Constipation

By Penelope A. Domogo, MD

There’s a passage in the Bible that talks about our body having many parts. This is in the First letter of Paul to the Corinthians 12:12-27. Let me quote a few verses “God has placed each part of the body just as he wanted it to be.” (v.18)…. “The eye cannot say to the hand “I don’t need you. The head cannot say to the feet “I don’t need you.” In fact it is just the opposite. The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are the ones we can’t do without.” (v. 21-22). Paul was alluding to the group of Christians in Corinth as the body of Christ so they should take care of each other. And as it is with churches or organizations or communities, so it is with our body. Each part of our body is important. Oftentimes, we don’t give a hoot to parts of our body that we cannot see, di ba? We care about our face, our teeth. How about our intestines and anus? It is only when we are constipated that, oops! What happened?
There’s an Igorot term for constipation and this is “natube”. In Ilokano, “natabbel”. So it must be a condition that has existed since a long time ago because we have developed local terms for it. It is not a disease but it causes discomfort and maybe a symptom of a disease.
Bowel movement or pooing is one of the natural cleansing mechanism of our body. Of course, if your body has not been cleansed, you will not feel good, of course. That is why when you are constipated, then you are forced to give attention. Let us see first how poo is formed.
Nature designed that the digestive system of humans has about 36 feet of convoluted tubes called intestines where water and blended food is absorbed. One principle of nature is give and take- if we get something, we have to give out something, too. So we get air, food and drink from nature (our gifts from nature) then we need to give back carbon dioxide, urine and feces (our gifts to nature) to nature to recycle and process again for our food. Carbon dioxide exits through our nose and mouth, urine exits through our urethra and feces or poo exits through our anus. (Make sure that these are all organic.) This means that not all that we eat should be absorbed by our intestines so that something will be left to be given out to the environment. Also, this something has the honorable job of cleaning our intestines. Because God is good, He designed that this something is built in our food. That’s nature’s design. What’s this something?
It is fiber. Fiber is the magic ingredient in whole foods that is very important for our health. It is not absorbed in our intestines but we need it to provide bulk in the stools and to sweep the poisons away from our intestines. Fiber is present in unpolished rice and is absent in white rice so choose your rice well. Fiber is also present in all other whole plants – camote, cassava, amti, beans, etc. Just don’t refine these. Because “refining” a food means that fiber and vitamins and minerals are removed. Isn’t this idiotic? Or arrogant? Why should we remove life-giving substances which our Creator made, in the name of “refining”? Food is not like gold or silver which need to be “refined.”
How often are we supposed to poo? For newborns, they will poo soon after they feed. As they grow older, we train them. Young children will also poo as often as their intestines get filled. Somehow, we are able to train ourselves to poo once a day every morning. But as we are diverse in looks and habits, some people do it more often and some less. Wikipedia says that three times a day to three times a week is the usual bowel movement. Some authorities say that we should poo as often as we fill our stomachs- this means, if you eat 3x a day, then you poo 3x a day. There is logic in the theory that the more the waste material stays in your intestines, the more chances of your body absorbing toxins. We call these “waste materials” but only for humans- they are “resources” for the environment. You see, in nature, nothing goes to waste. For older children and adults, pooing once a day is a good habit.
So what causes constipation? Just remember these three main causes – 1) lack of fiber in your diet, 2) lack of physical activity and 3) lack of water intake. Let us discuss these one by one.
Eating foods rich in meat, eggs, dairy (milk, cheese, etc) and refined sugar will cause constipation. These have no fiber. Many people are surprised that meat does not have fiber because meat is tough. Well, the truth is that meat, eggs and dairy and refined sugar have NO fiber, whether you believe or not. Anyway, try to eat just meat or eggs and white rice and see what happens. Then eat all vegetables and unpolished rice and see the difference.
Physical activity moves all parts of our body including our intestines. So if you have been sitting in the bus for 6 hours travelling from Besao to Baguio city, then you might be constipated the next morning. Physical activity is one requirement for healthy living. For those who are not ambulatory, you can massage your tummy from the top going left and down and around your tummy and your navel to stimulate bowel movement. Exercise does not only make you slim, it is also important to make your bowel movement easy and bring out the toxin.
Of course, it is easily understandable that lack of water intake causes constipation. What will moisten your stools if you don’t drink enough water. Drink as necessary.
Aside from these three main causes of constipation, there are other causes. Alcohol and caffeine are diuretics, meaning they induce urination which will lead to relative dehydration. So avoid these or minimize. And if you drink alcohol or coffee or Coke, you have to drink additional water. Take note that beer contains alcohol.
Some medicines also may cause constipation like antacids containing aluminum hydroxide, antispasmodics, antidepressants, iron tablets, diuretics, painkillers and narcotic-containing drugs.
If constipation persists, then it can cause hemorrhoids and cracks in your anus because of all that straining. Moreover, it can lead to more serious problems because as we discussed earlier, the longer the stools stay in our intestines, the more chances of toxins being absorbed or being stuck in the walls of the intestines. These toxins can trigger tumor formation, like polyps, as your body tries to contain them from spreading. These toxins can also cause colon cancer. One symptom of colon cancer is chronic constipation with stools like bolintik or the stools of the kambing.
Constipation is easy to remedy. We don’t recommend laxatives because your body may depend on those. Just eat organic and whole foods and drink enough water and be active. What is good for your overall health is good for your bowel movement. Nothing new.***
“But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it.” 1 Corinthians 12:18