Constipation is when you have difficulty passing stool, and infrequent bowel or painful bowel movements. Constipation can be caused by many things, including diet, medications, and other health conditions. To treat constipation you need to know the cause. One great treatment option for constipation is Atrantil.
Many people experience constipation, and no matter the cause, it should be taken care of before it creates more health problems.
What qualifies as constipation?
Constipation is a condition that is categorized by the following:
- Fewer than 3 bowel movements per week
- Hard, lumpy, or dry stool
- Pain or difficulty passing stool
- Feeling like you aren’t done passing stool when you leave the bathroom
Now, this is the textbook definition of constipation. However, you can have bowel movements every day and still be closer to constipation than normal. Your stool consistency should be like soft serve ice cream. If it comes out in small pellets (like bunny poop) or like a log but you’re having bowel movements daily, you may still be dealing with minor constipation.
What causes constipation?
Constipation can be caused by multiple things, but let’s talk about who is most likely to become constipated first. If you fit into any of the following categories and are experiencing what might be constipation, bring it up to your doctor.
- Non-caucasion
- Pregnant women or those who have recently given birth
- Elderly people
Now, that sort of leads us into what causes constipation. While these things listed above aren’t necessarily causes, they can cause a predisposition to dealing with constipation. The actual causes of constipation include:
- Slowed motility
- Medication use (opioids, antispasmodics, antidepressants, antihistamines, iron supplements, antacids, medications to lower blood pressure, etc.)
- Poor dietary choices (low fiber, not enough fluids, etc.)
- Health conditions (IBS, Celiac disease, Parkinson’s, diabetes, thyroid conditions, etc.)
- Lifestyle choices (not enough exercise, frequent travel, pregnancy, not using the bathroom when you need to, etc.)
- Pelvic floor problems
- Colon or rectal blockages
So now that you know what causes constipation, let’s talk about why it’s important to take care of constipation when it’s an issue.
Can constipation be dangerous?
Constipation is typically seen as annoying more than dangerous. However, if you’re dealing with severe constipation, it can become a serious problem.
You should see your doctor if your constipation is accompanied by:
- Intense or constant abdominal pain
- Bleeding or bloody stools
- Vomiting
- Bloating
Any of these could indicate a bigger problem than just being unable to pass a bowel movement. Extreme pain with constipation can indicate intestinal blockages, appendicitis, a perforated bowel, pancreatitis, or restricted blood flow to the intestines.
Bleeding or bloody stools will have blood in the toilet or the stool will be bloody or black. If you have this issue with constipation you can be dealing with several conditions, including: anal fissures, ulcers, Crohn’s disease, or cancer.
If you’re vomiting and constipated, this could mean that you have fecal impaction that isn’t allowing your waste to be removed with bowel movements and can only be removed via vomiting. This is a serious condition that, if left untreated, could be deadly.
Bloating with constipation often indicates a condition like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). These conditions, while not deadly, can seriously reduce the quality of life and should be treated to the best of your ability.
Chronic constipation can lead to other problems, especially conditions of the brain and heart.
Constipation is linked to cognitive decline. Multiple studies have shown that constipation contributes to worsened symptoms in patients with dementia. When constipation is relieved, it can improve dementia symptoms.
As for heart health, when people deal with constipation, there are many changes made to the gut microbiome. These changes negatively impact heart health and can contribute to conditions like heightened blood pressure, atherosclerosis, and a higher chance of experiencing cardiac events.
When you experience constipation, you strain to push out the bowel movement and this straining can cause cardiac events to happen. Some cardiac events that have been linked to constipation strain include:
- Congestive heart failure
- Arrhythmia
- Acute coronary disease
- Aortic dissection
Slowed bowel movements allow bacteria to grow, your intestines to get blocked, and increase the potential for infection or any of the above-mentioned issues to happen. Because all of this can become more serious than just a bad bellyache and some backed-up stool, we wanted to share some of the best ways to combat constipation and get your stool moving.
How to Treat Constipation
Treating constipation is extremely important. The first way you’ll want to try to improve constipation is by making healthy lifestyle changes. This will include:
- Exercising on a regular basis
- Eating more fiber
- Drink enough water daily
If you’ve given all of these an honest try and are still struggling with constipation, Atrantil can help.
What is Atrantil?
Atrantil was created by board-certified gastroenterologist Ken Brown and his team of researchers. Dr. Brown noticed a lot of patients were coming in with IBS-type symptoms, but the typical treatments weren’t truly helping. He wanted to find a natural solution that would help treat his patients cycles of constipation, diarrhea, stomach pain, cramping, gas, bloating, and often SIBO.
After researching, he found 3 ingredients that he knew would help.
- Quebracho colorado
- Horse chestnut
- Peppermint leaf
How does Atrantil improve constipation?
Peppermint is the go to plant for all digestive problems. Most people grab a mint when their stomach feels upset. So it was a no-brainer to use it in Atrantil. Peppermint helps because it is anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and an antispasmodic. This means it calms down inflammation and swelling, can fight off bacteria that don’t belong there, and relieves stomach cramping.
Quebracho colorado is part of a large family of trees but only a few are medicinal. Quebracho colorado is the best one for stomach issues. Quebracho colorado is a very large and extremely stable polyphenol and is able to suck up hydrogen gases that are in the GI tract. This prevents specific micro-organisms like archaea and other bacteria from turning hydrogen into methane or hydrogen sulfide. Quebracho also disrupts the cell wall of the archaea. When this happens, it makes room for the last ingredient to do its job.
Horse chestnut, when given the space to break in, shuts down the archaea and their hydrogen sulfide-producing mechanisms. Horse chestnut has been used for ages as a medicinal herb and has many other benefits for GI relief:
- Antifungal
- Antibacterial
- Anti-inflammatory
- Antioxidant
All of these help to restore a calm balance to your gut microbiome. Atrantil helps constipation by:
- Removing archaea and bacteria from the small intestine
- Sucking up any gases in the GI tract to relieve bloating that can slow down digestion
- Stopping the microbes that cause gases in the first place
- Calming cramped muscles and inflammation so that digestion can continue
- Nourishing the healthy bacteria and removing the unhelpful strains so the gut microbiome is balanced for healthy bowel movements
Is Atrantil right for you?
Atrantil is right for you as long as you don’t have any allergies to the ingredients used. Also, if you are on medications or being treated for any specific conditions, ask your doctor first to make sure there won’t be any interactions with your current care plan.
Atrantil is right for you if you’ve got the clearance from your doctor and want relief from SIBO, IBS, constipation, diarrhea, cramping, and bloating. There have been several studies done on Atrantil that you can find here. Atrantil has been 80%+ successful at treating constipation in IBS patients. This page is always updated with the most current research.
Ready to get constipation relief? Get Atrantil here!