BY CLAIR WHITTY
Constipation is a common digestive problem. Most of you who experience this will be familiar with the bloating and the digestive discomfort associated with it. It can affect your mood, and cause sluggishness and tiredness. Ideally you should have a bowel movement at least once a day, but experts suggest three times per day.
Signs of constipation are straining to go to the toilet, feeling a need to go but nothing happens, or having hard or lumpy stools, rabbit pooh I call it. As well as bloating or discomfort in the abdomen.
The most common causes include: low fibre intake and not enough water in the diet. Food intolerance; eating foods that are not suiting your body. A food diary will help you keep track of problem foods. Low levels of good gut bacteria or digestive enzymes can mean that you don’t digest the food efficiently enough. Lack of physical exercise. Some medication like painkillers or antidepressants could cause a problem too. Pregnancy can be a time when you experience constipation for the first time.
Take a look at your diet and aim to increase fibre rich foods found in fruit, vegetables, dried fruit like figs and prunes, and whole grains. Include seeds like psyllium, flax, and chia. Drink plenty of fluid especially water, prune juice would be an excellent juice to support digestive health. Aim to do a little exercise, even walking will help as movement can help stimulate bowel function.
There are lots of supplements that can help. One of the most popular ones is Optibac Bifido & Fibre. It contains 25 billion live cultures of Bifidobacterium lactis BB-12®, one of the most researched strains of friendly bacteria in the world. This strain can survive the stomach acidity and reach the gut alive. It also contains 4g of FOS fibres. This is a special type of fibre which your natural gut bacteria can utilise, helping them to flourish. It comes in sachets; you can take 1-4 per day depending on your needs. You can add it into cool food or drinks.
It’s gluten free, dairy free, vegan, and brilliant that it is suitable during pregnancy. It is one of the few things we have that is suitable for children from 12 months old.
Optibac Bifido & Fibre alongside a healthy diet and lifestyle could help you move better every day!
