Constipation: Symptoms & Causes
Constipation is uncomfortable for everyone, but the severity of its symptoms varies from person to person. They include pain, infrequent stools, hard stools, and difficulty in passing stools.
Baking Soda for Constipation
Baking soda is a great DIY solution for a variety of health and beauty problems, including constipation. When ingested, it brings salt, carbon dioxide and water into the digestive system and reacts with stomach acids to cleanse the colon and cure your symptoms. Let’s take a look at how it works.
Is Baking Soda Good for Constipation?
Benefits Of Baking Soda For Constipation Treatment:
- Baking soda helps the body release excess air, relieving gas, stomach ache, bloating, and pressure and pain in the digestive tract.
- It also re – alkalizes the stomach, neutralizing acids and helping stored waste pass more easily through the intestines.
- Like salt, baking soda draws fluids into the digestive system, prompting intestinal peristalsis—tiny contractions of the gastrointestinal muscles that move food through the intestinal tract.
- It also acts as a mild laxative, loosening bulky stools to make passing them less painful.
- As baking soda releases air from the digestive tract, that air forces blockages out of the system, allowing stools to pass without pressure or pain.
- Because it cleanses the colon, baking soda prevents odor while aiding in proper digestion.
How To Use Baking Soda for Constipation?
Below are some of the most effective methods for using baking soda to relieve constipation. Try them all and find the one that works best for you.
Home Remedies For Constipation
1. Baking Soda and Warm Water
Instructions:
- Add 1 teaspoon baking soda to a glass.
- Pour ¼ cup warm water over it.
- Stir until baking soda has dissolved.
- Optional: Add a pinch of salt.
- Drink in the morning on an empty stomach to break down food and help it pass more easily through the colon.
- Make sure to drink plenty of water while using this remedy. It helps prevent constipation.
Note: this method can also be done with room temperature water.
2. Baking Soda with Apple Cider Vinegar
Method 1:
- In a bowl, mix 1 teaspoon baking soda with 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar.
- Eat this mixture 1-2 times daily depending on the severity of your symptoms.
- You can add pinch of sea salt to enhance bowel movements.
Note: taking too much may cause diarrhea.
Method 2:
- In a bowl, mix ½ teaspoon baking soda and 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar.
- Add the mixture to a glass of water and mix well.
- Drink regularly.
3. Baking Soda with Lemon Juice
The citric acid in lemon juice stimulates the intestines and flushes away toxins that build up on colon walls, aiding in proper digestion. Baking soda neutralizes the acidity of the lemon juice, ensuring that no excess acid is left in the digestive tract to cause pain or discomfort.
Instructions:
- Stir 1 heaping teaspoon of baking soda and the juice of half a lemon into a 16 oz glass of water.
- Optional: Add a pinch of salt.
- Drink regularly.
4. Baking Soda Bath
Instructions:
- Add 3 tablespoons baking soda to warm water bathtub.
- Stir well and run a warm bath and
- Soak for a few minutes, and then dry off.
- Repeat regularly until you get relief.
Tips and Precautions
Follow the advice below to get the best possible results from your baking soda remedy.
- Baking soda releases salt into the body when ingested, so people on salt-free diets should consult their doctors before using these remedies.
- Baking soda can cause imbalances in potassium, chloride, and sodium levels, which can lead to kidney, stomach, and heart damage. If you are allergic to baking soda, or if you have kidney problems, or have suffered from congestive heart failure, do not take baking soda for constipation.
- While taking baking soda, avoid calcium supplements and foods high in calcium, like milk, cheese, and yogurt.
- Baking soda increases the body’s pH or metabolic alkalosis.
- Baking soda also comes in powder, tablet, and injection form.
- Use these remedies only until your constipation is cured. Continued regular use can lead to a decrease in stomach acid, which can worsen gastrointestinal issues.
- Results will vary from person to person. If you don’t see results, contact your doctor.
