Stop Constipation With Ayurveda

Why You Should Not Be Constipated: How Ayurveda Approaches Can Get Rid of It Forever

By Rose Carol, M.A. Cert. Ayurveda Practitioner

The emotional side effects of constipation include depression, anxiety, agitation, irritability, inability to think clearly or fog brain, unable to be productive or creative.  It’s simply annoying.

The physical side effects of constipation:  fatigue, drowsiness, insomnia, restlessness, nausea, lack of appetite, heaviness in the body, toxicity, and possibility of other illnesses.  Energetically, it can feel like your energy is blocked and not flowing and it is simply uncomfortable.  For the above reasons, this is why it is a health priority to avoid being constipated.  I will show you how to relieve constipation without the use of addictive supplements.   I could write a book explaining in detail of the “why” behind the suggestions, but for the purpose of this article, I will keep it brief. And as always, please check in with your medical doctor if you have had  constipation for over a month or if you are on medications in which a change of diet can influence.

Elimination  is one of the three requirements that create health according to Ayurvedic Medicine, so if you have constipation on a regular basis, more than once a week, then it’s time to investigate the possible causes to prevent it.  The other two pillars  of health are sleep and diet, all three are equally important and related to constipation.  If one’s sleep schedule is irregular that can often show up as irregular bowel movements and many people who travel  and whose sleep patterns are interrupted often have constipation due to the change in routines and diet.   

So let’s eliminate causes of constipation first as part of the solution. The first question that I ask my clients is “how do you feel when you first wake up in the morning and what time do you wake up?”  If you are waking up anything less than clear and enthusiastic, most likely you have digestive toxins called ama.  Digestive toxins may give the following symptoms:  achy joints, constipation, fatigue, and fog brain.  

My first recommendation is to get into bed by 10:00 pm and wake up just before 6:00 a.m.  If one sleeps past 6:00 or past sunrise then this can contribute to a variety of imbalances in the mind and body, or simply feel that your are not at your optimum. Often sleeping past 6:00 can contribute to sluggish bowels and a sluggish mind.  

Ayurveda suggests that we eliminate toxins in the mornig that have accumulated from the day before and ideally a bowel movement takes place shortly after rising.  To encourage a bowel movement, sip on a cup of hot water that has been boiled. And then ideally walk in the early morning for 15 minutes to help move the bowels.  If it’s cold and rainy outside, then walking in the house or do gentle stretching.   In addition do the following to help move the bowels.

• Stew one apple and eat hot on an empty stomach before breakfast.  Cut an apple into small bite size pieces and boil in water until mushy. Eat very warm on an empty stomach in the morning.  Raw apples are constipating.
• Eat ¼ cup of soaked raisins (soak the raisins overnight in a cup of water, drink the water in the morning and eat the raisins with the apple or after).
• Add 1 teaspoon of Ayurvedic ghee to herbal tea or apples as a natural laxative
• Take 2 tablets of Triphala the night before about 8:00 pm with a glass of warm water.
• Use Ayurvedic Ghee instead of other oil when cooking.
• Do not overeat.
• Eat regular timely meals and do not snack in between meals because your body never fully digests the food and you get constipated.   That means eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the same time. 
• Do not eat anything after 7:30 pm and eat a lighter dinner because a full stomach will interfere with sleep and cause constipation
• Do not eat cold foods or drinks, these are constipating.  Do not drink juice right out of the refrigerator, it’s too cold and will cause constipation.
• Sip on hot water during the day.
• Reduce stress, learn to meditation, learn to let go of things, and your body can respond and let go too.

Avoid eating the following foods which can cause constipation: 

• cold foods like yogurt (except if it’s homemade yogurt and room temperature,
• ice cream
• cheese of all kinds
• lettuce
• raw carrots
• raw foods in general are constipating
• cold milk
• dry foods like crackers or dried cereal
• deep fried foods like french fries
• other fried foods that are too heavy to digest
• nightshades: white potato, eggplant, bell pepper, and tomatoes. 
• peanuts and nut butters, seed butter.
• cooking oils like corn oil, peanut oil use ghee, sesame,or olive oil instead
• avoid using coconut oil, if you have constipation it can be clogging and too heavy.
• Starchy food, eat less rice than normal and if you eat rice add a teaspoon of Ayurvedic Ghee to it. Ayurvedic ghee is different than most of the ghees sold in grocery stores and are clogging to the body. Ayurvedic ghee is a natural laxative.

Foods to eat to help alleviate constipation

• Stewed apple on an empty stomach every morning
• Sipping on hot water and teas during the day
• Include a variety of cooked vegetables on a daily basis made with ghee, ground cumin, coriander, fennel, turmeric, black pepper, and for those who can tolerate it, ginger. Include beets, sweet potato, leafy greens such as kale, chard, spinach, zucchini, lauki, bitter melon, yellow squash, cooked cucumber, cauliflower, broccoli, cilantro, parsley.
• Include easy to digest legumes like mung bean.
• Include fresh juicy fruit such as pear, plums, cherries, blueberries, dates, soaked dried figs
• If you can tolerate milk, hot milk with cardamom, cinnamon and a teaspoon of ghee is a natural laxative.
• Small amounts of grains such as rice, barley, cracked wheat, high fiber toast, and quinoa with meals
• If you are not vegetarian, avoid meat at least one day per week.
• eat your heaviest meal at lunch because it will be easier to digest.  Avoid heavy late dinner that interfere with sleep and digestion.  You may wake up the next morning groggy and constipated.
• Special homemade chutney made with prunes, cloves, and tamarind, recipe on website www.ayurvedahealthcoach.com

Remember to sip on warm or hot water during the day to alleviate dryness in the body and keep hydrated and to take Triphala before bed to help rid the body of toxins and help alleviate constipation.  For a more detailed regime, you may make an appointment with Rose Carol for more specific recommendations.  You may reach her at rose.carol.zivin@gmail.com www.ayurvedahealthcoach.com

Testimonial:

“Seems like I’ve always had digestive issues, constipation, bloating, gas.  I’ve dealt with it in various ways over my 81 years. In the last few years, I have developed uncontrollable prolonged flatulence which is devastatingly embarrassing.  I understand that gas is natural, and there will be some, but not as bad as this.Over-the-counter anti-gas aids and different diets worked weakly and inconsistently.   I stopped eating before and during social engagements and lived in fear. For the last 6 months, I have been following the advice of Rose Carol.  She coached me through a diet and routine that needed tweaking along the way and she warned me, it would take months to achieve my goal of being able to eat without “the problem”.  I followed her advice, appreciated her patience and feel I am achieving my goal as long as I remain strict in following the diet she prescribed”.    Thank you, thank you!! M.T. Nevada City, CA.

 

“i have been suffering from constipation for years and tried everything.I followed Rose’s recommendation for eating a stewed apple first thing in the morning and stopped eating cold foods.  I longer get constipated when I do these two things”.  Amy O. Berkeley, CA.