7 Foods That Can Cause Constipation

Many foods have been shown to cause or worsen constipation. Making changes to your diet and reducing your intake of these foods can help promote regularity.

Constipation is a common problem that’s generally defined as having less than three bowel movements per week (1).

In fact, as many as 27% of adults experience it and its accompanying symptoms, such as bloating and gas. The older or more physically inactive you get, the more likely you are to experience it (2, 3).

Some foods can help relieve or reduce the risk of constipation, while others can make it worse.

This article examines 7 foods that can cause constipation.

Alcohol is frequently mentioned as a likely cause of constipation.

That’s because if you drink alcohol in large amounts, it can increase the amount of fluids lost through your urine, causing dehydration.

Poor hydration, either due to not drinking enough water or losing too much of it through urine, is often linked to an increased risk of constipation (4, 5).

Unfortunately, no studies could be found on the direct link between alcohol consumption and constipation. Moreover, some people report experiencing diarrhea, rather than constipation, after a night out drinking (6).

It is possible that effects vary from person to person. Those wanting to counteract the potentially dehydrating and constipating effects of alcohol should try to offset each serving of alcohol with a glass of water or another non-alcoholic beverage.

SUMMARY

Alcohol, especially when consumed in large amounts, can have a dehydrating effect that may increase the risk of constipation. Effects may vary from person to person, and more studies are needed before strong conclusions can be made.

Gluten is a protein found in grains like wheat, barley, rye, spelt, kamut, and triticale. Some people may experience constipation when they eat foods that contain gluten (7).

Also, some people are intolerant to gluten. This is a condition known as gluten intolerance or celiac disease.

When someone with celiac disease consumes gluten, their immune system attacks their gut, severely harming it. For this reason, individuals with this disease must follow a gluten-free diet (8).

In most countries, an estimated 0.5–1% of people have celiac disease, but many may not be aware of it. Chronic constipation is one of the common symptoms. Avoiding gluten can help relieve and heal the gut (9, 10, 11).

Non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are two other instances in which a person’s gut may react to wheat. Individuals with these medical conditions aren’t intolerant to gluten but appear to be sensitive to wheat and other grains.

If you suspect gluten is causing your constipation, make sure to speak to your healthcare professional to rule out celiac disease before cutting gluten from your diet.

This is important, as gluten needs to be in your diet for the test for celiac disease to work properly. If you’ve ruled out celiac disease, you may want to experiment with consuming different levels of gluten to evaluate its effects on you.

SUMMARY

Individuals with celiac disease, NCGS, or IBS may be more likely to experience constipation as a result of consuming gluten or wheat.

Processed grains and their products, such as white bread, white rice, and white pasta, are lower in fiber and may be more constipating than whole grains.

That’s because the bran and germ parts of the grain are removed during processing. In particular, the bran contains fiber, a nutrient that adds bulk to stool and helps it move along.

Many studies have linked a higher fiber intake to a lower risk of constipation. In fact, a recent study reported a 1.8% lower likelihood of constipation for every additional gram of fiber consumed per day (12, 13).

Therefore, people experiencing constipation may benefit from gradually reducing their intake of processed grains and replacing them with whole grains.

Although extra fiber is beneficial for most people, some people experience the opposite effect. For them, extra fiber may worsen constipation, rather than relieve it (14, 15).

If you are constipated and already consuming a lot of fiber-rich whole grains, adding more fiber to your diet is unlikely to help. In some cases, it may even make the problem worse (15).

If this is the case for you, try gradually reducing your daily intake of fiber to see if this provides some relief.

SUMMARY

Processed grains and their products, such as white rice, white pasta, and white bread, contain less fiber than whole grains, making them generally more constipating. On the other hand, some people find that consuming less fiber helps relieve constipation.

Dairy appears to be another common cause of constipation, at least for some people.

Infants, toddlers, and children appear particularly at risk, possibly due to a sensitivity to the proteins found in cow’s milk (16).

