Easy Home Remedies for Constipation Relief

Lemon Juice and Olive Oil

Posted by Kat (USA) on 07/16/2006
★★★★★

Lemon Juice/Olive Oil is one of the best & natural ways that I was able to stop my constipation. I had everything I needed at home. The lemon and oil didn't mix completely, but i would put a pinch of salt in the lemon juice to take away the sourness.

Lemon Juice and Olive Oil

Posted by Enza (Hamilton, ON CANADA) on 07/06/2006
★★★★★

1 TBSP FRESH SQUEEZED LEMON MIXED WITH 1 TBSP OF EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL. Take mixture 2-3 times a day until it relieves constipation. Stop taking the mixture once you have a normal bowel movement. It works great.

Lemon Juice and Olive Oil

Posted by Kalia (DC, United States) on 06/11/2008
★★★★★

Constipation Remedies: wow! This worked within 3 minutes and 15 seconds. I highly recommend the orange/lemon juice and olive oil treatment for anyone suffering the agony of immobile bowel.

Acupressure

Posted by Boomer (Edmonton, Ab) on 11/03/2009
★★★★★

Make sure if you rub your stomache that you do it in a clockwise motion. Rubbing counter clockwise can result in increased constipation and can cause problems with your intestines.

Lemon Juice and Olive Oil

Posted by Dano (Ontario) on 01/02/2025

If your constipation is chronic, then I would suggest using the Ayurvedic herbal formula called Triphala. It is very well suited to long term daily use and its benefits increase with time to address more than just constipation.

Prune or Celery Juice

Posted by Danica (Boston, MA) on 10/12/2024
★★★★★

My mom always had prune juice in the house for those occasional bouts of constipation. I would image 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup would be plenty as it is very sweet.

The other thing that works like a charm is celery juice, but I find it less gentle than prune juice. You will be cleaned out, but the need to go can come on somewhat abruptly and with a vengeance.

I love this site and look for natural remedies for everything. Thank you, Earth Clinic!

Kvass

Posted by Nat (Brooklyn, NY) on 06/06/2024
★★★★★

Kvass, or fermented rye bread or beet water, helps lessen constipation.

A simple way to make this is just to place in a jar some dried out rye sourdough bread slices, (slices can be dried in the oven or even just on the counter). Add boiling water to fill the jar. One slice of the bread can be added later when the water not that hot. A teaspoon of salt can also be added to the mixture. Put a lid on the jar. (Maybe mix it every day.) After 3-5 days the water will have a pleasant tangy taste. (The bread can be removed after a day or two or earlier.)

This is not a professional kvass, which also has sugar or honey and some yeast added to it.

There is also beet kvass that is also helpful for many.

Resistant Starch + Wheat Bran

Posted by Nat (Brooklyn, NY) on 03/20/2024
★★★★★

Resistant Starch such as Potato or Corn Starch w/Wheat Bran in Water for Constipation

Taking a little (start with a quarter teaspoon, then gradually increase the amount) potato or corn starch in water once or twice a day helps to increase good bacteria in the colon. This should be taken with some other fiber, such as wheat bran.

Studies have shown that taking this starch/water mixture increased the good bacteria in the colon. Still, the good bacteria weren't propagating throughout the whole colon. Adding a little (wheat) bran together with the starch effected that the good bacteria spread throughout the whole colon.

Resistant Starch + Wheat Bran

Posted by Nat (Brooklyn, NY) on 06/06/2024

Update.

The raw starch is not easy on the intestines.

Maybe, just using one fourth teaspoon (or a bit more) starch several times a week is enough. This together with some wheat or other bran.

Grapefruit

Posted by Mimi (Texas) on 09/29/2023
★★★★★

Grapefruit for Constipation

I eat a few slices of grapefruit and some grapefruit juice with my breakfast in the morning.

Hope this helps.

