A Natural Laxative Diet for Constipation

By CH Woods

If you cannot pass a bowel movement even though it has been longer than four days, then you have a condition known as constipation. There are many ways to go about treating this problem, but food is the number one and most healthy method of doing so.

The foods listed below are all considered to be natural laxatives, which can help you pass stool. You should try these foods before purchasing any over-the-counter stool softeners that may come with nasty side effects.


Natural Laxative Food Options

• Garlic: You only need a bit of garlic to help treat your constipation. Garlic has a great deal of allicin, a substance helpful for your liver, and can help stimulate liver enzymes to cleanse your body of harmful toxins.
• Bananas: This fruit is loaded with fiber and is considered one of the best natural laxatives. Additionally, they are perfect for helping your digestive system break down food. Bananas are also full of potassium, which can help recover important electrolytes to your digestive tract.
• Cabbage: Similar to garlic, consuming cabbage will help eliminate harmful toxins and help make your stools much softer so that they can pass with ease.
• Prunes: Prunes are one of the most popular natural laxatives. They are also full of many helpful vitamins and minerals such as fiber, antioxidants, iron, potassium, and vitamin A.
• Avocados: Avocados are filled with helpful vitamins and minerals like folate, fiber, vitamin K, and potassium. If you consume just one avocado on a daily basis, you will get almost half of the fiber your body requires each day.
• Raw Nuts and Seeds: You should include a lot of raw nuts and seeds into your diet to help relieve constipation. Some of the ones you can add can be sunflower seeds, flaxseeds, walnuts, sesame seeds, almonds, and pumpkin seeds. All of them are very easy to digest and are full of nutrients like zinc, protein, fiber, and vitamin E.
• Tomatoes: Tomatoes are natural laxatives that are full of nutrients such as fiber, vitamin K, vitamin C, and vitamin A.
• Apples: Apples have a high amount of pectin, which is a substance that can stimulate your bowels and make the stools softer to pass. A very effective natural laxative substance is apple cider vinegar. Just mix bit of it with some water and drink it once a day.
• Citrus Fruits: Oranges, lemons, and limes are three acidic fruits that can detoxify the body and relieve the symptoms of constipation. They can help your body flush out harmful toxins and stimulate your intestinal tract with enzymatic tasks.
• Carrots: Like apples, carrots are full of pectin which makes stools bulkier as well as helps to promote bowel contractions.
• Onions: Onions are a great natural laxative that also has fiber, potassium, vitamin C, folic acid, and vitamin E. They can also help those with allergy symptoms such as congestion and help lower bad cholesterol.

The Importance of Water: Not only is water essentially for all of our bodily functions, but it can help you pass any stubborn bowel movements as well by moistening the walls of your digestive tract.
Make sure you drink the recommended amount of water each day. To make it tastier, you can add lemon juice to it which is also a helpful substance for relieving constipation.

When to See a Doctor: If you believe that you have constipation, you should meet with your doctor as soon as you can to get properly examined. Constipation is a problem that can develop into something worse if left untreated.

Furthermore, do not make any changes to your diet or lifestyle without professional medical advice.

CH Woods is the Executive Director of Organic and Environmental Products. We provide organic and natural products with informative articles on health and environmental solutions