Cause of Constipation

---Dehydration---

A common cause of constipation is not drinking enough water.

Our body loses water twenty-four hours a day. Yes, even when you are sleeping through sweating. Hmm I wonder if folks in cold countries lose as much as water from their bodies than those in warm countries.

Anyways, water is needed to digest food and compact the refuse into stool. The last part of the small intestine and large intestine absorb water from food refuse. When there is not enough water in the body, these intestines work even harder to squeeze out every bit to prevent water loss.

The picture of a thirsty man lost in the desert comes up to my mind. He savours every drop of water left in his skin bag. He squeezes the bag and waits patiently for each drop onto his parched lips.

In the same way, our large intestine holds on to refuse by slowing down its passage in order to save every precious drop of water. The result is drier and- harder stools.

Your body may become dehydrated even before you feel thirsty. So another way of detecting dehydration symptons is to observe the urine. Orange colour urine means you are very dehydrated. Yellow indicates that your are comparatively dehydrated. Colourless urine...ah, you are well-hydrated. Bear in mind though, we are ruling out the presence of substances like vitamins, food additives and certain food such as beets that can add colour to the urine.

If I suspect that my large intestine is dragging on to the refuse, I'll drink water and get some fibres that hold the water. More tips on how to drink water?

Dehydration as the Cause of Constipation to Homepage