time of finding these, they're actually like tribes. Because most societies now have been inundated with all the junk foods and all the commercialized, poor quality that we all are experiencing. their diet will consist of somewhere between 50 to 80 grams of fiber per day. And what that means is basically like Dr. Weston A. Price showed when he traveled the world and looked at all these areas that people did not have tooth decay, they did not have constipation, they did not have hemorrhoids, they did not have, they have far less colon cancer, those are huge side effects of not going to the bathroom. Now to take it one step further. There's a system in the liver called a p 452. p 450. system is what the activates all of the chemicals that we cannot help to be exposed to. When I was driving in this morning, and there was a school bus and it has some fumes coming out of the back. Where do you think those fumes when they didn't just go into my nose? And then I just, you know, turn my blocked air on and hope I don't breathe much of it. No, it goes into the tissues and blood of the human body within seconds. Well, it doesn't just float around and then get excreted, it has to go the liver, the liver has to deactivate it by this many multiple step process. Well, the toxins in your colon are really no different. They just they're coming from inside rather than outside. And when you take you know if you imagine it's summertime, if we have a bag full of the leftovers, and we put it in the garbage can it's middle of summer, it's 98 degrees. What do you think's going to happen to that garbage in 24 hours, much less 48? If it's summertime, and it's 98 degrees, it's going to rot? What in the hell do you think's happening in your colon that 98.6 degrees when it's sitting in side of a tube that's dark, and hopefully moist, but it definitely is hot? It's going to rot well, so you have rotting garbage within you if you don't go every 24 hours. Now, it's not terrible. I mean, have I had days where I haven't gone? Heck yes, I'm a human. I have to address the fact that we do have cumbersome bodies at times. But one day or two is not as significant. I'll tell you this, Brian, within the past two months, I have had three different women and most of the time it is women that came to me and all three of these poop twice a month. That's all they poke do. Now the reason is, is they do have issues one of which is called gastric gastro precice. gastro precice is becoming epidemic. And that's where basically kind of the message from the brain is not able to tell the colon to constrict, or the colon can't constrict any longer, really don't know why it's really difficult. There's very, very few good options for that. It really requires you to be with a person who's a functional medicine expert, and they can really dig into the chemistry in order to do this.
Brian Strickland 14:29 So the good news is, is that not all hope is lost if you're suffering from constipation? We I think most of us are aware of some of the traditional methods to relieve constipation, you know, and so much of it is dependent upon diet. So we've all heard eat more fiber or make sure that you're drinking enough water. But what are some of the other traditional options that there may be out there and what are some more natural and holistic ways to relieve constipation?
Ed Jones 15:01 Well, Brian, this country spends $800 million per year on laxatives. A laxative is something of either chemical or natural origin that causes the constrictive ability of the colon to squeeze itself. Well, when something I'd like that is a tube squeezes itself and is going to hopefully squeeze what's in it out the other end. Well, you know, logically, it kind of makes sense. My water hose is stopped up with something, and I'm going to squeeze it really hard in order to break it loose, and we're going to flesh it out. The problem is we're not waterhoses and there is always a reckoning to be had when you force the body to do something, because it should be able to send the message itself. Now this country has I never thought it could get worse. But I truly believe almost everything has in certain areas of health, and one of them is in this area, the TV commercials and the fact that many health professionals are still recommending products that are addictive. And when I say addictive, if you use a laxative for more than any short period of time, you won't go unless you use the laxative. Well, don't you kind of think that there is kind of a in the backroom meetings somewhere, and I don't, I'm not big about, you know, conspiracy. I'm not a huge conspiracy person. But corporations don't really have souls, corporations are machines. And if I was a corporation was selling a product that they knew could create addiction, you really believe that they're going to sit in a meeting room and say we don't think this is right. So let's not do this no. Well, when you take senna, which is the common even in health food stores, at drugstores, and other places center senna the strongest muscle constrictive herb and plant on this earth. If you take enough senna, it's gonna happen. The problem is, you keep taking it, the muscle ends up getting used to it, so it needs it. And then secondly, if you keep doing it, the muscle weakens itself, perfectly fine to use twice a month, maybe up to four times a month, in my opinion, but beyond that, don't. But the other thing I really am concerned with is Miralax. Miralax is a different type of way to stimulate the bow is not doing it in the center fashion, which is constricting the muscles is actually doing it by maintaining a lot of water in the stool and helping the stool to constrict by a different method. It's using a molecule called propylene glycol. And that is a totally synthetic molecule. Number one, it's actually one tweak molecule away from antifreeze, that doesn't mean this antifreeze. But when you take a molecule that's so close to a toxic substance, and you tweak it, there's some fear in within me, because I'm not a person who believes that that is healthy for the long run. And now miralax if you go to 99% of health practitioners, and they say, Oh, yes, ma'am. I tell you, this is what I want you to do. I want you take me relax every night. And you say, but is it addictive? No, no, no. Miralax is not addictive. It is so addictive. And if you don't believe it, if you've been on it three months, we'll get the heck off of it and see what happens to you, and you won't go.
