Nat (Brooklyn, NY) on 02/25/2025
Small amounts of magnesium, even taking a larger dosage from time to time, but not every day, might be helpful.
Herbal remedies for constipation containing senna or other stimulant herbs stop working eventually. First, there is a need for higher and higher dosages and then even the higher dosages hardly work. Even taking high amounts of magnesium products like magnesium citrate over a long time (a year or so) will end up hardly working. And the body's natural peristalsis is damaged. Miralax is less habit forming, but it can cause nervousness (or anxiety or sleeplessness) in some people.
Fiber foods taken with a lot of water are helpful.
(There is an antibiotic - Erythromycin that has been shown to help severe constipation in children. https://www.scielo.br/j/bjmbr/a/NGMt3N7mkbn49xnzYB8mYYS/)
Avoiding/minimizing fried foods, too much protein, and refined and processed foods is important.
Rob (Kentucky) on 01/13/2025
Medical Council – A Monthly Journal for the Physican and Surgeon. Volume 15,1910
For infants suffering from acute or chronic intestinal disturbances, E. Moro highly recommends a soup prepared as follows : Five hundred grams of carrots are peeled, mashed and boiled out with water, until 375 grams remain. The mass is then rubbed through a very fine sieve and added together with 6 gm. Of salt to 1 liter of broth. This soup was given to infants from two weeks to six months old with the best results. In acute cases the vomiting and diarrhea will cease in from one to three days and the fever and general symptoms of marasmus will rapidly disappear. In the chronic affection and in infants suffering from atrophy the result is no less prompt, and a rapid gain in weight can be noted . The stools are soft, very copious, and yellow or reddish-yellow. One of the most pronounced results following feeding with carrot soup is retention of water within the system of the infant.- Muench . Med. Woch.
Carrot juice every day helps clear up constipation, premote loose stools, relief from piles, and kills worms in the intestinal tract. Kitchen Clinic Home Remedies for Common Ailments Pub. 2011
A.M.S. (New York) on 12/17/2024
Danica (Boston, MA) on 10/12/2024
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!
Ashley (Santa Clarita, CA) on 08/01/2024
Dandelion root and leaf tea works wonders.
Nat (Brooklyn, NY) on 06/06/2024
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.
Dena L. (New Orleans, Louisiana ) on 05/21/2024
Chris (Binghamton NY) on 04/04/2024
Nat (Brooklyn, NY) on 03/20/2024
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.
Glen (Denver, CO) on 03/13/2024
All of these inexpensive remedies together work work wonders. I feel so much better now and don't worry as much about my diet.
noel (california) on 01/16/2024
"Oftentimes, the gut contains pathogenic bacteria wrapped in biofilm. Biofilm is the gross, slimy protective layer bad bacteria can produce. Harmful bacteria produce biofilm to protect themselves from being eliminated or destroyed, making it hard to achieve balance in the microbiome.
However, castor oil can break down the biofilm barrier, allowing harmful bacteria to be eradicated from the gut and beneficial bacteria to survive. Since 70% of the immune system is housed in the gut, a balanced gut microbiome is key to a healthy, regulated immune system. This makes gut health the most important factor in healing and reversing autoimmunity."
Amelia (Westheimer) on 12/09/2023
Mimi (Texas) on 09/29/2023
I eat a few slices of grapefruit and some grapefruit juice with my breakfast in the morning.
Hope this helps.
Nat (Brooklyn, NY) on 07/11/2023
Taking around 20 drops of Grapefruit Seed in about two or three ounces of water in the morning (and sometimes again in the afternoon) helps for Constipation.
Also, it is beneficial to take it with about a half tsp of Ume Plum Vinegar. (ingredients: ume plum, sea salt, beefsteak leaf-shiso. Both an America and a Japanese company sell the vinegar. Using presently the plum vinegar from the American company.)
Sometimes it is beneficial to take a mixture of around a tsp of ume plum vinegar in a cup of water or coconut water 10-20 minutes later and another tsp of ume plum vinegar in another cup of water or coconut water another 20 minutes later. The very salty vinegar and the coconut water both give benefit. A few shakes of cream of tartar powder can also be added to the water.
elizabeth (FL) on 12/30/2022
sara (the beaches) on 11/29/2022
winful (Alberta, Canada) on 11/26/2022
Nat (Brooklyn, NY) on 11/22/2022
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.
Juan (PHILIPPINES ) on 11/16/2022
Denise (CA) on 11/13/2022
To get sole, you buy large junks of himalayan salt (1/2 way) in a jar of pure water and let sit for 24 hours. then first thing in morning, take a teaspoon of sole and mix in 1-2 cups of pure water.
Taking that a few days now has me constipated despite having been regular with well formed stools before that. I experimented with many variations -- more water, warm water, small amount of lemon juice, waiting 2 hours before consuming anything else, etc. nothing changed constipation.
maybe works for some, but not me. BE FOREWARNED. you could be creating side effects that are not good for your body.
