Constipated?

Hot Girls Shouldn't Have Stomach Problems

Feeling constipated, bloated, and therefore sluggish, tired and brain foggy… is the worst feeling. And unfortunately lots of people walk around every day dealing with it. 

In college I remember soooo many of my friends complaining daily about stomach issues they had, including myself. The most popular question I get every single day is asking “I am constipated and bloated, what should I do?” I mean there was literally a whole movement called “hot girls have stomach problems” because it was so normalized amongst women…like WHY? It is time to change that narrative for the good. 

Bloating and constipation is COMMON but not NORMAL. Healthy digestion looks like waking up & having a bowel movement, and having ~3/day (give or take everyone is different). No matter what, it's vital for health to be going at least daily! Once you start having healthy digestion, it's life changing. A weight lifted… LITERALLY. 

There are a million supplements and trends out there that claim to help with constipation, but they are all short term band aid solutions. It is important to address the root cause of the problem first, because that is what makes the long term sustainable differences.

I want to say a couple things before we get into it. 

1. You know your own body best. Always remember that. Your feeling + intuition should always trump anything that I say from my personal experiences. Take what you are inspired by, leave what does not work for you. This is meant to help inspire, not cause more stress. Being true to yourself, listening to your body, and truly living is what is most healing.

2. If you disagree with what I say - that is awesome (and I am not being sarcastic). I think it’s special having two people disagree on things. That means there is room for growth and learning on both ends (as long as both parties are open to listening, learning and talking). Plus, two things can be true at the same time! Especially when it comes to health + wellness, because we are all so very different. I would love to hear from you, discuss with you, and have a nice conversation. But when it comes to negativity, hatred, and fear based commenting - that is not something I am interested in. You can disagree with someone without attacking them. 

3. I am learning and growing each and every day. I was gluten and dairy free for 7+ years and now I can’t imagine living without both. I was vegan and now animal products are essential for me. If I am not changing, learning, evolving, then what am I doing? I am and forever will be a student of holistic health. Where I am at now will be different from where I am 5 years from now, and what’s discussed today is based on my personal experiences and learnings to this point! 

4. Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. None of this is medical advice. Just a fun discussion and conversation based on my personal experiences and learnings.

Okkkaaaayy. Let’s. Get. Into. It. Starting with deep diving into the root causes, and ending with some of my FAVORITE life changing tips.

PS: If you enjoy this series let me know by tapping on the <3 button below, and leaving a comment on what you enjoyed or what you want discussed next! THANK YOU.

ROOT CAUSES

If your digestion is not regular, your body is not properly getting rid of toxic waste which can manifest into other symptoms. For me, my digestion was so messed up at the peak of my symptoms. It was not constant or regular in the slightest. The root cause of my symptoms were based on a few factors which led up to my SIBO, leaky gut and dysbiosis. 

It is so so important to address these lifestyle questions and go back to the basics before doing anything else.

If you haven’t yet, check these out to review the most important basics of health to address:

Living is Healing

Eating for Gut Health

1. Nervous System Imbalance / Emotional Trauma 

In my opinion, THIS is one of the top causes of gut issues, including constipation.

There are three main branches of the autonomic nervous system: the parasympathetic, sympathetic and enteric. To summarize, the parasympathetic controls our “rest + digest” state. The sympathetic is our “fight or flight”, and the enteric works to facilitate controls over our GI tract. 

All of these systems communicate, and when they are imbalanced, they don’t function properly. Imbalance in my case, often stemmed from being too often in a constant state of fight or flight. Tapping into the parasympathetic nervous system, aka rest + digest, helps to regulate the nervous system, calm stress and anxiety, and also stimulate the enteric system for healthy digestion.

