Part 2

Improper Diet

One of the chief causes of constipation is improper diet. Correct feeding alone may cure constipation. Even this rule has its exception, for there is a form of constipation associated with proper diet. This brings out the point that it is essential to have a health examination frequently by your family doctor, for he will give you correct knowledge of the condition of your body immediately.

Before taking up the matter of food, it must be remembered that the purpose of this book is to give exercises to cure constipation and not to plan a diet. Your doctor will give you a correct diet. However, it is essential that the food should be chewed until it is almost a pulp before swallowing. This will aid the stomach and whole digestive tract in assimilating the food.

The spirit of happiness and cheerfulness is important when eating. It cannot be over-emphasized. In fact, laughter during the meal time is very good for the digestive tract in digesting the food. This buoyancy of the mind will aid a great deal in the correction of constipation. It is the only exercise that can be used successfully while eating. Do not be downcast while eating, as this will prevent normal digestion.

The typical breakfast is usually orange juice, eggs, toast or rolls and coffee. This breakfast will satisfy hunger and supply energy, but it does not meet the demands of health. It is true that this breakfast includes the necessary nutriments, but it does not contain bulk or roughage, which are sometimes desirable in order to give the bowels something to work upon.

In order to give the body foods with roughage bran may be used in moderation. However, bran does not agree with everyone. The indulgence in this food should depend upon the advice of your physician.

Fruit will cure constipation quicker than any constipation remedies ever advertised. Oranges, orange juice, figs, dates, and prunes are very good for the prevention as well as the correction of constipation. It is a very excellent idea to have some form of fruit for every meal. It cannot be over-emphasized.

Vegetables are an absolute necessity in everyone’s diet. Nature gives us food values that cannot be estimated in importance. They clean the interior of the body and act as a broom in the digestive tract, that is, if they are eaten twice a day. They are a mechanical necessity to the intestines. Their bulk is absolutely needed to stimulate the intestines to activity.

Foods which contain no mechanical stimulation such as purées and gruel are open to objection. Pastries are very constipating due to the pasty element, for the secretions of the digestive tract cannot assimilate them. The psychic effect of a monotonous diet may cause poor digestion resulting in constipation. Such foods as eggs, milk, cheese--particularly cottage, pot smearcase and cream, white rice, tea, chocolate are said to be constipating because they seem to slow up the action of the intestinal tract.

On the whole, eat foods that originally gave the human race its vigor, and you will get all the food values, the sunshine, and fresh air, which that food has absorbed during the days of its growth.

Laxatives

Laxatives do not cure constipation. They may serve to make it chronic. Yet one fourth of the people use them regularly. They only give artificial stimulation to the bowel movements. Every laxative, no matter how innocent in itself, is a habit forming drug for the bowels. They lash the bowel into action once or twice or a few times. After that the bowels will refuse to work without a laxative administered. The dose becomes larger and larger until heroic doses are consumed. NO LAXATIVE OR ANY FORM OF BOWEL WASHING SHOULD BE TAKEN UNLESS ADVISED BY A PHYSICIAN.

Posture

Poor posture ranks on a par with lack of exercise and improper diet in the cause of constipation. Poor posture aids in the slipping of the abdominal organs out of their respective places, resulting in a tangled mass which will act as an interference on the normal bowel action. As a general rule, poor posture hinders deep breathing. Thus, there is no compressing movement upon the organs of the abdominal regions, such as is found in a normal upright person. Deep, vigorous breathing is an aid to a normal bowel movement. Good posture is an absolute necessity for the freedom of the bowel acting.

During Defecation

Faulty posture during defecation causes insufficient emptying or difficulty in moving the bowels at all. Many closet seats are too high. The proper altitude is one that brings the knees a little higher than the posterior.

A high closet seat can be remedied by using a footstool to support the feet, thus bringing the body into proper posture.

Hurried Defecation

A normal defecation ordinarily takes about two to three minutes, but owing to the abuse of resisting the call, ordinary defecation is not always secured in the normal time. Thus residue is left in the large intestine. This offers difficulty when a call comes some later hour, for the residue becomes hard and dry. This residue in the colon results in the condition known as

Irregularity in Answering Call

Irregularity in answering nature’s call causes irregularity of bowel action. Nature’s call means that enough waste is in the colon to cause automatic processes to set in action the bowel movement.

If for any reason the bowels are not permitted to move at once, the call usually disappears in a few minutes and may not reappear for some time. Thus, the wastes lie in the colon with the water in them being absorbed by the intestine, causing the wastes to become dry. Due to these wastes remaining in the intestine distention is produced in the colon and defecation may become difficult or impossible without mechanical aid.

The water of the waste which is absorbed into the blood stream affects the body, causing lower vitality and fatigue affecting the nerves.

Treatment

Hygiene is an important factor in restoring the body to a condition of health. The various abuses of the body that make for constipation should be corrected. General habits, and especially that of neglecting nature’s call, should be corrected. Without good hygiene the treatment of constipation cannot be successful.

Proper Diet

See your doctor and have him make out a proper diet. However, the diet should contain a sufficient amount of roughage, such as vegetables, fruits, and bran. Milk should be used for its vitamin qualities and nourishment.

Rules for Proper Eating