“Fixing Digestive Regularity: Foods to Avoid & Include for Constipation Relief”

It’s not at all uncommon for people to experience a decrease in digestive regularity in conjunction with a major change in their diet, even when the change appears to be healthy. According to a report in America’s News, here are four of the most common reasons people become constipated in response to changing diet patterns, and how to fix them, including foods that help treat constipation.
1- Avoid breakfast

From a hormonal standpoint, the morning provides ideal conditions for a bowel movement. Thanks to a natural surge in cortisol that begins at dawn and peaks by around 10am, our gut wakes up from its overnight slumber and becomes responsive to the many stimuli the day presents such as increased stress, the chemical shock to the chlorogenic acid from our morning coffee, and most importantly, the reaction Gastrointestinal nervous system caused by the act of eating food.

Eating at any time of the day triggers the gastrocolic reflex, which is a nerve signal from the upper digestive tract to the colon that causes it to contract and move food to accommodate the meal that is currently being eaten, but for many people, eating in the morning is When cortisol is already in the colon, it is more likely to produce a spasm that leads to a bowel movement than when taken at other times of the day.

In other words, for some, the stool “window” in the morning is their only window to poop throughout the day. Skipping breakfast increases the possibility of constipation. If this is the case, then intermittent fasting or other breakfast-skipping protocols may not be the best fit for your diet.
2- A diet lacking in soluble fiber

Many popular diets — such as keto, the restricted carbohydrate diet, and the AIP diet — require you to stop eating grains. Some of them involve cutting back on root vegetables and fruits as well. These foods rich in a type of fiber called soluble fiber are often replaced with lower-carb alternatives such as leafy green vegetables, berries and nuts, which are rich in a type of fiber called insoluble fiber.

It may seem like swapping out one type of fiber for another, but in fact, the two fibers behave very differently in the digestive system. Oats and beans are among the best sources of soluble dietary fiber, but if you are committed to staying away from grains and legumes, other sources include:

Root “veggies,” such as beetroot, carrots, and sweet potatoes. Winter squash and pumpkin. Chia seeds. avocado. Watermelon, apple, pear, mango, papaya and kiwi. Zucchini, beans, mushrooms and broccoli.
3- A low-fat diet

When people make dietary changes such as giving up meat and dairy products, switching from eggs to egg whites or following an all-vegetarian diet, it can result in significant fat reduction. However, what you may not know is that fat plays a role in stimulating movement in the colon, which in turn promotes regular bowel movements. Combination meals and foods that contain some fat primarily stimulate the colon’s response. In response to the gastrocolic reflex, the colon increases its movement to make room for what is coming towards it. The gastrocolic reflex is one reason why very high-fat meals can cause an urgent urge to defecate – and even diarrhea – soon following a meal in some people.

When your healthy diet pattern also happens to be a low-fat diet, you may sometimes find that your meals do not elicit as strong a digestive response as they used to and you become constipated. If you’re not sure what to eat when you’re constipated, try to include healthy fats in your meals more often: avocado, nut butter, pumpkin or sunflower seeds, tahini, hummus, and an extra drizzle of olive oil or fatty fish like salmon.
4- A diet that abandons natural sugars

Some of the diets that are more restrictive in circulation these days take a very strict approach to foods that contain more than the minimum amount of natural sugar, such as milk or yogurt, fruits such as bananas, grapes, mangoes, cherries or melons, dried fruits such as apricots and even some vegetables Roots such as carrots and beets.

However, many of the natural sugars found in such foods — the lactose in dairy products, and the fructose or sorbitol in some fruits — can exert a mild laxative effect in our colons by drawing water into the intestines. So if you regularly eat the foods on this list, you may not have realized how much they were contributing to previously smooth digestive function in the form of softer stools until you give them up.