Brian Strickland 18:46 So traditional methods are typically fiber or laxatives. Laxatives are fine for the short term, but not something that you would recommend to take over a long period of time. Correct?
Ed Jones 18:57 Very, very correct. And you did mention the word fiber. Here's my take on fiber. Someone comes in and they asked me I have not gone to the bathroom for three or four days or I have not gone well in months. Don't I need to add more fiber? No. When you are not eliminating the only thing fiber generally will do is back up on the upper part. It will not push poop through. It's a misconception. Poop isn't quite it's not like you've taken a plunger by doing the fiber. It just doesn't work that way. So I always counseled people that we need to dance and baby step around it until we get regularity. And that means if you have not gone well or have not gone at all for three days, you stop any additional fiber and again, you need to eat healthy, but the fiber thing once you start retraining it. You want to as soon as you get a movement, you want to introduce this fiber back into your diet in order to prime the pump. And so you'll go off and on for sometimes months while you're, oh, I've got pretty good elimination. So I want to add these fibers. And then all of a sudden, well, I got two or three slow days, it's time to back off because all it's going to do is back up the wrong side. I got to say this, you want to shoot for no less than 35 grams with 40 being optimal 40 grams of fiber. Secondly, be leery and skeptical of products sold in drugstores or health food stores that say tasteless drink this and you'll get 10 grams of fiber. Now there's a classifiers that have come out that legally can be called fibrous, and they can be listed on a bottle they'll do almost Zilch for this regularity issue Don't be had, you have to use the kind of fibers that are truly from whole foods. I'm a very long term fan of two fibers. I actually use chia and flax that is ground up. And it's already produced in a bag. So I just poured in my breakfast rank, I will use about three tablespoons of this chia and flax, and it is wonderful. Now, the most popular fiber is psyllium. We all know the name brands, they're sold everywhere, including, again, health food stores. So if you're gonna use psyllium, try to find one that's organically grown because believe it or not, psyllium is one of the plants that is not regulated as a food. And psyllium is being heavily sprayed with insecticides. So you need to buy the organic if you're going to use it.
Brian Strickland 21:47 Right. Alright, so we've covered some of the traditional methods and we need to move on to some of the more holistic approach methods. So do you have any that are really your go twos that you would recommend?