Flaxseed

Posted by Katrina (Massachusetts) on 08/09/2023
★★★★★

I have been suffering from chronic, severe constipation and hemorrhoids lately as a result from eating too many sugary foods all at once, a switch in thyroid med/dose, and stress, as well as (possibly) a lack of fiber (I've been afraid it will make me more constipated)...After a miserable morning where I finally did go, but it was so hard and dry and I thought I had a blockage and was going to need to go to the hospital! After I finally cleared out, I was terrified of that happening again, as I've been struggling with constipation for the past almost 2 weeks! I tried ground flaxseed (which I ground myself and keep refrigerated in a glass jar) mixed into water yesterday. (I used 4 tsps in about 16-20 ounces of water.) I let it sit for a while to let that gel-like substance come into the water and I drank that throughout the day. I like the taste of flaxseeds (nutty) and had a soft, painless bowel movement for the first time in many days yesterday afternoon! Then had to go again in the evening (mostly diarrhea, but welcome that right now over constipation and further hemorrhoid irritation)! I also had a smooth poo this morning.

Cream of Tartar

Posted by Nat (Brooklyn, NY) on 11/22/2022
★★★★★

Cream of Tartar helps against constipation. Taking a small amount, about a third or a half teaspoon together with a small amount, about a half teaspoon of Milk of Magnesia, might be enough to help. Since taking magnesium as a laxative regularly, will eventually stop working and even make the original problem worse, it is recommended that the Milk of Magnesia should only be used not more than around once a week. Whether the same applies to Cream of Tartar is not known.

In any case, taking even a teaspoon of Cream of Tartar every day seems to cause weight gain for some people. And taking large amounts can cause heart issues. This is because of Cream of Tartar's high potassium content. (It is reported that someone who took several tablespoons to help constipation ended up in the hospital.)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3570668/

In the above mentioned link, Cream of Tartar is also mentioned as being used in a suppository combined with Bicarbonate of Soda and polyethylene glycol.

Epsom Salt

Posted by Science (Cyprus) on 03/07/2022 21 posts
★★★★★

I am a researcher. Epsom salts for constipation. Simply the best curement. Ask Epsom Salts for human consumption AND NEVER BUY EPSOM SALTS THAT IS NOT MADE FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION. Two to three times a week one tablespoon per day, will work excellently. Do not take 7 days per week, since we do not know yet the long term effects on the body.

Rhubarb

Posted by Zara (Batley) on 07/23/2020
★★★★★

Rhubarb root is a cure for chronic constipation.

Coconut

Posted by Rw (Southwest Virginia) on 12/17/2017

P.S. Just be aware that if you have candida, this can kill the candida and cause unpleasant die-off detox symptoms. Maybe go slow with it until you know and if you have symptoms, back off a little.

Dietary Changes

Posted by Dan (Seattle) on 03/17/2017

Uh, there's no aluminum in baking soda. It's sometimes in baking powder however...

Cabbage

Posted by Dawn (Calgary, CA) on 02/02/2015
★★★★★

I suffered from constipation for a long time until I found a home remedy. I made fermented cabbage drink at home which I drank 2 glasses everyday which by the way is probiotic drink. Now I also eat probiotic yogurt everyday, I was also lactose intolerant, not anymore. Lactose intolerant people should try cabbage drink first then slowly introduce yogurt to your system. For cabbage drink, one can find recipe on the you tube, it is basically chopping 1 cup of cabbage and add 6 cups of water and leave to ferment for 2 days in an air tight jar. It tastes a bit sour. I wish I had known about this earlier, I suffered for many years.

