You need to know if your bowel movements are regular or not. The reason for this is simple; if your bowel movements are not regular, you are putting your colon health at risk. What this means is your overall well-being, including your heart, hair, skin, brain, and kidneys, could malfunction too.
Your bowel movement is not normal if blood is present in your stool, you have not had bowels in 7 to 10 days, simultaneous diarrhea and constipation, severe pain in the anal opening, or diarrhea accompanied by vomiting.
Apart from taking laxatives, you need a change in your lifestyle to ease your bowel movements. To find out what changes you need to make, read on.
8 Ways of Ensuring Great Bowel Movements
Here are some ways of ensuring regular bowel movements:
Increase Intake of Water and Fiber
The right intake of water has a positive impact on bowel movement. Your water intake should be eight glasses of water, and each glass should be 8 ounces. It refreshes your system and helps in breaking down the food in your gut.
A glass of hot water does wonders for your gut by helping in settling it and improving peristalsis. Hot beverages like tea or coffee are great options too. Since coffee acts as a diuretic, you might have to visit the washroom more frequently.
Your fiber intake also ensures proper bowel movements. Ensure that your diet is rich in fruit, whole grains, veggies, and legumes. Having a super green drink will make your bowel movements easier.
Lemon juice will also help with regular bowel movements.
Listen to Your Urge
No matter how busy you might be, if your body has the urge to relieve itself, you need to answer it right away. If you ignore the urge regularly or delay in responding to them, your bowel movements will be adversely affected. When you decide to take action, your bowels might not respond.
You could damage the nerves of your rectum when you don’t respond in time. The brain, too, will not react to your urge, and you will develop constipation. You could also have complications with hemorrhoids and find blood with your stools apart from painful bowel movements.
Maintain a Diary
If you are suffering from irregular or painful bowel movements, you should document your visits to the washroom in a diary. You might feel this is taking things a bit too far, but you need to do this for monitoring the nature and timing of your bowels when you make adjustments for a healthier lifestyle.
The reason you need to document your bowel movements is this will help your healthcare professional determine the right course of treatment or make any changes to your present course.
Your bowel movements could also be affected by allergy medicine, among other things leading to constipation, and you also need to consult a healthcare professional to find what other options you have.
Avoid laxative overdose:
When you are using strong laxatives for aiding bowel movement, you are disrupting the natural rhythm of your gut. Go for a natural fiber supplement or, better still, make adjustments to your lifestyle.
There are other reasons why you should not make taking laxatives a habit. If you are suffering from phenylketonuria, allergic to laxatives, or need to take prescription medications, you could be risking your health by taking laxatives. You could also start having problems with electrolyte disturbances, mineral deficiencies, and dehydration.
There are also possibilities of damages to the digestive system and chronic constipation.
Regular Exercise
One of the best solutions for proper bowel movement would be sticking to a regular exercise regime. Constipation is also a result of a sedentary lifestyle. When you exercise, the blood flow of your gut increases and the function of your gastrointestinal system improves.
A short brisk walk would help with your bowel movement as your body would get an indication to get the bowels out of your system. Make yoga a part of your routine as it helps to ease a sluggish system. If you are working on a computer, make sure that you get up at intervals of 60 to 90 minutes.
Schedule for Bowel Movements
Like you have a set schedule for all the activities in your life, you need to have a regular schedule for your bowel movement. It could be the first thing in the morning after you get up or a short while after breakfast. Your colon is stimulated with the activity that goes on in your stomach when you have breakfast.
There is a possible connection between the circadian rhythm of your body and motility since that is at its peak in the morning. If you need to share your washroom with other family members, it is advisable to wake up earlier so that you have the washroom to yourself.
Toilet Positioning
A change in the way you sit on the toilet seat could be the answer to better bowel movements. A semi-squatting position could give you better results. The rectum is supported by the puborectalis muscle, and this muscle helps us to regulate our bowels.
The puborectalis muscle relaxes and expands when you squat and remain taut when you stand. With stretching of the anal sphincter, the passage of the bowels is smoother, and you don’t have any problems with bowel movements.
Avoiding High-Fat Foods
Certain foods have a high-fat content, and you need to avoid them. It is challenging for your body to process fat that you would find in most fast foods. The gallbladder that produces bile has to exert itself to its maximum limits to break down the fat.
When you cut out burgers or chips from your diet, you not only make your bowel movements easier, but your overall health improves.
Live Better With Smoother Bowel Movements
The quality of your life depends a lot on the quality of your bowel movements. Medications, along with specific lifestyle changes, are the best way to ensure smooth bowel movements.
Not only should you make changes to your lifestyle, but you should also not miss your health practitioner’s appointment. Share the changes in your bowel schedule with them so that they can recommend the right course of treatment.
When you are disciplined with your diet, exercise, and bowel schedule, you are on your way to a stress-free life with easy bowels.