“What should my daughter eat for constipation?”

Thank you for your question. Constipation is widely prevalent across a broad spectrum of young & not so young individuals and not specific to gender. To answer your question, it is best to determine why constipation occurs. The cause for this condition has a spectrum of entities that are directly associated with what we eat & how much water we consume. For example, a diet that is low in fiber due to someone eating refined foods will take longer to move through the gastrointestinal tract. This slow passage in turn causes reabsorption of bowel water which then results in even slower progression of bowel contents through the large bowel. A sedentary life style contributes to slowing of bowel contents. A simple remedy for constipation related to dietary low fiber content, low fluid consumption or a low activity is to eat whole wheat bread, fruit containing high fiber eg. oranges and other fiber rich foods, and to engage in modest activity such as walking or low intensity jogging providing there are no medical reasons to avoid these latter activities. Other causes of constipation may be due to prescribed medications. These should not be stopped without your physicians approval. Use of anti constipation medications can be a cause for worsening constipation. It is best to avoid these agents unless your doctor advises only brief duration use. There are several important medical reasons for constipation and should be considered by consultation with your doctor, if the simple actions discussed above fail to result in regular, comfortable bowel movements. Regarding your daughter whose age is not stated, can be a cause for increased occurrence of bladder infections, making unresolved constipation a condition that is best discussed with your daughters physician. Your question is an important and practical one that affects many individuals. I hope my response will be of some value to improving your daughters comfort and lead to a healthy life style for her. Respectfully submitted. GA Browne MD.

For constipation, I would recommend your daughter eat fruits and vegetables which have lots of fiber in it. Fiber helps push along food through your intestines. Prunes have a reputation of having a lot of fiber but not always the tastiest especially for those who are young, so any other fruits or vegetables such as bananas, broccoli, or apples will work as well.

Prunes, kiwis, extra fiber, laxatives teas will help.