Mango

Posted by Marisa Bell (Detroit, Mi) on 02/01/2014
★★★★★

I was on a low carb, high protein diet for a while, about a year. During the course of that year, I developed really bad gas. IT always happend at night and I had NO IDEA why it was happening. Come to find out, my stools had hardened and I was having chronic constipation! It was horrible! I first used magnesium as a supplement, but that gave me terrible gas! Then I started trying to do more grains and oats and that made the constipation worse! I tried prune juice which worked, however, gave me really bad gas. So finally I did some research for high fiber fruits and came across mangoes! They have been a life savor. I now eat half a mango twice a day and have been regular finally! It has really helped me with no side effects of bad gas or loose stool. AS with anything youre using to fight constipation, you have to play around to see how much your body needs to be regular. But try it!

Apple Juice, Warm

Posted by Pat (Oakville, Ontario) on 09/21/2013
★★★★★

I have been feeling very plugged up lately, so much so that my bra was too tight to wear! I read about drinking a warm cup of apple juice and thought, why not? I heated about 6 oz in the microwave and sipped it after dinner. About a half hour later I felt a slight urge to go to the bathroom and with little effort and no discomfort I had a very rewarding bowel movement! I eat a fairly good diet, with lots of fibre but I can be lax in my consumption of water so using apple juice to move more fluids to my lower bowel was perfect! I will try to increase my daily consumption of water but also include warm apple juice too!

Castor Oil

Posted by Milos (MA) on 12/12/2020
★★★★★

Wow, this, for me, has been the best method. I have tried all the previously mentioned methods to no avail. And you are right -- stay close to the commode. lol. Castor oil is best. I did 4 tablespoons today and will reduce to maybe 2 tomorrow.

Dietary Changes

Posted by Kathy (the USA) on 04/05/2013

AMEN to your report on wheat. My husband is affected the same way. He doesn't believe it but maybe if I show him your post it'll give him something to think about! THANKS!!

Fiber

Posted by Traveler (Houston, Texas) on 01/12/2013
★★★★★

I am a 29 year old female who's had issues with constipation since I was a teenager. In the past 8 or so years I've gotten into alternative health and have tried a bunch of different things. I found that blackstrap molasses was really great for the constipation right before my period, and also eased my bleeding a bit and my cramps. When I'm desperate, I've happily chugged from the bottle though it tastes very nasty to me.

Lately, I've been dumpster diving a lot. I started for other reasons and only after seeing how much food was wasted, that was wrapped up in plastic and put in boxes not even touching anything I considered "dirty" have I started "rescuing" food. Anyway, because of this, I have two freezers and a fridge full of vegetables and fruit that were ripe enough to have at home but I guess too ripe to keep in the store with fresh stock coming in. Or, vegetables with the mildest blemish on it. I've noticed that because I'm eating so much in the way of vegetables and fruits, that constipation is no longer an issue. Even last year when I was going to the store and relying on foods that had a longer shelf life, like beans or lentils, I found that if I got 25-30 grams of fiber, mostly from "real" foods, it was actually a joy to go to the bathroom. Plus, I find that I get cranky if I'm not going regularly and this effects different parts of my life negatively.

I highly recommend finding delicious ways to get fiber into your diet. Currently my three favorite recipes are mashed cauliflower, mushrooms madera, and each morning I make myself a big bowl of bananas, blueberries, and sometimes grapes (all rescued and delicious) with a tiny bit of fiber cereal (also rescued unopened) and either some milk, or yogurt mixed in.

I'm currently experimenting with trying to hit 60grams of fiber per day to see how (or if) that affects weight loss when not really focusing on calories. In any event, people need 25-35 grams of fiber PER DAY. Don't rely on over the counter fiber supplements-- go to foods even if you have to buy them, that have vitamins, minerals and a high water content so you don't have to have the worry of the fiber supplements working against you and making your constipation worse.

Fish Oil

Posted by Myoho (NYC, NY) on 03/04/2012
★★★★★

3 in am and 3 in pm fish oils high dha combined with 200 mg of mag citrate 3 in the am and 3 in the pm.

this has knock on wood been helping my infinite constipation due to my eating disorder on my GI Doctor's sound advice. I was on amitiza and it did not help, so we switched.