A review of studies conducted over a 26-year period found that some children with chronic constipation experienced improvements when they stopped consuming cow’s milk (17).

In a recent study, children aged 1–12 with chronic constipation drank cow’s milk for a period of time. The cow’s milk was then replaced by soy milk for a subsequent period of time.

Nine of the 13 children in the study experienced constipation relief when cow’s milk was replaced by soy milk (18).

There are many anecdotal reports of similar experiences in adults. However, little scientific support could be found, since most studies examining these effects are focused on children, not older populations.

It’s worth noting that those who are lactose intolerant may experience diarrhea, rather than constipation, after consuming dairy.

SUMMARY

Dairy products may cause constipation in some individuals. This effect is most common in those who are sensitive to the proteins found in cow’s milk.

Red meat may worsen constipation for three main reasons.

First, it contains little fiber, which adds bulk to stools and helps them move along.

Second, red meat may also indirectly reduce a person’s total daily fiber intake by taking the place of higher-fiber options in the diet.

This is especially true if you fill up on a large portion of meat during a meal, reducing the amount of fiber-rich vegetables, legumes, and whole grains you can eat in the same sitting.

This scenario would lead to an overall lower daily fiber intake, potentially increasing the risk of constipation (13).

Furthermore, unlike other types of meat, such as poultry and fish, red meat generally contains higher amounts of fat, and high-fat foods take longer for the body to digest. In some cases, this may increase the likelihood of constipation even further (19).

Those with constipation may benefit from replacing the red meat in their diet with protein- and fiber-rich alternatives such as beans, lentils, and peas.

SUMMARY

Red meat is generally high in fat and low in fiber, a nutrient combination that may increase the risk of constipation. If you let red meat replace fiber-rich foods in your diet, it can increase the risk even further.

Eating large or frequent portions of fried or fast foods may also increase the risk of constipation.

That’s because these foods tend to be high in fat and low in fiber, a combination that can slow digestion in the same way that red meat does (19).

Fast food snacks like chips, cookies, chocolate, and ice cream may also replace more fiber-rich snack options, such as fruits and vegetables in a person’s diet.

This can further increase the likelihood of constipation by reducing the total amount of fiber consumed per day (13).

Interestingly, many people believe chocolate is one of the main causes of their constipation (20).

Furthermore, fried and fast foods tend to contain large amounts of salt, which can lower the water content of stool, drying it up and making it harder to push through the body (21).

This happens when you eat too much salt, as your body sucks up water from your intestines to help compensate for the extra salt in your bloodstream.

This is one way your body works to bring its salt concentration back to normal, but unfortunately, it can lead to constipation.

SUMMARY

Fried and fast foods are low in fiber and high in fat and salt. These characteristics may slow digestion and increase the likelihood of constipation.

Persimmons are a popular fruit from Eastern Asia that may be constipating for some people.

Several varieties exist, but most can be categorized as either sweet or astringent.

In particular, astringent persimmons contain a large amount of tannins, a compound thought to reduce gut secretions and contractions, slowing down bowel movements (12).

For this reason, people experiencing constipation should avoid consuming too many persimmons, especially astringent varieties.

SUMMARY

Persimmons contain tannins, a type of compound that may promote constipation by slowing digestion. This may be particularly true for astringent varieties of the fruit.

Constipation is an unpleasant condition that’s relatively common.

If you have constipation, you can achieve smoother digestion by making some simple changes to your diet.

Start by avoiding or reducing your intake of constipating foods, including the ones listed above.

If you’re still experiencing difficulties after reducing your intake of constipating foods, ask your healthcare provider to recommend additional lifestyle and dietary strategies.

Worst Foods for Constipation

Medically Reviewed by Dany Paul Baby, MD on June 28, 2022

If you get constipatedoften, do yourself a favor and take a look at your diet. Among the foods that may block you up: too much cheese and milk. But you may not have to give up dairy — just eat less of it and change your choices. Try yogurt with probiotics, live bacteria that’s good for your digestive system. It may help relieve constipation.

