Digestive Health?

[ceeveg]

I struggle with constipation and other issues (sorry for the "TMI") -- can anyone recommend ways to improve digestion?  I cannot do dairy.  Thank you!

[askew]

Juices are great for regularity. I like getting a carrot beet apple celery juice with some ginger. The fresh made kind, not the bottled. 

Grains are good for regularity, and probiotic supplement would be ideal. 

[catnip]

What does a fairly typical day's meals look like now for you?

[ceeveg]

Right now, breakfast is usually oatmeal and cooked fruit or granola and almond milk, lunch is soup and bread, and dinner is beans and rice.  I do eat fruits and vegetables, but cooked or pureed into smoothies and soups.  I drink coffee in the morning with almond milk, and then a lot of water.  I do occasionally have tea and diet soda.  I am not eating full servings of much of anything, though, because of the bloated, constipation issues.

[tanyalynn]

Supplemental magnesium helps some people, fermented veggies (or other probiotic foods) help others.  There's a long thread in Traditional Foods on veggie ferments, it really helped me get started...

http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/426207/how-about-a-fermented-veggies-thread

This thread was the one that showed me how fermenting veggies (like kimchee or sauerkraut or homemade pickles) was a lot easier than I'd ever realized, and now kimchee and homemade pickles are favorites around our house. 

[mumkimum]

Eating prunes, and I believe apples (either fresh or as applesauce) regularly can help.  Ditto to probiotics - goodbelly makes a tasty probiotic drink that's vegan, kombucha could be something else to consider, and there's always supplemental pills/powder.

I take flaxseed oil with some juice most mornings and have found that seems to help my digestion also.

[katroshka]

I've been struggling with constipation on and off throughout my pregnancy and up until recently I was really losing the battle, despite eating all whole grains, tons of veggies and more fruit than most people- I tried prunes for a while and that didn't seem to do anything. I did some research and saw that oranges have a lot of fiber and since they are in season I started eating a few a day, about 3 to 4. It seems like a lot, I know, but they are really a great snack and around here at least are fairly inexpensive. Anyway, since I started eating the oranges I've had zero constipation- woohoo!

You may want to avoid bananas, I know it tends to bind people up, when my DD was a baby she got obsessed with bananas and she would get really constipated, it was awful. I think white rice also, since the doctors always seem to suggest white rice and bananas for diarrhea.