Managing constipation for Psoriasis

I don’t know the exact reason why I developed psoriasis. But I have had a history of chronic constipation and even today I would face constipation problem occasionally, especially after an overnight journey or an insufficient night’s sleep.

I do have a strong feeling that constipation triggers my psoriasis. I have read a number of articles over the internet in support of this observation of mine.

Dr. John Pagano in his book – Healing Psoriasis: The Natural Alternative has advised to avoid constipation at any cost.

What is Constipation

Constipation refers to irregular bowel movements or difficulty in the passage of stools. If you are having at least one bowel movement a day, then it would be considered normal otherwise you are experiencing constipation. Sluggish bowel movements with frequency less than 3 times a week falls under the category of severe constipation.

In old age, the problem of constipation becomes more frequent because of two reasons:

• Long stays in bed (less physical activity)
• Use of medications which can cause psoriasis (particularly, some antibiotics)

Hence, elderly people, suffering from constipation should include light exercises in their activities and discuss with their doctors to change the medications.

What causes Constipation

Irregular lifestyle, bad food habits and mental issues like stress and tension are major factors causing constipation.

Various prominent causes for constipation are:

• Insufficient intake of fluids like water and juices would make the stool dry enough to make you constipated.
• High intake of refined white flour products like white bread, pizza, burgers and other bakery  and junk foods. These foods have low digestive fiber content.
• Excessive intake of dairy products can cause constipation
• Sedentary life with almost no or very little physical workout. Proper digestion of food is vital to avoid constipation and sufficient physical workout is necessary for food digestion. Hence, if your work profile doesn’t allow you to do enough physical activity, then spare some time daily for jogging or join a health gym.
• Irregular food habits like overeating or skipping meals is not good.
• Too much travelling, especially over night travels can cause constipation.
• Mental health issues like stress, depression and tension causes constipation.

Constipation is not good for Psoriasis

“Healthy gut, healthy life”

There is a well appreciated saying that a healthy gut with smooth bowel movements is a gateway for a disease free, healthy life.

Due to unhealthy diet and lifestyle, occasional constipation is a “new normal” these days and people don’t take much note of it. But, being a psoriasis patient, you need to be extra cautious about constipation. And, unfortunately, if you are facing this problem too often, then it is an alarming situation.

As a psoriasis patient, eliminating constipation is very important for you. Constipation hinders smooth flushing out of body wastes resulting in the accumulation of toxins over an extended period of time. Your eliminatory body organs (responsible for elimination of body toxins) like liver and kidney are already overloaded and weakened, this extra burden of toxins due to constipation can make the situation worse.

Hence, try your best not to get constipated.

In my own experience, if I don’t have a smooth bowel movement in the morning, I would have a sluggish attitude throughout the day and my level of enthusiasm and energy would be significantly low.

How to manage constipation

By thumb rule, by reversing the above mentioned causes, constipation can be avoided.

Managing constipation for psoriasis healing includes- avoid all refined white flour foods, eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables (they have dietary fibers), spare time for daily physical work out and drink enough water and other healthy fluids (juices). And not to forget, maintain a healthy lifestyle with timely food habits.

Use of dietary fibers for constipation treatment

We all have heard that lack of dietary fibers in your food can cause constipation. In simple terms, dietary fibers provide “bulk” or”roughage” to your foods. These dietary fibers can pass through the small intestine without being digested and enter the large intestine. In the large intestine, these “bulky” dietary fibers when attached to the stool, make them big enough to be moved easily out of the body without much effort by the colon walls. Hence, now, we have understood that how dietary fibers can help in eliminating constipation.

To add dietary fiber in your diet, consume a lot of raw fruits and vegetables and whole grains. Avoid processed foods (particularly all the preparations of refined white flour)

Some useful home remedies for constipation

• Constipation is sometimes related to dry and small stools. In this case, use of ghee (clarified butter) is beneficial. Ghee can be used to make food preparations and can be used as a topping on various foods.

• Use of virgin coconut oil is very beneficial. Virgin coconut oil refers to- pure and non filtered coconut oil which is prepared by cold pressing of coconut kernels without any use of heat so that all the health benefits of coconut are retained. Virgin coconut oil is edible. It is my personal experience that taking 1 teaspoonful of virgin coconut oil in the morning empty stomach can really help in constipation.

• Drinking warm lemon water is highly beneficial for constipation relief and body detoxification (along with the liver). Hence, a perfect morning drink would be- warm water mixed with lemon water and 1 tsp of virgin coconut oil. Drink it on an empty stomach.

Constipation management for Psoriasis (personal experience)

1. Drinking warm lemon water empty stomach in the morning (one liter of warm water with 1 full lemon squeezed into it and 1 tsp of virgin coconut oil. In case of severe chronic constipation, make it two lemons and 2 tsp of virgin coconut oil).  After getting up in the morning, the food that you have consumed last night should have been digested properly. Hence, the digestive fire would be pretty higher and drinking warm water would make sure that this digestive fire will not get harmed. Also, before breakfast…i.e. breaking the “fast” from the last night, if you clean your internal body system with warm water, then nothing better can be asked for. Hence, drinking warm water in the morning (with added lemon water) is a universal remedy for constipation and indigestion.
2. Exercise/ jogging/ brisk walk in the morning (at least 20 minutes a day)
3. Eat Papaya and/or Guava. I bet eating papaya or guava will surely help you to ensure smooth bowel movements. Just try it!!
4. Drink three to four liters (0.75 to 1 gallon) of warm to normal water a day. Avoid refrigerated water. Refrigerated water decreases your internal body temperature in a sudden manner, which is not good for your body metabolism.
5. Eat fibrous raw vegetables and fruits. Papaya, guava, broccoli, spinach, kale, apple, pears, cabbage- all are good for constipation.
6. Avoid refined white flour products like biscuits, snacks, pizzas, burgers and other bakery and junk foods
7. Avoid all processed foods like packaged foods, carbonated drinks, ready to eat foods
8. Limit your consumption of dairy products (except buttermilk, buttermilk is very good for digestion)

Be cautious while consuming laxatives

It is advisable to use laxatives if the constipation is too severe. But, most of the commercially sold fiber supplements (laxatives) are habit forming and regular use of laxatives can make you dependent on them. Hence, never consume them in large quantities and use them only if you are experiencing a severe constipation. Whenever you consume these laxatives, drink a sufficient quantity of water also. Without enough amount, these laxatives can form hard solid mass in your body which would eventually make your constipation worse.

The best way is- limit the use of laxatives and adjust your diet to include a lot of raw fruits and vegetables. This is the best way to add dietary fiber in your body.

Conclusion

To sum up, colon cleansing is an important part of body detoxification which in turn helps in psoriasis healing. Hence, there is utmost importance of managing constipation for psoriasis healing.

When you are dealing with psoriasis, make sure you have at least one bowel movement a day; it will be better if we can make it twice a day. I remember one naturopathy doctor told me that if you are consuming three standard meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) a day, then ideally you should have three bowel movements a day because after digestion of every meal, you should eliminate remaining body wastes to avoid any chance of leaking of toxins into your blood. Hence, at least we should try to have 1-2 bowel movements a day.