Constipation in Pregnancy – other causes

Emma Leavens, Nutritional Therapist, currently 4 months pregnant.

No woman should suffer from constipation in pregnancy. A slowing of bowel movements yes, due to:

• the relaxin and progesterone hormones relaxing and slowing the whole digestive system down
• needing greater absorption so the little baby inside can get the nutrients
• little baby growing and squashing everything in the abdominal area

But if you have a good diet full of whole foods, are drinking your minimum two litres of water per day and are still constipated think about this:

• 1).  Your liver may be sluggish, ie not functioning 100% (but NOT ill), it’s always worthwhile doing a detox prior to trying to conceive, however, if you didn’t get round to this don’t worry. To speed up the functioning of your liver (which is breaking down huge amounts more hormones than before you were pregnant, so is pretty busy) in a safe way, do the following first thing when you wake up:
• chop a lemon up (leave rind on) and place in a food blender or smoothie maker with a cup of warm water and a large tablespoon of olive oil
• blend then put through a sieve to get rid of all the none liquid bits
• drink the liquid and have your liver stimulated and your digestive tract cleansed and oiled
• wait an hour before eating

I do this about 3-5 times a week and usually have a bowel movement within two hours

• 2).  You probably also have an overgrowth of bad bacteria and yeasts in your gut. This will be causing food to ferment rather than digest, making you constipated, bloated and full of gas. The surge in hormones and lowering of the immune system during pregnancy allows the bad bacteria and other gut critters to proliferate. So, as well as taking a good quality probiotic supplement and eating probiotic foods (unpasturized sauer kraut is amazing), there’s more you need to do to really sort this problem out and it’s a bit controversial, but it works:
• Remove all grains and starchy food from your diet (potatoes, rice, wheat, etc etc) and replace these with non-starchy vegetables (greens, carrots, etc). Yes it’s hard, yes it takes commitment and YES, it works. When grains get into your intestines, they are in the form of double sugars, anyone with any digestive problem (eg constipation) will have trouble breaking these into single sugars so that they can be absorbed. Instead, these foods hang around in the gut, feeding the bad bacteria and yeast, further preventing successful digestion and leading to more constipation. Google ‘coconut or nut bread recipes’ to make non-starchy bread.
• At the same time, ensure you are eating enough fat – anything greased becomes slippery, so keep your bowels oiled. God fats only though, raw olive oil, avocado, fish, nut oils, linseed oils, animal fat (butter esp). So with fibre, carbs and antioxidants from fruit and veg, and protein and fat from fish, meat, nuts, oils and minerals from all of these, you should be feeling on top of the world!