Constipation (Top 10 Tips)
By Marie-Emma Graves
Brooklyn Herborium’s 10 Holistic Tips for Improving Elimination and Ending Constipation In Children (18+ months) and Teens
#1 Apple sauce. Make sure you leave the skins on and cook for at least 10 minutes (or until the skin looks shiny) to release the pectin. You can also add cut up prunes and/raisins and cook them in. Add water as needed and blend if desired. Soothes mucosal linings and feeds/diversifies gut flora.
#2 White basmati rice. Cook with two cups of water for every cup of rice. Let cool down completely and divide into usable portions. Reheat by gently sautéing in ghee (the butyric acid strengthens the gut lining) and then turning the heat off and letting it “steam” inside the pan. We eat a lot of fried rice around here. It’s like a digestion magic potion.
#3 More resistant starches. For lunches, use organic white pastas and potatoes (all kinds of potatoes) that you have cooked in advance. Feel free to reheat it if you want. The glucose converts to an oligosaccharide when it cools, rendering it resistant to digestion in the stomach so it travels to the intestines...creating happy, happy poop. This also prevents insulin spikes. (For the evening meal, we usually do more fresh cooked—too much resistant starches at night may create wacky dreams)
#4 Limit the raw veggies and “roughage”—it only makes it harder for their little bodies to push out the bulk. Steam or sauté until the desired texture and then add an acid (vinegar, lemon juice, tomato paste, soy sauce, etc) to break apart the cell wall (improving taste as well as make the minerals available to the body) and eat them with fat. (You can cook in the fat, add it on top like butter, or make a sauce/dip)
#5 Limit “concentrated” foods like nut and seed butters. Sticky sticky sticky. Mix 1/2 nut butter with good, organic real butter or ghee to make a delicious sandwich spread that goes down easy.
#6 Use honey, maple syrup, and cooked fruit as your main sweeteners. They provide a better balance of energy and nourish a healthier intestinal ecosystem. The malicious microbes that we don’t want to stick around really, really like white sugar. You don’t have to cut it completely, but aim for a better balance.
#7 Try to stick to Organic White Sourdough when it comes to breads. Easier to digest. Kids love it.
#8 Room temp/warm water upon waking up and 10 min before meals is great for “priming” the digestive system. Have it sitting on the table for sipping before presenting the main food.
#9 Bitters. When traveling, bring bitters with you. Dandelion or Motherwort tincture works too. Do a spritz or 5 drops ONTO the tongue (or in room temp water) 5 min before meals. You need to taste the bitter taste for this to work.
#10 There are many pediatricians who suggest aiming for a consistent routine of 4 “meals” a day (one can be called a snack) with nothing in-between once they are 12-18 months old. It’s hard to do (especially when every playgroup and classroom offers snacks many times a day...but if you can do it, it helps the body regulate blood sugar and metabolic function. This includes producing the specific hormones that make us feel sleepy at bedtime, prevent us from wetting the bed when we are sleeping, help us feel hungry at meal times, and make us want to collaborate with those around us.
I hope this helps. I know it seems contrary to the conventional approach, but I do believe that most doctors (and all grandmothers) would find nothing wrong with it.
By Marie-Emma Graves
Brooklyn Herborium’s 10 Holistic Tips for Improving Elimination and Ending Constipation In Children (18+ months) and Teens
#1 Apple sauce. Make sure you leave the skins on and cook for at least 10 minutes (or until the skin looks shiny) to release the pectin. You can also add cut up prunes and/raisins and cook them in. Add water as needed and blend if desired. Soothes mucosal linings and feeds/diversifies gut flora.
#2 White basmati rice. Cook with two cups of water for every cup of rice. Let cool down completely and divide into usable portions. Reheat by gently sautéing in ghee (the butyric acid strengthens the gut lining) and then turning the heat off and letting it “steam” inside the pan. We eat a lot of fried rice around here. It’s like a digestion magic potion.
#3 More resistant starches. For lunches, use organic white pastas and potatoes (all kinds of potatoes) that you have cooked in advance. Feel free to reheat it if you want. The glucose converts to an oligosaccharide when it cools, rendering it resistant to digestion in the stomach so it travels to the intestines...creating happy, happy poop. This also prevents insulin spikes. (For the evening meal, we usually do more fresh cooked—too much resistant starches at night may create wacky dreams)
#4 Limit the raw veggies and “roughage”—it only makes it harder for their little bodies to push out the bulk. Steam or sauté until the desired texture and then add an acid (vinegar, lemon juice, tomato paste, soy sauce, etc) to break apart the cell wall (improving taste as well as make the minerals available to the body) and eat them with fat. (You can cook in the fat, add it on top like butter, or make a sauce/dip)
#5 Limit “concentrated” foods like nut and seed butters. Sticky sticky sticky. Mix 1/2 nut butter with good, organic real butter or ghee to make a delicious sandwich spread that goes down easy.
#6 Use honey, maple syrup, and cooked fruit as your main sweeteners. They provide a better balance of energy and nourish a healthier intestinal ecosystem. The malicious microbes that we don’t want to stick around really, really like white sugar. You don’t have to cut it completely, but aim for a better balance.
#7 Try to stick to Organic White Sourdough when it comes to breads. Easier to digest. Kids love it.
#8 Room temp/warm water upon waking up and 10 min before meals is great for “priming” the digestive system. Have it sitting on the table for sipping before presenting the main food.
#9 Bitters. When traveling, bring bitters with you. Dandelion or Motherwort tincture works too. Do a spritz or 5 drops ONTO the tongue (or in room temp water) 5 min before meals. You need to taste the bitter taste for this to work.
#10 There are many pediatricians who suggest aiming for a consistent routine of 4 “meals” a day (one can be called a snack) with nothing in-between once they are 12-18 months old. It’s hard to do (especially when every playgroup and classroom offers snacks many times a day...but if you can do it, it helps the body regulate blood sugar and metabolic function. This includes producing the specific hormones that make us feel sleepy at bedtime, prevent us from wetting the bed when we are sleeping, help us feel hungry at meal times, and make us want to collaborate with those around us.
I hope this helps. I know it seems contrary to the conventional approach, but I do believe that most doctors (and all grandmothers) would find nothing wrong with it.