There are many things that can contribute to constipation. It can be miserable especially if you have a history of it.

The most important thing is figuring out what is causing the problem. There are multiple causes but I have found through clinical experience the top things below. Here are simple starting steps so you can flow and not be backed up:

1. Are you drinking enough water? Water is essential ingredient to life and makes up most of your body. So if you're not consuming proper amounts of water then you need to to do that. It has a serious effect on major health issues in the body. One patient called me and said she was feeling lousy. She was on my tailored Nutrition program to cleanse her body. I asked her if she was drinking enough water. She said no. Her symptoms cleared up once she hydrated herself. You want to drink up to 96 ounces per day depending on your body weight. I recommend drinking a quart of water for every 50 lb of body weight. 

2. Are you having 4 cups of Vegetables measured raw per day? Here is a link to measuring vegies so you know how much you are having:

3. Fill in the blank, 2 of the most common nutrients lacking in our diet are: _______________________

Answer: Magnesium and Vitamin C. I have found these nutrients helpful for overall health and bowel movements.

• The Magnesium Citrate version is best for constipation. Start with dosage on the back and increase 1 serving daily till bowel tolerance (soft stools/diarrhea), then back up to the prior dosage. Do this for both supplements.

• Quality brands are essential for this. We use Designs for health, Buffered Vitamin C and MagCitrate Powder.

• There are 2 general categories of Magnesium:

  • Ones that absorb into your bloodstream and ones that don’t.

  • Magcitrate does not absorb as well into the blood steam and therefore goes out your colon and into your toilet. That is why it loosens your bowels.

  • Trimag supreme is one of the best for absorbing into your bloodstream so it can go into your cells!. It comes in the day and night version. Night is for better sleep. You need these versions even more because every cell needs Magnesium to be healthy!

  • If you cant swallow use Epson salt foot or body bath or Magnegel (Designs for Health). Magnegel gets rubbed into the skin over cramps or for general health. It gets directly absorbed into the blood stream so it can get into your cells!

  • You can buy these at designsforhealth.com.

    • You will need to form a account first and then you will need a practitioner code: “paulkwik”. Then you can place your order. Free shipping with orders of at least $49 :).

4. Are you Stressed on the toilet? If you are you won’t go. Stress = Bowel Constriction, Relaxation = Bowel opening up. Its like a kinking a water hose when you are stressed. Counteract stress with the following:

• Deep breathing, drop those shoulders! You are not relaxed if your shoulders are up and ready for action.

• Gargling with no liquid in your mouth. This stimulates the relaxation nerve (Vagus nerve) to relax your body. It is wierd but it works!

• Side note: Sometimes putting a small stool underneath your feet can reposition your tailbone for easier elimination.

5. Environmental Toxins https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2551954.

• My observation is that every patient that has walked in for my Nutritional Consult has had too much heavy metals in their body. This can cause constipation. See ncbi reference above and do your own research as well. Toxic exposure is only getting worse as time goes on. Heavy metals, antibiotics, insecticides, pesticides, other pharmaceuticals & even radioactive uranium are in the water we drink and the food we eat. Please make sure that the water is purified either through a reverse osmosis or Berkey filtration system. If you are using bottled water, I recommend using Aquafina or Dasani water because I know that those are filtered with reverse osmosis. You can check other types of water by calling the company and asking if they use reverse osmosis. Personally, I use the Berkey filtration system which is 2 cents a gallon for the main filters and six cents a gallon for the fluoride/arsenic filters. I believe its the most effective at toxin removal while being the most cost-effective. Additionally, reverse osmosis takes away all the essential nutrients while the Berkey retains those. Minerals are in the same “family” as heavy metals, they all talk to each other and help “transport” heavy metals out of your body. Just search it up online and you'll see how critical minerals are for thousands of chemical reactions in your body as well.

• Antibiotics in water and food. What is the most abundant in your body? Can you count to 37 trillion? That is how many body cells you have. What outnumbers the cells in your body? Can you count to 100 trillion? That is how many good bacteria are in your body. Your Digestive system hosts a majority of them. Antibiotics kill them! It's in food and water and can have residual effects today even though you had them many years prior!

  • What does the good bacteria family do?

    • It helps with Depression by producing seritonin, the feel good chemical (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4393509/).

    • Helps with constipation (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4951383/).

    • Helps with a Host of other things as well.

    • The Bottom line; Filter your water, buy organic fruits and vegetables. Buy properly fed & treated animals which have been allowed to graze. If tight on budget, wash your fruits and vegetables with a cleanser as well as eat hormone and antibiotic free animal food sources.

• Are you on prescription medications? Some are notorious for causing constipation. Here are 8 common ones

  • Nsaids for pain

  • Antihistamines like Benedryl and Zyrtec for Allergies

  • Tricyclic antidepressants like Elavil and Pamelor

  • Iron supplements

  • Urinary incontinence meds like: Ditropan and Detrol

  • Pain Opioid Meds

  • Hypertension meds

  • Nausea meds like Zofran

• Talk to your Doctor as well as a Natural health practitioner about alternative options for your health. Your medical doctor will give you a drug because of a diagnosis based on your symptoms. If we can help you get rid of those symptoms, you can talk to your doctor about getting off some of those drugs.

6. Body Work

• Body work would involve movement of the body at home and sometimes getting professional help, if needed. The body works by communication just like human beings need to communicate. Your body communicates through the brain and sends signals to the rest of the body to tell it what it should do and the body responds by telling a signal back to the brain using a feedback mechanism. Your vital organs communicate automatically through the autonomic nervous system which controls your stress and relaxation systems but it works through the conscious mind when your lifting something using muscles. Both of those require communication.

• There's another set of communication pathways that happens on the skin surface called meridians (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25206574) . Acupressure without needles, which we do at our office, are ways to unblock short circuits of these communication pathways. I liken it to an orchestra singing a beautiful song and all the players are in perfect tune and harmony. These short circuits on the surface of the skin (meridians) or blockages of the actual nervous system (brain/spinal cord/nerves) can be helped with home treatment or if necessary, chiropractic care, or acupressure. This movement, song or dance, if you will, of your body through the nerves of the body and the meridians can be short circuited and cause your colon to be constipated.

  Testimony:

  One of my most recent patients was referred to by another patient. He was pretty much at death's door. After starting with me, the doctors said it was a miracle that he was still alive. He had been admitted to the hospital for a ruptured aortic aneurysm. He was in a coma for one month and by the time he got here he was at 30% heart function, severely constipated and on narcotic drugs for pain, he wasn't getting any sleep, he had lost 30 lbs, and diagnosed with cancer and liver failure. To say the least, his life was miserable!

  We did the foundational lab tests on him, analyzed what he needed from the lab tests and started creating a new story for him! After he started my program, here is what happened in 1 month:

• Heart function improved from 30% to 50%

• Gained 20 lbs

• Pain gone

• Constipation gone

• Thankful to me because he was able to enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas

• Sleep improved 20%

  Not everybody is is at death's door when they come in. I'm hoping that you'll talk to me much sooner than that! It'll be easier for me and especially for you so that you don’t needlessly suffer.