Bowel movements should occur regularly and be smooth, firm yet easy to pass, without pushing, straining or pain. If your stool is small like rabbit pellets, or hard and lumpy like an Oh Henry bar, then you may be more constipated. If your stool is mushy globs or more runny, that would be diarrhea. The suggestions below are about optimizing your digestion in a broad way. They may seem simple, but they help a lot of people have quick and easy poops! If none of these suggestions resolve your bowel concerns or you have specific gut health questions, I highly suggest you see a Naturopathic Doctor or your family doctor to look for specific management strategies for you. 

General Health Strategies that Optimize Bowel (and overall) Health

– Stay hydrated! Pee should be slightly yellow (hay coloured) and smell like urine. General suggestions are 30mL/kg body weight, or total weight in lbs/2 = oz of fluid needed. Usually 2-3L (9+ cups) of fluid intake is enough for most people. You might drink more if you work out/sweat a lot or are pregnant or breastfeeding. Drink 1 extra cup of water for every cup of caffeinated beverage you drink (caffeine is dehydrating and irritating to the bladder).  Also – try to pace your water intake into small sips often, not gulping large amounts all at once. Not enough fluid intake could be a simple cause of constipation. 

– 30minutes of moderate intensity exercise/day stimulates digestion via mechanical and metabolism-related signals.

– Manage Stress Our “fight or flight” stress response in our body diverts blood away from our digestive organs and towards our heart, lungs and muscles. We want to encourage our body’s recovery “rest and digest” response around meals so that blood flow is optimized at the intestines, helping our body to absorb nutrients from our food as efficiently as possible while also keeping gut motility (movement) active to prevent constipation . Click here for some helpful stress management strategies.

– Eating with intention and mindfulness.  Chew your food (30 chews per mouthful is recommended!!) – this makes food easier to digest, lets the enzymes in the mouth start to work their magic, and stimulates digestive enzymes and hormones down the digestive tract. Putting down your fork between bites, and taking a deep breath before each bite are helpful tips to help slow things down. 

– Stay calm (to digest on!) Doing 10-20 minutes of gentle movement after a meal helps with digestion. This can be something formal like a brisk walk or yoga flow, or it can just mean taking your time and breathing deeply through meal-time chores like clearing the table and washing dishes. Busy after a meal = the stress response diverts blood away from the gut = decreased nutrient uptake, increased constipation. 

– Eat well. All healthy nutrition plans share 3 principles – real food, mostly veggies, not too much. At least 5 servings of vegetables of differing colours helps with diversity in the gut flora. Cooking or steaming veggies can help if you find them hard to digest.

Check out the updated Canada Food Guide for some excellent ideas and strategies: https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/

In the Bathroom

1) Have a bowel movement when you get the urge. If you ignore the urge for longer than 20minutes then the stool can retract into the intestines where it can get dried out, which makes it harder to pass later (constipation).

2) Put your knees up to mimic a squat, on stool. Here is an informative link about why we should put our feet on a stool when we go to the bathroom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYcv6odWfTM

3) Leave your cell phone outside. Sit, breathe, and relax = rest and digest. Check in with your breathing and how you and your body are feeling. Are you holding tension anywhere? Let your body do the work. Your body knows how to pee and poop, we just often get in the way by rushing or pushing. Use this AIRBAG breathing to guide you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9zsTUvNn-8 

Morning Routine

4) Gastro-colic reflex – most people get the urge to have a bowel movement about 20 minutes after eating breakfast. Eat a high fibre breakfast (think whole grains, whole fruits and/or berries) with a warm beverage (also stimulates bowel movements but avoid caffeine or citrus herbal teas if you have bladder pain or frequent urination). Prunes also help with bowel movements. 

5) Try taking Probiotics and 2 tablespoons of ground flax seed daily as helps with fibre uptake and hormone regulation.

The Night Before

6) After dinner, take 1-2 Tbsp of psyllium (the main ingredient in metamucil) in 3 Tbsp of unsweetened applesauce. If you have constipation, follow the psyllium and applesauce with a big glass of water. If you are loose, just eat the psyllium and applesauce. This bulks up the fibre you ate for the day, producing the right quantity and quality of stool the next morning. Psyllium can be found at the Bulk Barn. Adding cinnamon can make this a tasty treat! You can repeat this in the morning if you are having trouble getting 40g of fibre in your day through fruits and vegetables alone. 

7) Magnesium Citrate helps to ensure muscles are relaxed and improves motility. General guidelines – take 100mg at night for a week. If your stool is not a soft consistency by the end of the week, then you can take another 100mg in the morning as well. You can continue to increase up to 350mg/day if needed, or decrease your dosage if the stool is too runny. Please see a Naturopath, Doctor or Pharmacist if you have any questions. 

8) Rub castor oil on your abdomen in a clockwise motion. Put a white tshirt (avoids colour transfer to the skin from colourful clothes and keeps the oil from getting on anything) and then put a warm heating pad on that for 15minutes as you relax before bed. Note: do not do this during pregnancy. 

There are lots of ideas here – pick one or two to start and see how it goes! Reach out below to customize how we can incorporate these strategies into your care!