What to do when you can’t poo!💩

The Purpose of Poo

As you read this, your body is working hard to:

  • Clear waste produced during its normal, healthy activities
  • Remove compounds (e.g. hormones) from circulation that have completed their tasks
  • Neutralise toxins that can harm your body, and
  • Fight off pathogens (infectious organisms) that could otherwise make you sick

Once it’s completed these tasks, the next step is to eliminate these unwanted substances. It does this by packaging them up and sending them to your intestines to be eliminated in your poo!

So, How Often Should You Poo?

As your digestive tract is one of the main avenues for removing waste from your body, it’s ideal to pass at least one well-formed stool daily; this ensures the efficient clearance of toxins from your body. Anything less than this, and you might be experiencing constipation.

But why does this occur? What impact is it having within your gut? And most importantly, what can you do to address the underlying causes?

Read on to learn what to do when you don’t poo.

Constipation Characterised

The medical definition of chronic constipation (CC) involves experiencing the below symptoms for at least a three-month period:

  • Hard or lumpy stools;
  • Reduced frequency of defecation (less than three bowel motions per week);
  • A sensation of not passing the entire stool (i.e. a feeling of incomplete evacuation); or
  • Straining when passing a stool.[1]

However, under this definition, straining to pass a hard stool each day, or only going several times a week, can be seen as ‘normal’, leading people to believe their symptoms are benign or harmless.

Unfortunately, this may not be the case. CC increases the risk of complications such as haemorrhoids, anal fissures, faecal impaction and faecal incontinence.

As your digestive tract is one of the main avenues for removing waste from your body, it’s ideal to pass at least one well-formed stool daily

Let’s Leave the Laxatives

For some, it may seem logical to simply take a laxative to move things along. Yes, laxatives can certainly help, however, whether they’re softening the stool or speeding up gut motility (the muscular contractions of your intestines that move the stool through the colon), they’re not addressing the underlying dysfunction that triggers constipation. Additionally, regular laxative use carries the risk of the bowel developing a dependence on them to pass a stool.

Addressing the true cause of constipation requires us to examine the health of the gut, with a special spotlight on the microbiome.

The Microbiome-Constipation Connection

Your intestinal microbiome is a living colony of 38 trillion beneficial bacteria, yeasts and fungi that work synergistically to keep your gut, immune system and entire body healthy. When it comes to bowel regularity, your microbiome plays two hugely important roles:

  1. Converts the fibre from your food into short chain fatty acids (SCFAs). SCFAs regulate your gut motility as well as provide fuel for your gut cells, keeping your digestive system healthy. Insufficient fibre intake, or not having enough good gut bacteria, can cause low levels of SCFAs, decreasing gut motility and leading to constipation. In fact, research has shown that constipated patients have lower levels of SCFAs compared to those with diarrhoea.[2]
  2. Prevents pathogenic (bad) organisms from overgrowing in the gut.[3] These unwanted organisms can trigger microbiome-disrupting inflammation, and also produce gasses such as methane, which slow gut motility. Together, these negative effects can produce constipation.[4]

In order to remedy your microbiome issues and eliminate your constipation, there are two key ingredients you can call on.

Prebiotics Promote the Poo

The first ingredient to look for when restoring the microbiome to treat constipation is partially hydrolysed guar gum (PHGG). PHGG is a prebiotic, which is a group of fibres that provide your beneficial bacteria with the food to make SCFAs. Research shows 5 g/d of PHGG to provide particular benefit to those with constipation, demonstrating the capacity to soften the stool, increase the weekly number of bowel motions, and decrease abdominal pain, straining with bowel motions, and laxative use.[5]

Research shows 5 g/d of PHGG to provide particular benefit to those with constipation, demonstrating the capacity to soften the stool, increase the weekly number of bowel motions, and decrease abdominal pain, straining with bowel motions, and laxative use.[5]

The Strain that Stops the Strain

The second ingredient is the probiotic strain Lactobacillus plantarum 299v. Probiotics are live, beneficial microbes that support the health of your gut and intestinal microbiome. To read more on what probiotics are and why selecting the right strain is important, click here.

A primary action of probiotics, including 299v, is to help the beneficial organisms within your microbiome to grow and flourish. This creates more good bacteria that then produce more SCFAs, which we now know is very useful for combatting constipation! Beyond this, 299v can also produce antimicrobial substances that prevent pathogenic microbes from surviving within the gut,[6] reduce inflammation within your digestive tract,[7] and prevent pathogenic organisms from attaching to your gut lining.[8]

Together, these actions result in increased stool softness, gut motility,[9] and the feeling of complete evacuation,[10] whilst also reducing symptoms such as abdominal pain.[11]

Get Things Moving

If you’re moving your bowels less than once a day, passing hard stools, straining, or experiencing a sense of incomplete evacuation, your microbiome may need support. Taking PHGG and 299v to ensure good gut motility and promote SCFA production may be just what you need to get things moving. Talk to a Natural Healthcare Practitioner about accessing this constipation-combatting duo today!

https://blog.metagenics.com.au/what-to-do-when-you-cant-poo/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=sharpspring&sslid=MzM2sDQ1NLQ0NDU1BQA&sseid=M7Q0NDIzMDQzMAYA&jobid=8263a464-47c0-4172-938f-c1f3c95386ad

Health Benefits of Tumeric!

