Eating less can be a cause of constipation when you are on a hard diet plan. Today’s article will exactly show you all the causes of constipation including eating less. Also, how to stay away from constipation when you are on a diet of Eating Less.
Constipation is one of the most constrained problems that people deal with every day. Though it might not seem that big but it can hamper you in each and every work during the whole day.
So those who are facing problems with constipation must know this term: can eating less cause constipation? While everyone suggests eating less, is it leading you to the problem you want to solve? Hence, we need to look into it in detail.
As a Nutritionist I frequently face these questions from my patients
- Can eating less cause constipation?
- Can eating less fat cause constipation?
- How much do people need to eat to avoid constipation?
- Can eating less carbs and sugar cause constipation?
- Can fiber solve the problem of constipation?
- How does eating less cause constipation?
I believe you have a lot of questions like these. So let us know about it in detail and find all the answers to your questions regarding “eating less & constipation”.
What is constipation?
Constipation is one of the most common digestive problems all over the world. Constipation is generally defined as having a hard and dry bowel movement or getting fewer than three bowel movements a week.
Though normal constipation is easy to recover from, chronic constipation can create multiple problems in performing daily tasks for a long time. Our colon generates stool by absorbing water from passing residual food through our digestive system.
Through the rectum, the stools are propelled out by the colon’s muscles. But the stools harden if they stay in the colon for too long instead of eliminating. Therefore they become difficult to pass through. So a sufficient amount of fiber and water intake significantly smoothen the digestive system by making stools soft.
Fiber not only escalates stool’s weight and size but also makes it softer to pass through the rectum at ease by mixing it with stools and taking water. So the risk of constipation reduces. That means food plays an important role in the system.
Can eating less really cause constipation?
Yes, eating less can cause constipation. People nowadays are trying to eat as less food as they can because of their concern about gaining weight. As a result, they are consuming less carbs and fiber. So it can be a cause of constipation.
Eating an insufficient amount of food cannot maintain the movement of your digestive system because of a lack of fiber. Fiber is the part of plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans and so on which the body cannot break down. Contrarily, it holds on water and the extra bulk softens stools and boosts digestion. But fiber alone cannot do this job.
You need enough water in your system to help you to go to the bathroom. The founder of the New York-based BZ Nutrition, Brigitte Zeitlin (R.D., M.P.H., C.D.N.) says, “When you don’t eat enough, you may also be dehydrated. Our body often confuses thirst for hunger.” So as a result ignoring hunger might end up with unintentional ignoring thirst. As a result, you might not get enough water and become dehydrated.
How eating less cause constipation?
In the process of losing weight, people like to eat as less calories as possible which can lead them to constipation. Consuming less food is not enough to convert into stools or waste. It can also harden stool or waste which can be very painful to expel. It also reduces bowel movements of the body. In general, having fewer than three bowel movements per week is defined as constipation.
Caroline Apovian, the director of the Nutrition and Weight Management Center at Boston Medical Center and professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine says, “If you don’t eat enough you’re [also] not getting enough fiber and you’re going to have less insulin coming from the pancreas.”
For a soft stool, you must need enough water. But insufficient amounts of insulin create water loss. She added, “If you lose water you won’t have water to mix the food with the stool, it will get hard, and you’ll get constipated.”
Do low calorie causes constipation?
If you have fewer than three bowel movements per week and hard stools or waste cannot pass easily, it is called as constipation. But do low calories cause constipation? Consuming less food will create less waste in your digestive tract. As a result, insufficient calories might lead to infrequent bowel movements.
In a study of 18 older adults, it is found that taking in adequate calories tends to constipation more often even though they consume plenty of fiber surprisingly which is thought as the most important factor for proper bowel function. Caused by dieting and having too less calorie, a slow metabolic rate can also induce constipation. In a long study of 301 young age girls, it is found that those who maintained strict diet, they faced constipation problem with some other digestive problems. So it is very important for you to take a certain amount of calories to get rid of constipation.
Can eating less fiber cause constipation?
Popular regimens such as gluten-free, paleo, keto, Whole30, low carb plans, etc do not include too much or even zero grains, root vegetables, and fruits which are full of a type of fiber called soluble fiber. Fiber is considered as one of the most important elements for proper bowel function.
As a result, people cannot get enough soluble fiber. Instead of these rich soluble fiber foods, alternatives such as leafy greens, berries, nuts are eaten. These low-calorie foods are rich in a type of fiber called insoluble fiber. Though both are fiber, soluble fiber and insoluble fiber play different roles in your digestive tract.
Where the first one plumps up your stools and assists to keep them bulky and soft by holding onto water, the latter cannot do the same. The insoluble fiber can’t really hold onto the water while passing through the digestive tract. As a result, If you are following an insoluble fiber predominant diet, your poops might get hardened and dried out. So it can be very painful.
Can eating less fat cause constipation?
Your fitness trainer might always recommend you to eat less fat to maintain your body. But you are maybe thinking right now what is the connection between constipation and fat. Well, you cannot imagine, fat is deeply related to constipation.
By creating forward motion in the colon, fat influences more frequent bowel movements. Rich fat food can generate the gastrocolic reflex which can cause an urgent need to poop after finishing a meal. But sometimes it can cause diarrhea too. On the other hand, if you are following a strict low-fat diet pattern with less calories, then your digestive system may not respond strongly as it used to.
Hence, you can add some healthy fats with your meals such as avocados, nut butter, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, tahini, olive oil, or fatty fish like salmon, etc. As a result, you can maintain your health and solve the problem of constipation.
Do I get constipated when I diet?
People often face constipation problems while dieting. It happens because lack of food cannot produce enough stools to pass through. Usually, people take low-calorie foods as per their diet chart.
An article in “International Journal of Obesity” published in February 1990 stated that fiber escalates the regularity of bowel movements. When you eat low carbs food, it can diminish the fiber intake in your body and end up in constipation.
On the other hand, in a keto diet, you need to take very rich fat food and low carbs and protein which generates ketones for energy. It creates bowel problems and leads to constipation. It is recommended by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics to intake 25 grams of fiber per day for women and up to 38 grams of fiber for men.
As we need less fiber after 50, about 21 grams for women and 30 grams of fiber for men is adequate. It is a matter of sorrow that most of us only get about 15 grams of fiber each day. Hence, most of us face this problem at least once in our life.
Can eating sugar and carbs based food solve the constipation problem?
When you are making dietary change and moving onto some restrictive diet regimens, you might not find minimal amount of naturally occurring sugar, sweeter fruits such as bananas, mangoes, grapes, papayas, watermelon etc, dried fruit such as raisins, dates, prunes, apricots, whole milk, cream, root veggies such as potatoes, carrots and beets. Can eating these cause a problem of constipation?
Your stools get soft by soaking water. The dairy food contains lactose, the fruits have fructose and there is sorbitol in dried fruits. By attracting water into the bowel, these can exert a mild laxative effect in our colons by attracting water into the bowel. As a result, your digestive system gets smoother and stools soften. On the other hand, most of this food except dried fruits contain a large amount of water and fiber which can also play a big role in the digestive system.