You know what I am talking about, that horrible feeling of wanting to unclog the plumbing in the body but not able to, constipation is not fun. Being a largely inactive society is effecting our body in a lot of ways including how well we are able to do the number 2.
Before dashing to the supermarket or chemist to buy laxatives and supplements like Metamucil or Benefiber, try these tips to prevent and improve the health of your guts.
Firstly, there is the importance of getting enough fibre. There are 3 types soluble, or the type which bulks up our poo, insoluble fibre and resistant starch, which isn’t fully digested so helps us stay healthy customers of the bathroom.
- Increase the amount of whole grains.
- Replacing the white breads with multigrain or wholemeal bread and white pasta or rice with the brown varieties. These types of products have less of the grain removed with processing, this means that there is more fibre in what you are eating.
- Replacing the coco pops, corn flakes, and frosty fruit cereal with cereals like Weetabix, muesli, porridge or other alternatives with at least 10g of fibre in 100g serving or 3g per 30g serving.
- Love your fruit and vegetables!
- Fruit and vegetables are amazing in so many ways and this includes providing us with fibre! Try keeping the skin on the fruit and vegetables as much as possible as this part keeps a lot of the type of the insoluble fibre and resistant starch.
- Try replacing or adding a healthy snack of nuts.
- 30g of nuts and seeds can be a great source of healthy fats as well as fibre. Studies have supported 30g of nuts a day help keep our waistline from expanding to areas we don’t want it to increase to.
Secondly, make sure you are drinking enough of the liquid goodness.
- Water is needed to help fibre work more effectively. Generally adults need between 1.8-2.5L of water a day. Try carrying a water bottle around with you, it is a constant reminder to drink and it is easier to drink the water than carry the weight of the water around (this is a trick I use all the time).
Read labels!
- Before heading to the counter, check the back of the packet and compare a few brands of the same product. If there is significant difference between the amounts of fibre e.g. 2g compared to 10g per 100g, I suggest to go for the product with 10g!
Finally, let’s move it!
- Adults need a minimum of 30 minutes to 60 minutes of moderate intensity exercise a day on most days. This looks after the body in so many ways but also keeps the contents in our plumbing moving through nicely. Sometimes the effects of exercise which are not seen can be more important than the effects we see on the outside.
The bottom line? Look after what goes in your mouth to improve how smooth and easy it is to relieve the plumbing in the back end.
References:
- Council NHaMR. Australian Dietary Guidelines (2013) [Document]. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia; 2013 [updated 27/7/2015(1); cited 2016 12/10/2016]. Available from: https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/guidelines/publications/n55.
- Ruxton C, Derbyshire E. The health benefits of whole grains and fibre. Nutrition & Food Science. 2014;44(6):492-519.