The wonderful spice Turmeric continues to gain popularity in treating all sorts of health conditions. However, what should turmeric actually be used for?
How does it work within the body?
What is it that you should be looking for when choosing turmeric supplements available in the market place?

🎧 Listen to this ‘Your Health Guide’ podcast episode where Laurence is joined by Naturopath, Nick Breen, to separate the evidence from the hype on the benefits and uses of turmeric

Listen Now on iTunes – https://apple.co/2OCeFCK
and now on SPOTIFY – https://spoti.fi/2Pu8L7v\
#turmeric #inflammation #naturalmedicine #nutrition#podcast #yourhealthguide #metagenicsau

10 Natural Things You Can Do for Your Chronic Pain!🤯&#x1f525

In order to manage ongoing pain, the underlying cause, inflammation, must be addressed and resolved. Natural Medicines and certain dietary and lifestyle interventions enable your body to calm and resolve the inflammatory response.

Our Pain is Insane

With 20% of Australians suffering from chronic pain, and pain being the most common reason someone will visit a healthcare Practitioner in Australia,[1] there is no question that we’re a nation in pain and inflamed!

To understand how to reduce pain, we need to look at its main cause, inflammation, which is triggered in response to tissue injury or infection. The inflammatory process is designed to initiate healing and also to keep you resting while healing occurs. For this reason, the swelling that comes with inflammation stimulates nerves around the affected area, sending signals to your brain that something is wrong by causing you pain, and consequently restricting your movement.

In states of chronic pain, however, the resolution does not occur, and instead, the body becomes stuck in the initiation phase, with persistent inflammation and pain. To reduce chronic pain, then, we need to address both phases of inflammation – initiation and resolution.

Find out how YOU can shift your body’s level of inflammation and begin on the road to a pain-free life, with 10 Natural Things You Can Do for Your Chronic Pain.

https://blog.metagenics.com.au/10-natural-things-you-can-do-for-your-chronic-pain/

National Diabetes Week is held in July each year and is an opportunity for Diabetes Australia to increase awareness of Diabetes Research.💖

‘Take Diabetes 2 Heart’ is one of their current campaigns, as too many Australians with type 2 diabetes are in a bad relationship with their heart. Nearly two-thirds of people with type 2 diabetes don’t know that heart disease is the number one cause of death for people with type 2 diabetes. This initiative is about inspiring people who have diabetes, and the people who love them, to take positive steps to better heart health. The following tips are a great place to start to take better care of your heart!

Natural Health Practitioners are best placed to help you take care of your heart.

If you would like more information please contact me.💚❤💚

Gut Issues or the Flu? Choose the Best Probiotic for You.😇

As you read this, approximately 38 trillion microbes are living out their lives within your gut – foraging for food, jostling with each other for survival and reproducing. This is your microbiome, the ecosystem of bacteria, yeasts, and fungi that work synergistically with your body to keep you healthy.

The health of your gut microbiome is intimately linked with your own health, particularly influencing your digestion and immune function.

The health of your gut microbiome is intimately linked with your own health, particularly influencing your digestion and immune function. However, factors like stress, illness, antibiotics and processed foods can reduce the amount of ‘good microbes’, and allow ‘bad’ microbes to prosper. The imbalance that follows this can interrupt your digestive function, creating symptoms like bloating, diarrhoea, constipation or abdominal pain, and reduce your capacity to fight pathogens,[1] leading to colds, flu and infections.

Fortunately, taking probiotics can help restore and maintain the microbial balance in your gut, improving the health of your digestive and immune systems. It is important to note, however, in terms of manufacturing processes, quality of ingredients and the strains used, not all probiotics are created equal. So if you’re struggling with gut or immune issues, read on to find out how you can choose the best probiotic for you.

The right dog for the job

Expecting any probiotic formulation to address a specific health concern is like expecting a stray dog to herd sheep. Although the stray is a dog, not knowing its breed or skills makes putting it in charge a risky move.

Expecting any probiotic formulation to address a specific health concern is like expecting a stray dog to herd sheep.

Probiotics are the same. When you’ve got a specific health outcome in mind, using any general probiotic is less likely to lead to the results you’re looking for. This is because different probiotic strains have specific strengths or actions in the body. Simply put, no probiotic can do everything.

Therefore, to achieve your desired results, it’s important to choose strains that can produce the effect you want, just as you’d specifically choose a Border Collie, and not a random stray, to herd your sheep.

Then, once you’ve got the right strain, it’s important to choose an evidence-based dose of a probiotic, because one strain can have different effects at different doses. For further information on using probiotics in this strain and dose-specific way (and more dog analogies!), read this post.

Simply put, no probiotic can do everything.

So, what will you choose?

The best way to choose a probiotic strain for your condition is to look at what the science says. If you don’t feel inclined to wade through the research, don’t worry! The following table will introduce you to some specific probiotic strains that are well-researched in humans and have been shown to benefit particular digestive and immune issues.

For more INFORMATION contact me today.

🤗

https://blog.metagenics.com.au/gut-issues-or-the-flu-choose-the-best-probiotic-for-you/