Chronic Constipation: Eliminating It Naturally
December 25, 2007 | 39 Comments
I used to suffer from chronic constipation although I was rarely doubled over in pain from the lack of bowel movements, heaviness, and occasional cramps I experienced were uncomfortable. It surprised me because well… I was healthy as a whole food vegan I was eating the right foods so why in the wold was I experiencing this problem? I decided to do some research as it turns out I wasn’t eating enough fiber rich foods.
Greens such as collards, kale, mustard greens, and turnip greens, were something I didn’t eat a lot of about five years ago. I wrote about this in my guest post at Face-Natural you can read about it in New Years Resolution: Eating For Beauty. I ate greens daily, mainly lettuce and spinach, but the amount of dark leafy greens I consumed was very small. In my case simply upping my intake of greens caused me to have bowel movements again. Also I incorporated self massage using specific essential oils. That did the trick in one day I was having bowel movements a few times daily.
Why do people become constipated? I’ve listed a few reasons below…
Constipation: Why does it happen?
- Not eating enough dietary fiber
- Not drinking enough liquids
- Lack of exercise
- Poor eating habits
- Ignoring the urge to have bowel movements
I was guilty of #1 and #5.
Regarding #1, I realized that although I was consuming fiber daily I needed to increase the amount of fiber that I was adding into my diet. Now I usually eat at least three cups of some type of greens daily. It has been extremely effective in helping me have bowel movements a few times daily.
With #5, there were times when I did not want to have a bowel movement, for example, if I were in a public restroom I “held it” until I was in a private location, my own home. However the more I read about bowel health the more I realized that this isn’t a good practice and can contribute to a lazy bowels. I changed my ways.
If you listen to the mainstream view about bowel health having a bowel movement three times a week is considered normal and healthy. Really, if that is healthy why are there so many bowel related diseases in westernized cultures? I’m not buying it. Doesn’t it make sense that we should be eliminating shortly after we consume our foods? I observe my pets and how quickly, and easily they have bowel movements shortly after eating (they’re raw fed.)
I look at the examples of people in third world countries and compare their health to ours. Although we have more money than they and the best health care we rank lower than they when it comes to our own physical health. I imagine we do need the best health care money can buy, right?
When we look at the high amount of processed foods that invade our diets, the lack of exercise, and the poor excuse many of us make when it comes to changing our eating habits is it really any wonder that our health is so poor and many of us are plagued with diseases?
Constipation: How Can I Prevent or Eliminate It?
- Eat fiber rich foods (fruits, vegetables, whole grains)
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of water
- Avoid sugar and processed foods
- Exercise regularly
- Drink peppermint tea (peppermint has long history of relaxing muscles on the gastrointestinal tract.)
Photosource: Indiamart
Technorati Tags: chronic constipation, bowel health, fiber rich foods
Exercise, Muscle Soreness, & Essential Oils
December 3, 2007 | 10 Comments
If you are a fitness nut, like myself, occasionally you might experience a few minor aches and pains. If you do any type of strenuous activity or use muscles in a different way you might experience the occasional muscle soreness also. One of the ways I combat this is putting an ice pad over the muscles for about an hour. This has done an excellent job for me; however, I don’t always have time to do this in those cases I use a muscle balm.
The past few weeks my workouts have been intense I’ve been drinking a lot of green energy drinks which have kept me going at 100% during my workouts. I feel great and am always eager to to target the same muscles that I normally use by choosing different exercises. Well, it had the desired effect and now my body is slightly sore.
I’m out of my homemade muscle balm I’ll have to make more. A few of the ingredients that you’ll find in my muscle balm are Natural menthol which is derived from peppermint essential oils and other mint essential oils has a cooling effect. It’s a topical analgesic that can help soothe minor aches and pains. I’ll be adding a few other ingredients like aloe vera gel, lavender essential oil.
I made something similar for my father several years ago. He didn’t come out and tell me he liked it no that would have been too easy. His way of telling me he liked my products was to say, “Opal I’m running out of that stuff you made!” Interpretation Opal, you need to make me some more.
If I had St. Johns Wort tincture I would have applied it before I worked out and afterwards when I’ve done this I’ve found that I haven’t had any muscle aches.
Technorati Tags: essential oils, muscle soreness
Attack of The Ants: Natural Ant Repellent
December 1, 2007 | 9 Comments
Essential oils are truly amazing and they certainly came in handy this past week. One of the not so lovely experiences while we were on holiday last week was ants! They set up camp in one of the rooms in our condo and did not want to leave.
Of course it happened to be the bedroom where I was sleeping. They were in my walk in closet. Thankfully I had brought along the essential oil black pepper. I placed ten drops of essential oil into my 16 ounce spray bottle. I added water. I shook well and sprayed. The ants vacated.
Black pepper can be an effective, poison free way to get rid of ants. If you don’t have the essential oil you can sprinkle the ground pepper where you don’t want the ants. I usually add freshly ground pepper at my door. I haven’t had any problems with ants walking in like I used to have.
My parents took my advice I followed this simple step and their ant population within their home has been reduced. It’s an effective way to treat your home of insects. It’s not harmful and it’s wonderful for the environment.
Technorati Tags: essential oils, black pepper, ant repellent
