WHAT IS CONSTIPATION ?

Medically reviewed by: Horia Marculescu, MD
Photo credits: Licenses / Author
Last updated: 27.07.2021

Constipation is defined as a bad functioning of our digestive system which has severe consequences not only to the entire digestion process and internal organs but also to the assimilation of essential vitamins, proteins and minerals from food.

The overall journey of the food we eat is being slowed down and sometimes even stopped in certain parts of our intestines.

These things happen because of eating bad food combinations, lack of hydration, lack of sport or lack of regular muscle movement.

As a result, stagnating rotten food is being created in our intestines and gas that damages even more our intestinal tissues and intestinal lining.

About Constipation

Constipation can also be defined by a number of severe symptoms that appear over periods of time, in the small and big intestines, that are slowing down a good intestinal transit for the proper functioning of the metabolism.

A good intestinal transit makes us go to the toilet at least once a day or the maximum of once every two days (48 hours). If we do not go to the toilet at least once every two days, than that`s a warning that constipation is present.

Other organs such as the pancreas, the liver, muscles and the stomach that help digestion can also be severely affected.

The reason is that most of the organs related to do certain specific things for the digestion process, from the beginning to the end, start to be affected by the wrong position of the stagnating food in different parts of the intestines.

Usually in the small intestine (severe constipation). Muscle movements help out to move the stool towards the big intestine, but because it`s already filled up, these movements do little for digestion.

Evolution

Constipation evolves in different stages and we usually notice them when something bad starts to happen internally, in our body. These stages evolve over longer periods of time without noticing them.

Few people start to feel constipation from the earlier ages, but nowadays, constipation is present at every age, especially starting from the age of 25-28 when that`s usually the starting point of careers or maybe family.

It can also be the end of leisure activities such as sport, hiking, walking, hobbies for fun that include some sport activities (the list can go on)

Any severe constipation symptoms that appear under the age of 25 can be a warning that there is something really wrong with our body.

Causes

Usually the main constipation causes at this age are obesity, bad food combinations, sensitivity to any kind of body heat – lack of hydration, diabetes, long periods of stress in our career phases or in college. Not to mention when we start a family.

Also, if there are internal organs such as the stomach, the pancreas, the liver or the intestines that are not working in their optimal parameters, then there are medical issues that occurred and constipation needs to be treated. A very good start is to try first constipation remedies followed by treatments prescribed by medical staff or getting a medical examination.

Usually, constipation remedies are the best way to start getting rid of constipation symptoms because it is highly probable that there is only one or maybe two minor things going wrong internally. These minor things have a big impact overall and are slowing down our entire digestion process.

But on the long term, we need to focus ourselves to the most important thing of all – to treat the constipation causes, not the symptoms. We can do that by using specific constipation remedies, suitable for our needs. At the beginning, we need to know a few small details about our body and digestion to understand the small errors we make when eating.

Symptoms

It is known that constipation does not improve the physical and mental shape of people and can even do more damage when trying to lose weight because certain food combinations that are healthy, are not suitable for treating constipation.

These combinations can include foods rich in fiber (which is something to avoid at first, when severe constipation is present because fibers that are hard to digest tend to slow down the journey of food already blocked in the intestines). Also, foods that have no fiber at all can also be hard to digest (like yogurt, cheese, milk products and meat products).

Due to other constipation related symptoms present in our internals, the social part of people is being negatively affected because symptoms like pain, having gas in the intestines, irritable bowel syndrome or just simply the feel of being sick for no reason, forces people to behave strange and awkward in social situations, events, mainly on their jobs and schools, no to mention family and friends.

Therefore we have to get rid of constipation once and for all, for our best general health. We can start with baby steps using every natural constipation remedy out there, every medical product that is suitable only for our needs and our constipation stages. We can definetly ask for help from medical staff or authorized experts in treating these bad symptoms.

Learn more about constipation definition.

Depending on the stages of constipation, the early constipation symptoms can be the impossibility of stool elimination (more than 48 hours), bowel irritation, intestinal irritation, gas accumulation in the intestines and the constant need to go to the toilet.

The problem with these symptoms is that, it`s the starting point for other, more severe symptoms to develop over time like: stomach sick when eating fresh or altered food, belly pain, intestinal pain, blocked food in the intestines turning into rotten food, stress from continuous intestinal irritation, nervousness, heatstroke, depression for long periods of time, water elimination from the blocked stool.

It`s interesting to notice how these symptoms take place over different constipation stages and evolve over time. It`s also very interesting and important to recognize or note our symptoms and our constipation stages in order to start treatment. There are more simple or severe symptoms that affect our entire body.

Here is the a list of: constipation symptoms

Change your habits

The problem with constipation causes is that we usually make a few minor mistakes in our diet and in our lifestyle and those things create a lot of damage to our internal organs and mainly to the small and large intestines.

These minor causes can be: eating bad food combinations, eating fast food for long periods of time, eating sugary foods, eating fruit the wrong way, having long periods of overwhelming stress, not doing any physical exercises often, staying in the chair for long periods of time (work, studying, driving) and the list goes on.

It`s interesting to find that changing a few of these minor causes can have a great impact on our constipation symptoms. For example, eating vegetables instead of white bread or potatoes introduces enough fiber in the intestines so the stool can un-block itself and move towards elimination.

Also, eating only fruit on an empty stomach should be a golden rule to follow because fruit digest rapidly, in almost 15 minutes, and if they are not eaten alone, the entire digestion process of other food in the intestines is disturbed, leading to constipation or other symptoms.

Another example is that taking a break from sitting on the chair for 10 minutes every 2 hours and standing up can help intestinal muscle to move the stool in the intestines.

Here is the full list of constipation causes.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

My name is Sebastian D., and I am the senior editor of constipationguide.com. With the help of my mentor, Dr. Horia Marculescu, I decided to create a practical guide to constipation relief.. read more