Does your busy lifestyle have you eating on the go? Those readymade meals may be convenient, but they could cause a backup. Most are low in fiber, which you need to help food move through your system. By taking time to slow down, you may speed up your digestion.

Aunt Helen’s chicken is almost impossible to pass up, but consider opting for an entrée with more fiberif you’re having a tough time on the toilet. Fried foods are full of fat and are hard to digest. When food moves through your colon slowly, too much water can be taken out of it. That makes for a hard, dry stool.

They’re high in protein but low in fiber. You don’t have to take them off the menu. Just add some high-fiber foods into the mix. Try an omelet with fresh spinach and tomatoes.

Full of protein and fat but lacking in fiber, that juicy steak needs to be balanced with a side of broccoli. That’ll help herd it comfortably through your digestive system.

Add possible constipation to the many reasons a sweet dessert should be an occasional, not regular, thing. Pastries, cookies, and other treats with refined sugar are low in fiber and fluids, and high in fat. That’s no good if you’re having trouble keeping things moving. Satisfy your sweet tooth with strawberries and yogurt. Your tummy will thank you for it.

Too much of this will give you hard, dry stools. It’s made with low-fiber white flour. Go for whole-grain toast instead. It may help your next trip to the bathroom go more smoothly. 

Like coffee, booze can make it hard for your body to hang onto water. That can spell trouble for your bathroom visits until you get hydrated again. If you’re going to have a cocktail, nurse a glass of water at the same time to keep things flowing.

IMAGES PROVIDED BY:

1) Getty Images / StockFood

2) YekoPhotoStudio / Thinkstock

3) bhofack2 / Thinkstock

4) Magomed Magomedagaev / Thinkstock

5) Andrew Scrivani / Getty Images

6) Sandoclr / Thinkstock

7) SasaJo / Thinkstock

8) Jacqueline harriet / Getty Images

9) Creatas Images / Thinkstock

SOURCES:

Cleveland Clinic: “Constipation. ”

Harvard Health Publications: “Probiotics may ease constipation.”

Johns Hopkins Medicine: “Constipation.”

Kids Health: “Constipation.”

Kings College of London: “The effect of probiotics on functional constipation in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials”

LiveScience.com: “Constipation: Causes, Symptoms and Solutions,” “Why does coffee make you poop?”

Mayo Clinic: “Constipation in Children,” “Dehydration,” “Hangovers,” “Low-fiber diet.”

National Health Service in England: “Good foods to help your digestion.”

National Institute on Aging: “Concerned About Constipation?”

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Lactose is a type of sugar found naturally in the milk of most mammals. Lactose intolerance is a condition that is caused by malabsorption of lactose.

Humans have an enzyme known as lactase, which is responsible for breaking down lactose during digestion. It is especially important for babies who need lactase to digest breast milk. However, as children get older, they usually produce less and less lactase.

By adulthood, up to 70 percent of people no longer produce enough lactase to properly digest the lactose in milk, resulting in symptoms when dairy products are consumed. This is especially true for people of non-European origin. Some people may develop lactose intolerance after surgery or due to gastrointestinal problems.

These are the most common signs of lactose intolerance.

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Abdominal pain and bloating

Abdominal pain and bloating are common symptoms of lactose intolerance in both children and adults. When the body cannot break down lactose, it passes through the intestines until it reaches the large intestine. Carbohydrates like lactose cannot be absorbed by the cells lining the colon, but they can be fermented and broken down by the bacteria living there. This fermentation causes the release of short chain fatty acids as well as hydrogen, methane and carbon dioxide gases.

The resulting increase in acids and gases can cause pain and spasms. Pain usually occurs around the navel and in the lower abdomen. The feeling of bloating is caused by an increase in the amount of water and gas in the colon, which causes the intestinal wall to stretch. Curiously, the degree of bloating and pain is not related to the amount of lactose ingested, but to the person’s sensitivity to the feeling of bloating. Thus, the frequency and severity of symptoms can vary significantly from person to person.

