The most frequent question I encounter in my practice is, “I drink lot of water, I do not eat outside food, I include fiber rich diet in my meals, I walk daily, I exercise regularly, still why do I have constipation?
I have been suffering from constipation from 25-30 years and don’t pass stool if I do not take any medicine at night.
Can lactose intolerance cause constipation?
I freshen up daily but not after getting up in the morning. It is irregular may be at any time of the day. Is this constipation?
If you are looking for answers to these questions than this blog is for you
Going by the definition, constipation is when you pass stool not more than 3 times a week or you get hard stool, pain while defaecation, blood accompanied with stool.
Constipation is called Vibandh in Ayurveda which means binding of the stool.
If you experience the inability to have a bowel movement for few days, pain in stomach or feel bloated, if your appetite has decreased, if you see blood-stained stool or fresh blood drops with stool, if you are losing weight, if you have pain while straining for stool, if you pass hard dry black stools, feeling of blockage in the rectum, if the stool gets stuck and doesn’t come out then you need treatment.
If you are one such person who keeps pondering that in spite of having fibres in the diet, doing physical activity, drinking good amount of water why do I have constipation then Ayurveda has already answered your question
According to Charak Samhita, the causes of constipation are
Dry, heavy, cold, ununctuous food- Warm food improves the peristalsis of intestines that means the stool is nicely propelled forwards and hence you won’t face constipation. I see people moving towards dry foods like jowar, barley, oats for weight loss but all these foods are dry in nature and increase Vata in your body causing hard stools.
Viruddhahar – Charak Samhita says 18 types of food as incompatible foods or viruddhahar but today this is outnumbered because we see so many weird combinations in the name of innovation like maggi and cold coffee, gulab jamun and icecream, they all can give you constipation
Alpa bhojan – The next day of your fast you may not get a good bowel movement because you have eaten very less a day before. I get patients who are following a weight loss diet and then they say they feel constipated. Ayurveda has said if you eat less, you could get constipation.
Alpa Jalpan- If you drink less water, it may cause constipation. Having said this, I also want to underscore that if you drink more water even if you are not thirsty just to clear toxins of your body then you are hampering your digestion. The digestive juices of the body will get more diluted and disturb the digestion. So, it should be taken in moderate quantity.
Wheat, old rice, green gram, hing, shunthi, pippali, amalaka, haritaki, draksha, green leafy vegetables are good for digestion in general and constipation in particular. So, you can make a habit of including them in the diet. Ayurveda texts have stressed for consuming old rice. New polished rice we get out in the market tend to give bloating and constipation.
In Kashyap Samhita, there is a description of Yamak Yusha that can be given to children with constipation and even adults can have it. How to prepare it-
Take 25 grams of moong dal, 25 grams of rice, Boil it with 500 ml water with ½ tsp saindhav salt, ½ tsp ginger powder, ½ tsf black pepper powder. 2 spoons of ghee. This should be a soup like preparation. Have it while it is hot, it kindles the Agni to a great extent.
Castor oil at bedtime is a wonder drug for constipation in adults. It lubricates the intestines and also eases the bowel. Trifala today has become a household name. Trifala is a good choice of drug for constipation. It can be taken with warm water or milk. You can discuss with an Ayurveda physician for this
Trivrit is a good drug for constipation, but you should take it after consulting with the best ayurveda doctor near you.
Constipation sounds very easy, but it can disturb the whole day of a person so should not be ignored. It is not a disease but yes it can give birth to many diseases. Ayurveda has best treatment for constipation. You may write your queries at jyotiayurclinic@gmail.com
Copyright @jyotiayurclinic.com.