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DISORDERS
(Their description, characteristics or symptoms,
causes, and complementary or alternative treatments)
Disorder: CONSTIPATION
Description: Constipation results when waste material moves too slowly through the large bowel, resulting in infrequent and/or painful elimination. It is important that the bowels move on a daily basis. The colon is a holding tank for waste matter that should be removed within eighteen to twenty-four hours. If not removed after this period, harmful toxins can form.
Symptoms: Difficult or infrequent passage of stools.
Incidence:
Causes: Poor diet, especially with insufficient amounts of fiber and fluids, is a major cause of constipation. Lack of exercise and a great variety of prescription drugs can also result in constipation.
Treatments: A high fiber diet, drinking plenty of water (8 glasses or more a day), and adequate exercise are the recommended treatments for constipation. Over-the-counter laxatives may give short-term relief, but over the long term they can cause dependency and actually make the condition worse.
Nutrients:
Supplement Dosage Comments
|
Aloe vera |
|
See under Herbs below. |
|
Garlic |
2 capsules twice daily, with meals. |
Destroys harmful bacteria in the colon |
|
Vitamin C |
5000-20,000 mg. daily, in divided doses |
Has a cleansing and healing effect |
|
Acidophilus |
1 tsp. Twice daily, on an empty stomach |
Allows survival and rapid passage of "friendly" bacteria through the stomach into the small intestine. |
Herbs:
 | Aloe vera has a healing and cleansing effect on the digestive tract and aids in forming soft stools. Drink l/2 cup of aloe vera juice in the morning and at night. It can be mixed with a cup of herbal tea. |
| Other herbs recommended for constipation are cascara sagrada, senna leaves, and rhubarb. |
Recommendations:
| Change to a high fiber diet. Major sources of fiber include wheat bran, whole grain products, and beans. Fresh fruits, raw green leafy vegetables and brown rice are also high in fiber. |
| Eat prunes or figs. They are the best natural laxatives. |
| Include in your diet apples, bananas, citrus fruits, asparagus, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, garlic, okra, peas and sweet potatoes. |
| Drink six to eight glasses of pure water per day. |
| Follow a low-fat diet. |
| Avoid dairy products, soft drinks, meat, white flour, highly processed foods, salt, coffee, alcohol and sugar. These foods are difficult to digest and have little or no fiber. |
| Get adequate exercise. It stimulates regularity. |
Considerations:
| Psyllium seed is helpful for constipation. Take it with a full glass of water. |
| Flaxseed oil helps to soften stools. |
| If you get constipated, try two to eight grams of Vitamin C, taken over a couple of hours. This is a common treatment in Europe. |
| If the recommendations outlined above do not improve constipation, or if constipation is more than an occasional problem, see your health care professional for a proctoscopic examination or barium enema to rule out the possibility of obstruction of the lower bowel or other serious illness, such as cancer. |
Vitamin For Life Recommended Regimen and cost:
|
Product No 59618- |
Description |
Comments |
Cost |
|
253-15 |
Aloe Vera 25 mg. extract Tablets |
As directed on label. |
$7.50/100 |
|
978-15 |
Garlic 400 mg. odor free tablets |
2 tablets twice daily, with meals |
$5.50/100 |
|
224-15 |
Beta Carotene 10,000 IU Softgels |
2 softgels daily, in divided doses |
$4.50/100 |
|
888-15 |
Acidophilus with pectin hardshell |
As directed on label |
$6.95/100 |
Sources:
Prescription for Nutritional Healing, 2nd Edition
By James F. Balch, M.D. & Phyllis A. Balch, C.N.C.
Alternative Medicine, The Definitive GuideCompiled by Burton Goldberg
Brave New Cures, by Julian Whitaker, M.D.
