Baring the Truth about Celiac Disease and Constipation Ep. 120

Ever thought about the link between constipation and celiac disease? It's something that's often overlooked, but we're pulling back the covers on this topic and shedding some much-needed light. We get to grips with how changes in diet, stress, and hormones can all contribute to constipation.

Did you know it's a symptom for 15% of people with celiac disease? We'll explain why quick-fix solutions like laxatives or prune juice only provide temporary relief and explore how incorporating high-fiber grains like quinoa, millet, and amaranth into your diet could be the long-term solution you need. The role of hydration in fiber consumption, and the impact of stress and hormones on constipation, will also be unraveled.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Understanding Constipation and Celiac Disease
• 10:43 Rate and Review Apple Podcasts Request

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:24

Now a while back, i did an episode on diarrhea and celiac disease and I realized I hadn't done one on constipation and celiac disease. Now, such fun topic talking about poo, but it's just so normal for me, but anyway. So 15% of people with celiac disease actually do suffer from constipation. So I figured some of you listening would definitely be struggling with this issue and I wanted to jump in and share some insights with you and share some information, basically so you know what's going on with your body and how you can help your body further. So, going gluten-free, you might have discovered that it changed the way your body reacted when you eat. You may have had constipation before you got a celiac disease diagnosis, or you might have discovered that you now have constipation after a celiac disease diagnosis. For me personally, diarrhea was one of my symptoms, whereas constipation was one of my mom's, and that's why it took her such a long time to piece together that constipation can be a symptom of celiac disease. So when we see more and more people struggling with this problem, they absolutely should be tested for celiac disease without a shadow of a doubt. If it's something that they're struggling with, they should also be tested with celiac disease, not just people presenting with diarrhea. So, anyway. So what are some of the causes of getting constipation? Oh, change in diet is the first thing that I'm always going to focus on. So when you've gone gluten-free, there is a huge shift in the way that you eat and you may have changed to eating more packaged foods. Or it could be simply that you've just shifted to gluten-free packaged foods and the problem with a lot of gluten-free packaged foods is they're low in fiber. So you might have been eating stuff before that. Yes, it might have been packaged, but it might have had a higher fiber content, so it could be simply just swapping those foods over has caused, you know, you're absorbing less fiber from your diet. And the next one is you're no longer eating the high fiber grains that you used to eat. So if this is something that you're aware of, then we're going to talk in a moment about some of the better high fiber grains that you can now add into your diet. That will help you with getting rid of constipation.

Speaker 1: 2:58

Stress is another big one. Stress can play a huge part in causing constipation. So it might not have anything to do with celiac disease, or it could be that flow-on effect of now you are stressed about your diet, you're stressed about your food intake and, yes, it is a result of celiac disease because it has triggered that stress. So if it is stress, yes, it can absolutely cause you to feel constipated, and then hormones can play a part in that as well. So hormones are something that we can kind of look at and go, yes, that that triggers us. I know for me, certain times of the month, my bowel movements change absolutely, so that might be something worth looking at as well.

Speaker 1: 3:39

Now, when we think of constipation, i want you to think about it like this okay, so there's basically your, your body will consume. You consume the food, not your body. You, you eat the food. Your food passes through your body and then, when it gets to the lower end of your small intestine, it may be that your body simply cannot process the poop because it's so undigested, because there wasn't enough fiber in it, and what happens is your body is absorbing a huge amount of moisture from that food instead of absorbing the nutrients. So what happens then is that stool, that poop, is now extra hard and makes it extra hard to evacuate from your body.

Speaker 1: 4:31

Such a great topic, isn't it? So it can be as simple as that, okay. So this is where it's so important for you to add in more fiber into your diet and, depending on what you may have heard so far or what you might have been recommended, you might have been told that is just a simple fact of going and drinking some perine juice and you'll be fixed. Well, that's okay short term, but I want you to focus on long term, because if this is something that you struggle with, you do need to change your diet and you do need to add in more fiber rich foods, okay. So you know there's no point in just taking some, drinking some perine juice and that fixes the problem. Or you take a laxative and that fixes the problem, and then you continue on for a couple of weeks and then you get it again and you do the same thing. You're just repeating the same thing over and over. You're just going to keep doing the same thing. You're not going to get the good results that you should get from changing your diet. So, in that respect, it's about adding in fiber rich foods.

Speaker 1: 5:38

So, when we talk about grains, you know you've cut out that wheat, you've cut out the whole grains from that, so you need to replace those. So the best things that I can recommend for you as far as high fiber would be quinoa, millet and amaranth. If you can add one or all of those into your diet and you can have those different ways. You can have them as breakfast cereals, you can add them into meals. There's so many ways that you can enjoy them and that will be adding or increasing the amount of fiber in your diet. So very helpful to add in those grains. When we've cut out the other grains And if you have been focusing on rice, so a lot of people think, well, i'm going to eat brown rice because that's healthier. Brown rice isn't very high fiber, so you're better off focusing on these other grains. Just a little tip for you there Alright, now, when you're increasing your fiber intake, you really need to increase your water intake as well.

Speaker 1: 6:37

It's really important that you make sure you're drinking lots of water when you're increasing your fiber intake, because, guess what, it can backfire and it can make it worse. So you need the water to help with that. Okay, so you need to make sure you're drinking more water when you start increasing your fiber intake. Now, when we think of another way of increasing our fiber, it can be through high fiber fruits and vegetables, and for me that's a no-brainer. We definitely should be adding more fruits and vegetables in, but I know for a lot of people it can be quite challenging.

Speaker 1: 7:13

So look at the foods that you're eating. Look at some ways that you can add in some healthy fruits and vegetables that you enjoy that are going to increase that fiber intake. And what I would say is, if you are a banana lover, cut the bananas out for a little bit, just till you get your your bowel movements back on track, because, as you may or may not know, bananas are a binder, so they will help bind food and I recommend bananas for when people have diarrhea, so we don't want to be having them when you've got constipation. Okay, so cut the bananas out just for a little bit, just till you get your body back on track. Now, if you want to go down the route of taking fiber supplements or, you know, taking um, say, like eating prune, something like that it is something that you could do alongside your diet until you get things on track, but you need to do it regularly. I wouldn't say just do it for a little bit and then stop. I'd say continue with that until you've got things on track. Now, gut inflammation is another cause of your body being out of wax, so probiotics can certainly help with this as well. So for me, i do recommend that everyone takes a probiotic supplement or increases their probiotic food intake. So that's something to look at as well.

Speaker 1: 8:27

Now, if you if you do wonder a little bit about whether you've got healthy poo, this is something that I learned during my training as a health coach and also when I learned about detoxing and was running detox programs or cleansers, whatever you want to call them. We learned about poo and and how your poo should look and be. So if you don't know about that, i recommend you Google Bristol poop chart. But go, just jump on Google, it'll come up. It'll come up as an image, as an image, and it's Bristol poop chart. So it's BRIS TOL and it will show you. It's just, it's cartoons, it's not pictures. I shouldn't say that. It's just little cartoons of What you put should look like. Basically, so we're aiming for a number four.

Speaker 1: 9:14

Okay, so on that chart, we want to aim for a number four. That's like the gold standard of what we want our poop to look like. It means we've got our diet on track, our stress is levels are good. You know, we've got our, our bow movements are just spot on and That is what we want to aim for.

Speaker 1: 9:32

So, yeah, google that and have a look and see, yeah, compare, and if you're not looking in the toilet at your poop, start doing it, because it's a game changer. Oh, my god, this just went really down here really fast. But you know, it's important, it is part of our health, it's part of our life and we do learn a lot from our bodily functions and from our poo. So, yeah, i do recommend that you look at the poo, if you're not doing that already, and it will give you a Good indication of your health and and how you're going for sure. So, yeah, if, if, if this has helped you, i am very pleased to hear that. If you press skip and you haven't even got to this point while you're not hearing me say this, so that's fine, totally understand.

Speaker 1: 10:16

But for those of you that do suffer from constipation, it's not a laughing matter. It really isn't, because I know how much it can affect you and how you go about your day. So I totally understand how you feel, because it is something that it can be quite debilitating. So I hope this has helped give you some ideas on how to move forward and also on What could possibly be causing it for you. So thank you for listening to the end.

Speaker 1: 10:43

I appreciate you, and if you've liked this episode or you've learned anything from the show up until this point, i would absolutely love it if you could go to Apple podcast and Give me a rating and review, and that basically Not only tells me that I'm doing a good job and sharing you know helpful information, but it also helps the algorithm share the show with more people that need to hear it and need to see more From me. So I'd appreciate it if you took a few moments to do that. You're amazing, thank you. So until next time. Thank you so much for tuning in and I will talk with you again next week. Take care, bye.