Page 46 - Summer2018

Constipation, tion in up to one-third of children with autism. children or adults, is “always a sign of deficient
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whether in Treatment can exacerbate the problems; for ex- gut flora.” As she elaborates in her book, Gut
ample, children suffering from both autism and and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS):
children or constipation who receive medication (for either
adults, is their behavior or the constipation) are more The beneficial bacteria that normally popu-
“always a sign likely to exhibit “rigid-compulsive behavior” late the bowel play a crucial role in proper
stool formation and elimination. The most
than their medication-free counterparts.
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of deficient numerous species of friendly bacteria in a
gut flora.” THE BROADER DIGESTIVE CONTEXT healthy bowel are Bifidobacteria and physi-
Constipation, fundamentally, is a problem ological strains of E. coli. These microbes
of digestion. Dr. Tom Cowan identifies three produce a whole host of enzymes and other
principal factors underlying the epidemic of active substances, whose action is essential
modern digestive disturbances. First, he points in proper stool formation. They stimulate
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out that “most of what we put in our mouths to- the wall of the bowel to produce mucus for
day is not really food.” Industrial dairy products, lubricating the stool and for passing it out
chemically treated vegetables, hormone- and as soon as it is ready.
antibiotic-laced meats and MSG-laden packaged
concoctions are incapable of “calling forth the CORRECTIVE MEASURES
forces of digestion” because the body does not Conventional medicine typically recom-
recognize them as food and cannot properly mends short-term interventions such bulking
break them down. agents, stool softeners and osmotic, stimulant or
Second, the glands and organs that are sup- combination laxatives, but these often produce
posed to supply pancreatic and liver enzymes “mixed or even unsatisfactory results” despite
for digestion often fail to do so in adequate “frequent interventions.” One longitudinal
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amounts, in part due to the lack of dietary trace study found that 89 percent of patients with con-
minerals that are key molecular building blocks stipation reported no change in their condition
of digestive enzymes. Magnesium, for example, after a year. Occasionally, clinicians admit that
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is a component of over three hundred enzymes laxatives can provoke “abdominal cramping,
in the human body, including those needed for distension, and vomiting, without producing
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digestion, and low magnesium intake is associ- bowel movements”; in these cases, the patients
ated with increased prevalence of constipation. apparently are out of luck and considered “non-
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The third contributing factor—one that has manageable.” Among individuals who seek
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achieved a considerable degree of awareness in care for constipation, many are dissatisfied with
both the lay press and the scientific literature— the currently available treatment options. 33
is that many of us have a “polluted” bowel eco- Probiotic supplements have become one
system that lacks the beneficial microorganisms increasingly trendy response to address the
needed to support digestion. As Cowan notes, gut microbiome depletion that contributes to
the small and large intestine ecosystem is “full constipation. Although the American College
of a wide variety of interdependent organisms” of Gastroenterology remains unwilling to en-
that “interact with each other, …with their host, dorse probiotics for constipation, many other
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and…with the larger world around them.” researchers and clinicians point to promising re-
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In this scenario, “dietary constituents and the sults from both animal and human studies, even
colonic microbiota interact to generate biologi- if the supplements’ mechanisms of action on
cally active molecules that influence gut motility gut motility and constipation remain unclear.
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and secretion.” When the gut microbiota are Research and commercial interest in probiotics
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imbalanced or dysfunctional, this “may contrib- is at an all-time high. Plugging the search terms
ute to aberrant gut motility and, consequently, “probiotics” and “constipation” into PubMed's
symptoms of constipation.” search engine pulls up three hundred and sixty-
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In plainer terms, Dr. Natasha Campbell- eight articles spanning the twenty years from
McBride explains that constipation, whether in 1998 to 2018; over four thousand six hundred

44 Wise Traditions SUMMER 2018