Rich in fiber, this food is the best natural laxative (one spoon is enough)

Constipation tends to increase in France, due to stress and lack of physical activity. According to a study carried out by Ipsos for Hépar, one in five French people suffer from it. It’s even one in three women between 25 and 70 years old, 44% of them on a regular basis. If the first basic advice is not to hold back from going to the toilet, it is also important to take a good look at the food you put on your plate when you have very slow transit. Bad choices can make the situation worse, in just a few days.

In general, remember that to avoid being constipated, you need to eat fiber. They increase the frequency of bowel movements. This is the recommendation to always keep in mind when dining. Concretely, you must swallow at least 25 grams per day to promote good transit. Among fibers, we distinguish between soluble fibers which are not too irritating to the intestines and insoluble fibers which are more laxative. The first ones swell with water and form a gel which slides into the intestine. The second increases peristalsis (contraction moving the food bolus forward) and carries away all the materials that are stagnating in the colon.

Fiber is concentrated in plant foods such as fruits and vegetables and in whole grains. Of course, when we talk about “constipation”, we immediately think of prunes. Indeed, this fruit is the food best known for accelerating transit but it is not necessarily the most effective quickly. No, there is another natural solution that is good to have in your cupboards to anticipate a future episode of constipation.

This is oat bran. “The fibers contained in oat bran improve and normalize intestinal transit through a gentle mechanical action”, explains nutritionist Laurence Lévy-Dutel in the book “Oat bran and agar agar, a concentrate of benefits for your health and your beauty” (Ed.Eyrolles). Plus, the soluble fiber in oat bran “would increase the number of lactobacilli in the stools and improve the general intestinal flora”. Oat bran – which contains 17% fiber – is sold in organic stores or the organic sections of supermarkets, in the form of sachets or in bulk. According to phytotherapist Caroline Gayet whom we interviewed previously, “just‘put a teaspoon of it, one to four times a day, in compote, yogurt, muesli or water and it enriches the food bowl with fiber. It’s a solution that works quite quickly from one day to the next.”