Constipation

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10.     Breast-fed babies are never truly constipated. This is because breast milk is a low residue diet. Almost the entire milk is absorbed by the baby. The stools consist of a small amount of unabsorbed protein and a large amount of bowel secretions, chiefly mucus. But these infrequent stools do not indicate constipation.

11.     This risk of constipation in bottle-fed infants is much higher because infant formulas are not well digested. The young infant’s colon is simply not designed for all the residue and stool bulk. The residue builds up, gets dried and becomes hard, pebbly stool. The addition of cereal to the diet only compounds the problems. Cereal plus milk equals to concrete. Feeding cereal in the formula bottle is not a good idea, as the parents don’t realise just how much cereal is the baby getting. Foods containing fibre are helpful for older children and adults, but are not really of much use for infants.

SYMPTOMS OF CONSTIPATION

12.     The most common symptoms of constipation are infrequency, irregularity or difficulty of elimination due to hard  faecal matter. Constipation increases the bowel transit and as a result of this the body through the colon slowly reabsorbs the fluid content in the faeces and along with it many soluble toxins. These poisons affect every area of the body. This auto-intoxification with toxins is the reason people suffering from constipation have many ill effects and undesirable symptoms. These symptoms include headaches, coated tongue, foul breath, pain in the lumber region, lack of energy, tiredness/fatigue, mental depression and/or sluggishness, dizziness (vertigo), nausea, skin problems, pimples on the face, dark circles under the eyes, ulcers in the mouth, varicose veins, diarrhoea alternating with constipation, insomnia and fever (sometimes). Constipation is also associated with indigestion, acidity/heartburn, loss of appetite, constant feeling of fullness in the abdomen, bloating (gas) and abdominal distensions and discomfort.  

CAUSES OF CONSTIPATION

13.     The most common causes of constipation are dietary pattern/wrong diet such as a diet low in fibre, inadequate intake of fluids, lack of exercise and sedentary lifestyle. Certainly factors other than these play a role in many cases of constipation. Other causes include faulty and irregular habit of defecation and suppressing the urge to defecate, frequent use of laxatives/purgatives, old age, pregnancy, psychological/emotional problems, medications and certain diseases. These other causes account for a very small proportion of constipation cases. Diet and diet alone stands most prominent as both cause and cure for this insidious disorder – Constipation.