Constipation is an epidemic in America, with about 20% of the population having trouble staying regular despite their best efforts. What is constipation, and how can you combat it naturally? Here are a few home remedies for constipation and the best collagen protein supplement to help you get things moving along again.
What Is Constipation and What Causes It?
By definition, constipation refers to the hardening of stool that makes it difficult to pass. You may have to strain to empty your bowel, or it may merely take far longer than usual for the stool to pass through the excretory system. If your stool is hard, dry, and difficult to pass, you are dealing with constipation.
While some people have bowel movements every day and may consider themselves constipated just going one day without a movement, by definition, a person is constipated if you have fewer than three bowel movements in a week. However, you don’t want a technical explanation to stop you from getting help if you are straining in the bathroom.
There are many different causes of constipation, but the big ones are all related to diet, level of activity, and stress.
The Effect of Diet on Constipation
The current diet of most Americans leans toward causing constipation. This is because many foods are highly processed and contain refined carbohydrates, added sugars, synthetic additives (like artificial sweeteners), and inflammation producing substances. High alcohol consumption can also contribute to constipation by drying out the body. Additionally, many medications (especially opioids) contribute to constipation (although you shouldn’t change your dosage or stop taking a medication without consulting a doctor).
How Stress Impacts Bowel Health
High amounts of stress release excessive amounts of stress hormones into the body. While these hormones can help you cope with stress, having it elevated too high for too long is detrimental. It alters neurotransmitter production in the body. It can also affect the muscles, increase inflammation in the body, and changes enzyme production. In short, digestive function, in general, is negatively affected by prolonged stress.
Sedentary Lifestyle and Constipation
A lack of physical activity can also be to blame. When you exercise every day, you have better circulation, the muscles get stronger, and stress levels stay in check. If you sit all day long for your commute, job, and relaxation in the evening, that’s the recipe for constipation. You need that blood flow, muscle strength, and stress control in order to stay regular.
Combating the Modern American Lifestyle to Fight Constipation
It’s clear that one of our biggest enemies when it comes to constipation is ourselves. We wake up in the morning with no time for breakfast and dashboard dine on processed foods while sitting in traffic on the morning commute. Work is a long day sitting at a desk or in meetings. Then we drive home and may even grab fast food on the way. Before long an entire day passes with little to no physical activity, terrible eating habits, and tons of stress from work and driving in traffic. If this sounds like your life, even if it is a little exaggerated, then there are some changes you can make to fight constipation.
For example, you may not be able to change your commute, but waking up a few minutes earlier to have a healthy breakfast can get your day started right. Learn some stretches you can perform at your desk, so you are not sitting all day. Get up and walk around a little. Take the stairs. Park farther from the office. Bring your lunch, so you can control what you eat. Prepare dinner at home. Use that gym membership you’ve been paying for because you know you will go back “someday.”
Little changes can add up to make a big difference when it comes to your health, even if you can only add a few of these suggestions to your lifestyle. Adjust one thing at a time, and before long, your habits will be digestive-friendly.
The Best Collagen Protein to Support Your New Lifestyle Changes
Lifestyle changes may come slow and take time, but there is something that you can do right now to start getting your intestines back on track. Bone broth contains a protein called collagen. It is the most common form of protein in the body, and it is used to repair everything from your skin to your cartilage. It can help restore your digestive tract as well.
But if you don’t have time to exercise, eat a healthy diet, or deal with stress, then you probably don’t have time to slow simmer bovine bones for hours every week. That’s why Warrior Strong Wellness is proud to offer the best collagen protein to support your new healthy lifestyle – Collagen Bone Broth Protein Powder.
Our bone broth collagen supplement has all the peptides and amino acids your body needs to repair your digestive tract and keep things running smoothly. Plus, it’s an easy lifestyle adjustment. You can simply stir it into some water and drink it when you are in a hurry. When you have more time, you can bake it into some healthy muffins and eat them for breakfast, or you can add it to smoothie after a workout at the gym.
We hope you can conquer constipation with the help of our collagen bone broth protein powder and some of the lifestyle changes suggestions in our article.
About The Author
Warrior Strong Wellness
Warrior Strong Wellness provides innovative and high quality transformational supplements and raises awareness and funds to fight childhood cancer by giving a portion of our proceeds to childhood cancer research. In our weekly blogs, we share wisdom about wellness and living a Warrior Strong lifestyle.