I talk about how I worked to regulate my nervous system more in depth, here:

I Lost my Period for 2 Years

Addressing emotional trauma and understanding, forgiving and releasing is integral to health as well. Emotional trauma built up and not addressed can manifest into physical symptoms in the body. This can be done through methods of addressing nervous system imbalance (above), journaling, self-work, therapy and forgiveness. I also love these books as a wonderful place to begin:

• You Can Heal your Life

• The Body Keeps the Score

• How to Do the Work

2. Body Malnourishment

I am all about eating and drinking what makes you happy. I am a firm believer that happiness outweighs anything when it has to do with health, always. However when I was in college, I was binge eating processed foods, intermittent fasting, drinking tons of crappy coffee, lots of alcohol, and attempting to drink a gallon of “filtered” water a day (...was not using a good water filter…and basically flushing out all of my minerals). ALL of this combined had a big negative strain on my digestion and nervous system. 

Now, I still eat whatever I want when I want it, but (most of the time) it is high quality food. I prioritize grass-fed, pasture raised, wild proteins. Organic, local and seasonal produce. Sourdough bread. Raw dairy.

I try to get a diverse amount of nutrients (the more diversity in the diet, the more your gut microbiome thrives, this is why eating seasonal is really helpful!). Prebiotics & polyphenols help the good bacteria in your microbiome thrive. Cooking my meals from home with real ingredients that I know where they’re sourced from has become a really special ritual for me.

It’s also important to prioritize proper hydration. I have a quality water filter (reverse osmosis). I either drink that or spring water and I don’t try and chug a certain amount to reach a limit. I drink when I am thirsty. I add a pinch of salt as necessary and I drink mineral rich bevs: high quality coffee, matcha, fruit juices, herbal teas, bone broth, coconut water, raw milk. I also love these Mineral Packets on the go.

Making sure your body is getting vital nutrients through food and hydration is key to regular and health digestive health.

3. Poor Gut Motility

Motility, simplified, is the process of food moving through the digestive tract. The process of gut motility starts in the mouth (when you consume something) and ends at excretion. 

Good gut motility* is essential for regular digestion. When I dealt with sibo and leaky gut, my motility was horrible. Things like sibo, leaky gut, hypothyroidism, and lifestyle can lead to poor gut motility. I had sibo, leaky gut, hormone issues & more…and all of these including the other factors on this list led me to struggling with poor motility.

*I will share my favorite tips from my naturopath on how I strengthened my gut motility below

4. Poor Sleep Health

The body heals and restores during sleep. While we are asleep, our body goes to work. It clears out toxic waste in our brain, it checks the gut lining for tears and patches them up, and more. Sleep is absolutely essential for full body optimization. 

To work on getting quality sleep…I recommend doing a deeper dive here:

Sleep Health 101

5. Sedentary Lifestyle

Moving our bodies is keyyyy for regular digestion. If we are stagnant and sitting all day, our digestion too will be stagnant and sitting. I’ve seen both: someone working out far too hard on the daily to the point where their nervous systems are out of whack and that messes with their digestion, and someone who is not moving at all and their digestion becomes stagnant. 

I used to do hiit workouts daily and that was not at all good for me. I now prioritize more lower impact movement: walking, stretching, yoga, pilates, etc… and I find this is what works best for my body! Find what makes you feel good & prioritize that movement.

6. Excessive Antibiotic, Alcohol, Drug or Pharmaceutical Overuse

Of course some of these drugs are necessary and lifesavers when used correctly, those are not the occurrences I am referencing. I am speaking to the times that these drugs are overprescribed and overused, which was what was happening in my case.

More on my story here:

Gut Feelings

In my peak symptoms, I was taking too many antibiotics and over the counter pharmaceuticals (think tums, gassex)...I was thinking at the moment these things were fixing my symptoms (or so I was told), but it was alll short term and making everything long-term worse. A lot of this is what progressed my inflammation, leaky gut, SIBO and overall health issues.

TIPS FOR HEALTHY DIGESTION

Addressing your lifestyle is the most important place to start. THIS is where the long-term change happens. But alas, there are tips that may help aid along the way or will provide short term relief whilst you are currently dealing with the issues. This is what has helped me in the past, and in the current if I am dealing with stomach issues (usually will happen to me after traveling because that puts me in a stressed state!)

Essentially, if you are my friend that just texted me “HELP I HAVEN’T POOPED IN 4 DAYS” … this is what I would tell you to do: