8 ways to ditch drugs

CONSTIPATION
INSTEAD OF laxatives
TRY turning on the waterworks

Your colon moves. It twitches and tightens to keep things rolling along. But it can slow down or absorb too much liquid (for any number of reasons, including insufficient fibre in your diet, inactivity, dehydration or certain medicines), making waste linger and dry up. That’s constipation. Frequent users of over-the-counter laxatives typically need to increase the dose over time because their bowels become dependent on the medicine.

CHEMIST-FREE Eliminate the laxative habit by downing two full glasses of water before breakfast. Liquids add fluid to the colon and bulk to stools, making them softer and easier to pass. While you’re at it, eat a banana or an apple.
“The bulk provided by their fibre stimulates the bowel to move in a rhythmic way – hence the phrase ‘bowel movement’,” says Abramson. “Why would you use something to irritate your bowel – which is what many laxatives do – when you can simply eat fruit instead?”

Photo by stock.xchng Oct 25, 2011