The Healthy Blogger

Fiber, prune juice, stool softeners, laxatives, exercise for constipation

Following on my issues about constipation.  I remember a colleague called in the maintenance man because the toilet was plugged up and she couldn’t unplug it.  He joked about the women in the office and suggested they added fiber to their diet.  She countered with, “But that would make it worse!”

Strange isn’t it that they recommend fiber for constipation?  There are reasons for it, but sometimes it seems counter-intuitive.  I guess it really depends on what the constipation problem is.  If someone produces large, hard stools, but has a hard time passing it, fiber might not be a good option.  Fiber bulks up stool and helps the bowels move.  However, if you already have bulky stools, you wouldn’t want to bulk it up some more.  If you have small, hard stools, fiber might help.

If stools are hard, some use stool softeners.  They are not laxatives in themselves, but because they sometimes soften stools too much, some people complain they get diarrhea.  Perhaps, the best suggestion for some of these people may be to drink more water.  Or even juices.  Some people feel apple or grape juice can induce diarrhea.  But, the one juice most people associate with bowel movements is prune juice.  Prune juice is probably ideal because it contains fiber and liquid. However, it does not work for everyone, either.  Of course, nothing is ever 100% guaranteed to work.  I’ve tried prune juice and sometimes, it can cause cramping when it takes effect.

I know lots of people who resort to over-the-counter laxatives.  Some people actually abuse them, because they wrongly assume they have constipation when it may not be.  Then, there are those anorexics who abuse them for the sole purpose of remaining thin.  However, you look at it, laxative abuse is dangerous.  For that matter, many doctors hate it when people use laxatives, especially when they don’t inform their doctors about their use.  It may interfere with other medications or cause other problems that may be misdiagnosed.

Regular exercise is also supposed to be good as it keeps the body fit and functioning properly.  Yet, how to gauge the effect of exercise is difficult.  I’m not a couch potato, but neither am I excessively active.  But, summer is here, so I should make a conscious effort to engage in real exercise every day.

Further negative effects of consuming soft drinks

I remember even as a child, the discussion of how bad Coke was for your teeth.  It was not just Coke, but all sugary soft drinks.  But it was the experiment with the nail in the Coke which highlighted the effect of “pop” or “fizzy drinks”, as my older daughter likes to call them, on teeth enamel.  I still recall my reaction at the time.  I found it very interesting that they still do similar experiments in school, as both my daughters performed this experiment this year, using water, milk, and pop.  I hope they learned something from it, even if my younger daughter still likes an occasional soda, and both still like sweet drinks.  Fortunately, it’s usually iced tea or orange juice.

So, we have known that pop, when consumed in excessive amounts, is bad for your teeth and bones.  We also know that those with caffeine can cause problems with migraines and palpitations (rapid heart rate).  Now, we find out that drinking too much of these soft drinks can lead to muscle weakness, fatigue, and even paralysis.  These effects are due to the loss of potassium from the glucose, fructose and caffeine.  Even without caffeine, the body can lose potassium through diarrhea from the high levels of fructose.  Several people have come to medical attention after suffering serious adverse events due to excessive consumption of pop.

What is excessive consumption?  Well, for those who ended up in the hospital, it ranged from 2-3 L/day up to 4-10 L/day.  Of course, I cannot imagine drinking even that amount of water, so it’s hard for me to imagine drinking that amount of pop.  Anyhow, scientists do not have a recommendation on the amount that is acceptable, but it would be safe to say that any amount may have small effects on levels of potassium.  Needless to say, the sugars found in pop would very likely exacerbate diabetes and obesity, two big health problems today.  If anything, it would probably be best to limit oneself to only one can of pop a day.