How To Alleviate Constipation & Promote Good Digestive Health

Constipation is one of the leading health issues that can strike people of every age. While proper hydration, diet and exercise can help to ameliorate this common digestive problem for most people, for older individuals there may be specific issues that should be addressed within the diet or personal habits in order to form a more long-term solution.

The following are several ways to ensure that digestive performance remains regular as the years roll by.

Diet

Diet is everything when it comes to resolving constipation. This is because more often than not, diet is the primary cause. As people grow older and their children move away to pursue lives and dreams of their own, there is less of a need to cook balanced meals for an entire family. Often faced with the issue of having too much food left over after cooking a meal, many older adults stop cooking at all and opt instead to dine on pre-packed, frozen meals that are perfect for smaller servings.

Pre-packed foods of every kind are usually loaded with chemical preservatives, flavorizers, texturizers and other additives that can have a negative impact on the body overall.

These non-food additions are often perceived by the body as toxins and can over time, lead to a build-up on the intestinal walls that can make constipation a common issue.

More importantly, because many pre-packed and ready-made foods are harder for the body to digest, they tend to make the bowels sluggish and could even impact weight maintenance for the individuals who regularly consume them.

This makes it especially important that older adults make good nutrition a priority. While there may no longer be children in the home to feed and care for, the same nutritional focus should be in place.

Just as you once would not have allowed your own children to eat T.V. dinners on a nightly basis, now you need to implement the same dietary rules for yourself.

Each meal or snack that you consume should contain some combination of fresh, soluble fiber such as fresh or lightly steamed vegetables and fruits, lean protein and whole grains.

The real goal of your eating habits is to consume foods that are served closest to their natural state. For instance, a baked potato is preferable to a potato chip, grilled chicken or fish is preferable to breaded and fried fish or chicken patties and steamed wild or white rice will be more beneficial than boxed rice mixes that contain combinations of highly refined rice and pastas.

When implementing a diet to resolve constipation, it is usually best to approach meal planning and preparation with the same concern and care that you applied to the process when cooking for your own children. While going from cooking for a full family to cooking for only one or two people can be difficult, aging individuals need and deserve the same nutritional concern that growing children do.

How you eat and what you eat will dramatically alter how your digestive system functions.

Low-Impact Exercises for Constipation Relief