It is important to note that abdominal pain and bloating are common symptoms that can be caused by other causes such as overeating, other types of malabsorption, infections, medications, and other illnesses.

( See also: 5 reasons to drink milk every day.)

Diarrhea

Diarrhea is frequent and loose stools. Lactose intolerance causes diarrhea due to an increase in the volume of water in the colon, which increases the fluid content of the stool. It is more common in infants and young children than in adults.

In the colon, the microflora ferments lactose into short chain fatty acids and gases. Most, but not all, of these acids are reabsorbed back into the colon. The remaining acids and lactose increase the amount of water released by the body into the colon. Generally, more than 45 grams of carbohydrates must be present in the colon to cause diarrhea. For lactose, this is equivalent to three to four glasses (about 750 milliliters to one liter) of milk, provided the lactose is not digested before it reaches the colon.

However, not all carbohydrates that cause diarrhea come from lactose. In fact, in healthy people, between two and 20 percent of all carbohydrates consumed end up in the colon undigested. In addition, in addition to lactose intolerance, there are many other causes for diarrhea: dietary problems, other types of malabsorption, medication, infections, and inflammatory bowel disease.

Flatulence

Lactose fermentation in the colon increases the production of hydrogen, methane and carbon dioxide gases. In people with lactose intolerance, the colon microflora is very good at fermenting lactose into acids and gases. This causes more lactose to be fermented in the colon, further increasing flatulence.

The amount of gas produced can vary greatly from person to person due to differences in microflora efficiency as well as the rate of gas reabsorption by the colon. Interestingly, the gases produced during lactose fermentation are odorless. In fact, the smell of flatulence is due to the breakdown of proteins in the intestines, not carbohydrates.

( See also: How is casein different from whey protein?)

Constipation

Constipation is characterized by hard, infrequent stools, feeling of incomplete defecation, abdominal discomfort, bloating and excessive straining . It can be another sign of lactose intolerance, although it is a much rarer symptom than diarrhea. As bacteria in the colon ferment undigested lactose, they produce methane. Methane is believed to slow down the passage of food through the intestines, leading to constipation in some people.

So far, methane’s ability to cause constipation has only been studied in people with irritable bowel syndrome and bacterial overgrowth. Therefore, constipation is not usually associated with lactose intolerance, although it has been reported as a symptom.

Other causes of constipation include dehydration, lack of fiber in the diet, certain medications, irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes, hypothyroidism, Parkinson’s disease, and hemorrhoids.

( See also: Which is better – honey or sugar?)

What to do if you have these symptoms

Since the symptoms of lactose intolerance are quite common, it is important to get an accurate diagnosis before eliminating dairy products from your diet. Many people who think they are lactose intolerant because they have experienced similar symptoms actually digest lactose normally. Therefore, to make a final diagnosis, you should consult a doctor.

One way to diagnose lactose intolerance is the hydrogen breath test. It involves eating 50 grams of lactose and detecting elevated levels of hydrogen in the exhaled air, which is caused by bacteria that ferment lactose in the colon. Interestingly, up to 20 percent of people with lactose malabsorption will not test positive, and some people who test positive will have no symptoms at all. This is because not all people with malabsorption are lactose intolerant.

Treatment of lactose intolerance usually involves limiting or avoiding high-lactose foods such as milk, cream, and ice cream. However, people with lactose intolerance can often digest up to one glass (240 milliliters) of milk, especially when consumed in small portions throughout the day. This is equivalent to 12-15 grams of lactose. In addition, people often have a better tolerance for dairy products such as cottage cheese, cheese, and yogurt, so these foods can help meet calcium and protein needs without causing symptoms. The severity of manifestations varies from person to person, so it is important to find out how much dairy is right for you.

See also:

What is the difference between brown sugar and white sugar?

How useful are eggs in our diet?

