The last of the Magnificent Seven is here and what an important component of health it is! Proper elimination is absolutely vital to good health. 1 in 7 Americans are chronically constipated. Chronic constipation has been directly correlated with gastrointestinal disease, colon cancer, breast cancer and many other conditions.
Yes, you are what you eat, but you are also what you don’t eliminate!
I have to remind patient’s all the time that “poop is toxic”. They have been lead to believe that moving their bowels 2-3 times per week is just “normal” for them. It is never normal. Proper elimination is 1-3 times each and every day. Now I know, talking about bowel movements is the last thing you want to do on your Friday afternoon. However, this could be singularly one of the most impacting life changes you could make. I have literally had patient’s suffer with chronic depression for years only to improve when they moved their bowel normally.
I think back to my days growing up as a kid and think my grandmother had some good “old-fashioned” inherent knowledge. Anytime my brother or I stayed overnight at grandma and grandpa’s house we were asked, “Did you go to the bathroom yet today?” We all knew what that meant. It would embarrass me to death! If the answer was no, out came the dreaded prunes…nature’s laxative. It wasn’t until I became a physician and started seeing the negative consequences of constipation that I truly appreciated my grandmother’s question. So now, in my office, every single patient gets asked…”Do you have a bowel movement every single day?” If the answer is no, you’ve gotta change it today!
