Do you remember the last time you had a bowel movement? If it was more than a day ago, this article is for you! Maintaining regular bowel movements is more crucial than you might think, particularly for balancing hormones for women.
If you've been feeling sluggish, unusually tired, or just generally out of sorts and can't quite figure out why, it could well be related to a mix of gut and hormonal imbalances. Let's explore why ensuring you have daily bowel movements is essential and look at some constipation natural remedies so you can promote digestive regularity and hormonal health.
What Makes a Healthy Bowel Movement?
From a functional medicine perspective, a healthy bowel movement isn't just about going to the bathroom regularly. It's also about the consistency and completeness of your stools.
Ideally, you should have regular, comfortable, and complete bowel movement at least once a day. This regularity helps your body get rid of toxins and excess hormones efficiently.
Why Daily Bowel Movements Matter: It’s How Toxins and Excess Estrogens Get OUT of the Body
Regular bowel movements are vital for detoxification. Every day, your body is busy metabolizing hormones, especially estrogen, and processing various toxins that come from both the environment and your diet.
Your liver is central to detoxification. It processes toxins and hormones, making them ready to be eliminated through your stool. When you have regular bowel movements, these waste products efficiently exit your body.
However, if your bowel movements are irregular, these substances don't get expelled promptly. The toxins might instead get reabsorbed into your bloodstream, leading to what's known as "estrogen dominance" because the reabsorption can particularly affect how estrogen is handled, leading to higher estrogen levels compared to progesterone.
When there's too much estrogen or toxins in your body, it can lead to a variety of symptoms and health issues.
Physically, you might experience things like bloating, breast swelling and tenderness, irregular periods, headaches, and weight gain, especially around your hips and thighs. In more severe cases, having too much estrogen could contribute to developing fibroids, endometriosis, and even certain types of cancer, like breast and ovarian cancer.
On the emotional side, you could face mood swings, anxiety, depression, and even panic attacks.
So here’s one way to picture it. Imagine a busy highway where everything flows smoothly when traffic is moving regularly. Now imagine what happens when there's a blockage, and traffic jams up—things slow down, frustration builds, and it can take hours to clear. Similarly, when your digestive "highway" is blocked, toxins and hormones can't move smoothly and efficiently out of your body, leading to a buildup that can negatively affect everything from your mood to your physical health.
5 Constipation Natural Remedies to Promote Regular Bowel Movements
So, you're probably wondering what you can do to ensure regular bowel movements and promote hormonal balance. Here are my top 5 constipation natural remedies:
Increase Fiber Intake
Consuming a diet rich in fiber is essential for bowel health. Fiber adds bulk to your stool, making it easier to pass. It also aids in speeding up the transit of food through the digestive tract. Including more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes in your diet, such as adding berries to your breakfast or choosing whole-grain bread for sandwiches, can significantly enhance your daily fiber intake.
Drink More Water
Proper hydration is crucial for softening stool, which helps prevent constipation. When you don't drink enough fluids, your body pulls water from the stool to maintain hydration, resulting in harder stools that are difficult to pass. Drinking at least 8-10 glasses of water a day and considering electrolyte solutions (i.e. Jigsaw Health, Bumbleroot, etc) can help maintain essential salt and fluid balance, supporting smoother digestion.
Get Movement In
Engaging in regular physical activity encourages the muscles in your intestines to contract more effectively, helping to move stool through your intestines more efficiently. Activities don't have to be strenuous; daily walking or light exercise can be very effective in promoting regular bowel movements.
Start a Probiotic That’s Right for You
Incorporating probiotics into your diet helps maintain a healthy balance of gut bacteria, which is important for digestion and can help prevent constipation. You can add probiotics to your diet through supplements or by eating probiotic-rich foods such as yogurt and kefir. These beneficial bacteria help support the digestive process and maintain regular bowel function.
Consider a Magnesium Supplement
Magnesium supplements, especially magnesium citrate, are beneficial for those dealing with constipation. Magnesium citrate works by attracting water into the intestines, which helps to soften the stool and makes it easier to pass. It is an effective supplement for enhancing bowel regularity and can be particularly helpful for those who frequently experience constipation.
Implementing these strategies can help support digestive health and hormone balance, particularly in women who may experience hormonal fluctuations that impact gut function.
Working with a functional nutritionist can also provide personalized guidance and adjustments to better support you. With functional lab testing, we can get an inside look into your unique body to see what exactly is contributing to your constipation (gut or hormone imbalances, diet and lifestyle changes or more) so we can create a plan to address it ASAP.
Feeling overwhelmed? Don't worry, I'm here to help. Apply for 1:1 Functional Nutrition coaching today and let's work together to optimize your body for health and balance. Remember, your health is an investment, not an expense.
Ladies, it's time to take control of your health. Let's get you feeling like the amazing woman you are! Start with these constipation natural remedies and see how they can help balance your hormones. Remember, you are not alone in this journey. I am here to help and support you every step of the way.
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