How to Have the Best Bowel Movement Ever, Every Day

Photo by Anton Lecock on Unsplash

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About 16 in 100 people have symptoms of constipation. Symptoms can include only 3 bowel movements a week, hard, dry, or difficult to pass stools or the feeling that a bowel movement is incomplete.

Constipation can be caused by not eating enough fiber, being at an older age, or dietary supplements or medications.

If you are constipated regularly, its best not to rely on laxatives or stool softeners. For acute situations when you have not had a bowel movement in 4 days, go see your doctor or an urgent care.

This article is specifically for lifestyle changes that can help a person with mild constipation begin to enjoy the simple pleasure of a regular BM.

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Step 1: Diet

An easy way to think about our intestines is to imagine that it is a river that transports the daily log-canoe out from our body.

If the river is dry, the log-canoe is going nowhere.

If we are experiencing dry, hard, or difficult to pass stools, we need to look at what we are eating. If we want to moisten the river, we need to eat food that will provide that moisture and avoid foods that will dry it out.

In TCM we have two general categories of constipation: excess and deficiency.

In excess constipation we are eating or living in a way that has created heat that burns off the moisture. We can combat this by eating a diet of whole grains and vegetables while restricting foods such as alcohol, meats, and fats.

In deficiency constipation our lifestyle or age has led to there being a lack of fluids throughout the body. We can repair this by eating a diet rich in moisturizing foods such as fruits, nuts/seeds, and dark greens.

See below for lists of foods that can help constipation from Healing with Whole Foods by Paul Pitchford (Page 386).

Foods that lubricate the intestines: spinach, banana, sesame seed/oil, honey, pear, prune, peach, apple, apricot, walnut, pine nut, almond, alfalfa sprouts, soy products, carrot, cauliflower, beet, okra, whole fresh milk, seaweed

Foods that promote bowel movement: cabbage, papaya, peas, black sesame seed, coconut, sweet potato, asparagus, fig, bran from oats, wheat, or rice

Demulcent herbs: marshmallow root, flax seed, fenugreek seed, psyllium seed, licorice root

Flora-enhancing foods: miso, sauerkraut, dairy yogurt, seed yogurt, rejuvelac, kefir, chlorophyll-rich foods (wheat grass products, dark greens, micro-algae (wild blue-green and spirulina) and alfalfa greens) Laxative herbs: dandelion root, rhubarb root, cascara bark, barberry bark

Depending on what your individual needs are, include more of the foods from these categories. For long term improvement of constipation, focus on the ‘lubricate the intestines’ and ‘flora-enhancing’ food categories.

By making sure our intestines are well moistened and full of healthy bacteria, we can ensure satisfying bowel movements while cutting down on digestive upset. Flora-enhancing foods are important to increase the digestive capacity of our intestines as well as providing many B vitamins and half of our daily requirement of vitamin K.

My favorite breakfast that will get anybody to pass a log-canoe is this:

1 Cup Rolled Oats

1 Tablespoon Flax Seed Meal

1 Tablespoon Chia Seeds

1 Banana (or any fruit available)

1 Tablespoon Almond Butter

Cinnamon to Taste

Cook the oats in water until they are just about done, then add in the flax seed meal and chia seeds. They will soak up the remaining water and make the oatmeal a bit more gelatinous. The high fiber content combined with the mucilaginous flax/chia combination will help clean out the intestines while moisturizing at the same time.

Make the oatmeal taste good to you and you will be more consistent with eating it daily.

Step 2: Move Your Body

If we want our bowels to move, we must get our bodies moving! The more sedentary we are, the less frequent our bowel movements become.

Take a walk for at least 20 minutes every morning, breathe in the fresh air, find a hill or two to walk up. If you are able, go for a short run or play a game with your friends (soccer, tag, frisbee).

At some point in the day, take 10 minutes to stretch your body. Find some yoga poses that feel good but also challenge you.

Exercise gets everything in your body moving, it keeps your body healthy (Think “The rolling stone gathers no moss”), and you get a mood-boosting kick of endorphins!

I like to combine my morning walk with a cup of hot green tea with a tablespoon of coconut oil. Beforehand, I do some dynamic stretching to get my joints moving, eat a bowl of granola or oatmeal to start the day, then I take my tea out for a walk.

This is my favorite way to start the day as I get to move my bowels and my body before settling in to study for the day. For every hour that I am sitting and studying I get up for 10 minutes to walk around, stretch a bit and then I go back for another hour. I also try to switch between sitting and standing at my desk.

At the end of the day, I am dying to get back outside. This is when I can unplug from studying and catch up on the latest “Smart Passive Income” podcast episode and take a longer walk.

If you are just starting from a sedentary lifestyle, you may notice more muscular aches. Stretching and time will help work these out.

You can also add in a magnesium supplement. Magnesium is needed for our muscles to relax and it is difficult to get adequate amounts from a typical diet. As a bonus, magnesium helps our bowels move too!

I like magnesium bisglycinate as it is highly bioavailable and it is effective at relaxing muscles while also lubricating the intestines.

Step 3: Stay Consistent

Now that you have the tools to have regular bowel movements, use them daily and, with time, you will reach your goals.

Changing our bodies takes time so we need to be patient and gentle. Trying to force a bowel movement with harsh laxatives when we do not need them can cause its own issues.

Instead, believe that your body can change for the better and help it along. On average, it takes 66 days to form a new habit. Do not worry about trying to face all 66 days at once.

**Focus on each day at a time and before you know it, you will arrive at your destination. **

When I gave up alcohol, I was overwhelmed by thinking about all the ‘what-ifs’ that could come up in life. I never thought I would end up here, 4 years later and healthier than ever.

All it took was taking each day one at a time, knowing that I wanted something better.

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With that, I hope that this article has helped you move towards the simple pleasures of a daily bowel movement and healthier habits!

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