Food allergy as a trigger for functional constipation in infants

Causes of functional constipation

In children of the first year of life, the prevalence of functional constipation reaches 20–35%. At the same time, in infants, the disease rarely manifests itself as an isolated condition – about 50% of children under 1 year old can simultaneously have a combination of constipation and other functional disorders, for example, infantile colic, regurgitation ¹ .

Causes of the development of functional constipation in children of the first year of life: ¹

• insufficient amount of food that the child receives, for example, during breastfeeding in case of hypogalactia in the mother;
• switching to artificial feeding or changing infant formula;
• introduction of complementary foods;
• viral or acute intestinal infections;
• anal fissures;
• food allergy.

In some cases, infant constipation may be due to a food allergy to cow’s milk protein.

Up to 70% of chronic constipation in young children is relieved on a diet with a complete exclusion of milk protein. ²

Clinical manifestations of cow’s milk protein allergy are varied and may be associated. ³ Gastrointestinal forms are more typical for young children (60-70%), at an older age they are much less common (10%). ³ However, it is the gastrointestinal allergy to cow’s milk protein that can cause difficulties in diagnosis, in part because it is delayed and the relationship with the intake of the product is not always obvious. ²

Treatment steps for functional constipation in children

Treatment of functional constipation in children of the first year of life should be complex, individual and built in a certain sequence:

• 1

  education of the child and parents;

• 2

  correction of nutrition and drinking regimen;

• 3

  the release of the intestines from excess feces;

• 4

  basic therapy with medications;

• 5

  maintenance therapy.

Nutrition modification as part of treatment

Treatment of functional constipation in children without toilet skills includes diet therapy.

If the child is breastfed, it is necessary: ​​ ¹

• normalize the child’s diet to avoid underfeeding or overfeeding;
• adjust the diet of a nursing woman with products that stimulate intestinal motility (see “Diet of a nursing mother”).

If the infant’s constipation is suspected of being allergic to cow’s milk proteins, as evidenced by symptoms such as mucus, blood in the stool, the presence of atopic dermatitis, “constipated diarrhea” stools, ¹ all foods containing cow’s milk proteins, as well as beef and veal, should be excluded from the diet of a nursing mother. ⁴

If the child is artificially fed, it is necessary: ​​ ¹

• specify the volume of the product received to exclude overfeeding;
• adjust the diet with mixtures that have a complex effect on the child’s digestive system, including adapted fermented milk formulas.

If the cause of constipation is an allergy to cow’s milk proteins, it is recommended to use specialized formulas based on highly hydrolyzed milk protein or amino acids in the diet. ⁴

Introducing complementary foods and dishes into the diet of children: ¹

Foods rich in dietary fiber are the first to be introduced into the diet of children with functional constipation:

• Fruit puree: apple, plum, prunes.
• Vegetable puree: marrow, cauliflower, etc.
• Grain feeding: buckwheat, corn, oatmeal.

If the cause of constipation is an allergy to cow’s milk proteins, it is recommended to use specialized formulas based on highly hydrolyzed milk protein or amino acids in the diet. ⁴

In children with food allergies, the type of complementary foods depends not only on the nature of the stool, but also on the nutritional status of the child. Preference is given to monocomponent products: ⁵

Monocomponent vegetable puree of light-colored vegetables or dairy-free porridge can be given as the first complementary food.

With a lack of body weight, the first complementary foods should be dairy-free gluten-free (buckwheat, corn, rice) porridge.

In order to correct the protein part of the diet, specialized canned meat for children or home-made puree from horse meat, rabbit meat, turkey or pork can be used.

As the first fruit food in children, especially in patients with gastrointestinal symptoms, light-colored apple or pear puree can be considered, but not fruit juices.

Each new product is introduced into the diet of a child with food allergies one by one and gradually. It takes at least 1-2 weeks to adapt to it. A new product in an amount of not more than 5 ml (g) should be introduced into morning feedings in order to assess its tolerance during the day: changes in stool, appearance or intensification of skin rashes, etc. In the absence of an allergic reaction, the volume of the new product gradually, within 5-7 days, increases by 10-30 g until the age-specific volume of the dish is reached.