Eat high-fiber cereals. Vegetables can also add fiber to your diet. Some high-fiber vegetables are asparagus, broccoli, corn, squash, and potatoes (with the skin still on). Salads made with lettuce, spinach, and cabbage will also help.
Eating too much fiber can cause bloating, gas, and constipation. These side effects may occur if a person consumes more than 70 g of fiber a day. This is uncommon but may happen if someone is following a vegan, raw, or whole food diet.
As part of a healthful diet, iceberg lettuce can increase fiber and water intake. This will improve gut health by ensuring regular bowel movements and preventing constipation.
A green, vegetable-heavy salad is likely to be an excellent source of fiber. Most of the fiber in lettuce is insoluble fiber, which is the type that adds bulk to the contents of your intestines and keeps things moving smoothly. It also reduces your risk of things like diverticulitis, hemorrhoids, and constipation.
Leafy greens, like spinach, chards, arugula, lettuce and kale are rich in fibers with laxative properties. They are great options for constipation relief, especially when eaten raw. These greens contain high amounts of water, which helps with stool movements.
You may think that cutting back on food will help “clear out” your colon. That's not the case. Do this: Eating, especially healthy whole foods that contain fiber, helps your body move stool.
Help ease constipation: Described as a “laxative fruit,” tomatoes are high in water content and fiber. Eating tomatoes might help your hydration level and support normal bowel movements.
Lettuce is a low FODMAP vegetable that's also very low in fiber. As such, it's unlikely to trigger or worsen your IBS symptoms. In fact, it may even ease your symptoms due to its low FODMAP content. That said, trigger foods are highly individual and may affect certain people differently.
As many of you know, salads are a nutritious powerhouse chock full of antioxidants, healthy fats, and lean proteins. They are also a great source of fiber, a nutrient that is essential to gut health whether you have IBS-C, IBS- D, or IBS-M. Fiber not only helps you stay regular, but it also helps bind stool.
Try yogurt with probiotics, live bacteria that's good for your digestive system. It may help relieve constipation.
Research shows that leafy greens also contain a specific type of sugar that helps fuel growth of healthy gut bacteria. Eating a lot of fiber and leafy greens allows you to develop an ideal gut microbiome — those trillions of organisms that live in the colon.
One medium baked sweet potato with skin has 3.8 grams of fiber (most of it is in the skin, so leave the skin on!), which can help prevent constipation. Regular baked potatoes with skin have about 3 grams of fiber and are also good options to prevent constipation.
Eating a lot of high-fat meats, dairy products and eggs, sweets, or processed foods may cause constipation. Not enough fluids. Water and other fluids help fiber work better, so not drinking enough liquids can contribute to harder stools that are more difficult to pass.
“Salad wants to move through the body faster than denser food.” Putting raw, water-packed vegetables into your body first helps to lubricate your digestive path, and acts as “an enzymatic spark,” she says, one that makes it easier to later move heavier food through the body.
Iceberg lettuce helps in digestion
Iceberg lettuce helps to digest food. It helps to break down heavy carbohydrates and proteins and enables your stomach to function properly. Thus it allows for smooth movement of bowels and helps to cure constipation and acid reflux.
Lettuce isn't generally considered hard on the digestive tract, so the problem may stem from a medical condition, a food allergy or an intolerance.
Foods that help ease constipation
Consider adding some the following fibre-rich foods to your diet to help ease constipation: High fibre cereals such as: bran flakes, Weetabix, porridge, muesli and shredded wheat.
Greens such as spinach, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli are not only rich in fiber but also great sources of folate and vitamins C and K ( 33 , 34 , 35 ). These greens help add bulk and weight to stools, which makes them easier to pass through the gut.
Avocados
Avocados aren't just trendy on toast and guacamole. They're chock full of nutrients and can help with constipation. One cup (146 grams) of sliced avocado contains 10 grams of fiber ( 45 ). This source of both soluble and insoluble fiber can help relieve constipation.
“The BRAT diet ― bananas, rice, applesauce and toast ― is one we recommend for a range of digestive issues, and it can help with both constipation and diarrhea.
“Oats are loaded with soluble fiber, which is a type of fiber that allows more water to remain in the stool,” says Smith. “This makes the stool softer and larger, and ultimately easier to pass.”