Ed Jones 21:59 Absolutely. It depends on what stage the person is and where they feel they need to intervene. Let's just use an example of Mary comes into the store. I've had a chronic constipation off and on for years. I try not to use laxatives, I only use them a few times a month, but it's really starting to bug me. What do I do? First off we talk about, you know, what's the diet like we always have to dress it the knife and fork is the most powerful tool we have. Secondly, we talk about how long do you sit during the day sitting is the new smoking. If you sit in an office, you need to stand every hour for just three to four minutes. Third, are you drinking enough water being dehydrated will dehydrate your poop and that makes it hard little marbles and they will not come out. So we talked about some lifestyle habits as far as that fourthly, medications, are there any that are creating a problem, then, she's like, I'm really feeling bloated and lousy, but I don't want to use mini laxatives too well, my recommendation is to use Triphala Triphala is a combination of three Indian herbs it's been around for many, many hundreds of years. You take three triphala most brands who would require three triphala and it might not say that on the bottle but at night when you go to bed with a half a glass of warm water. What this is doing is not a true laxative is actually trying to strengthen the colon with a very slight laxative effect I found it to be the least addictive of anything it will take a few days to start working and there's nothing wrong with my mind of staying on it. But if that's not where that person is if Mary says I really need to go tomorrow but I you know the bathroom but I don't want to use senna, okay next level cascara Sagrada is not perfect. It has far less addictive quality than senna and it doesn't seem to black in the stool. I mean black in the colon wall, people who get colonoscopies often so told you're calling walls black is cold. Well the reason is because senna does that. Cascara Sagrada can but has far less tendency to taking the right amount which is personal experimentation is important. But taking two to three cascara at night will generally cause a movement in the morning. Thirdly now we have to go to big guns. Oh no I really need to go is terrible. And I don't want to use senna. Okay, go and use aloe lax you have to get not aloe regular because the part of the plant that's laxative is a special part. So it would have to say the word laxative on it. And then use the aloe lax at night. Don't use this more than three to four times a month. And as you're doing this we're trying to introduce one other thing. This is an ongoing every day. magnesium oxide, non magnesium citrate and glass and aid and maleimide none of those magnesium oxide is what stays in the bowel to attract moisture. How much do you need? My personal experience is between 400 and 900 milligrams of magnesium oxide per day. If you take too much too soon, you're going to blow it out. So it's again, personalization, and you have to experiment. Is magnesium safe? Heck, yeah, it's safe, the only side effects a loose stool, and it can help heart, it can help so many other things, and muscle cramps. So I'm all about using magnesium as the rest of your life. And one other last tip is the position of your knees when you're pooping. The cheap way to do this, and the reason you want to do this is again, we look at the cultures around the world, they squat, when they go the bathroom, we if you look at the anatomical structure of our toilets, they're there like in the dark ages, the knees need to be about six inches to 10 inches higher than they are, you know what you can buy little gadgets that then put things you put your feet on. The thing is you can just get books, I did books for years, I mean, I would read, I'd read a book, and then I would put my feet on 4 books. And even if you raise it four to six inches, you're you're straightening that last bit of the rectum out in order to have and match nature.
Brian Strickland 26:13 Lastly, I think the thing that we need to discuss is the importance of gut health when it comes to constipation. If we can just briefly touch on probiotics, what they are, how they affect your gut health and how they can help relieve constipation as well.
Ed Jones 26:29 Absolutely, because that is the that's really what you're seeing probably more of on advertising, than anything that's ever come out of the nutrition industry is the whole world of probiotics. And it is evolving. We have a lot we know a lot, but we have a lot to learn. It's not an exact science, but I'll tell you such a general rule is most probiotics are worthless, because they can't pass through the stomach acids and survive. That means that they're all being killed, it doesn't matter if they're in the pill, they're being destroyed by the acid. Secondly, that doesn't mean that you don't pursue them. Because there are brands that are now so much better with technology. And I'll only have a few of those on my really number one a list, feel free to send me an email, I will give you the lowdown on which brands I totally recommend. But if you're gonna buy one, I would recommend buying one that at least has the word colon on the box because if you buy one, it doesn't have the word colon, the probability is they've left out that one specific probiotic that has some ability to strengthen the colon. Alright, everybody. Well, I hope that I have supplied a lot of answers to this very delicate topic. In fact, I've put out so much effort on this, that I'm really pooped out. Yeah, oh boy. And if you don't mind, if you can please rate and review us because that is the gasoline that runs this engine. And we do love hearing from you. So if you have any questions, please send us an email. I am Ed Jones with the Holistic Navigator and remember, whenever a doctor cannot do good, he must be kept from doing harm.
Brian Strickland 28:17 Thanks for listening to the holistic navigator podcast. For more information, previous episodes and other resources, visit theholisticnavigator.com