1 April 2009WEIGHT CONTROL IN CASE OF OSTEOPOROSIS: LAXATIVES
According to D.H.S.S. estimates for 1987, the ingredients for prescription laxatives and purgatives cost ?12.5 million, with more millions spent on non-prescription aids. As many as 22 per cent of people in Britain admit to taking laxatives regularly -many are not needed, some are harmful and possibly habit-forming. The frequent and excessive use of laxatives may lead to bone depletion, by stimulating the passage of food too quickly through the intestinal tract before nutrients are absorbed. Or laxatives can give the feeling of fulness that reduces appetite, leading to a reduction in your intake of nourishing food.
There is overuse of mineral oil or liquid paraffin, widely used in nursing homes and by the elderly: as little as 4 teaspoons of mineral oil twice daily is sufficient to reduce the absorption of vitamins A, D, E and K and can also cause side effects with other drugs.
While fibre in your diet can be a blessing for relieving constipation, preventing diverticulitis and lowering blood cholesterol, too much bran fibre can be detrimental, increasing your loss of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron and zinc. The bran from the outer husks of cereals such as wheat and oats contains phytates that interfere with calcium absorption.
Alpha cellulose (wood pulp or finely-ground sawdust) has lately been added by some food manufacturer to bread, rolls and biscuits, to increase fibre content. But wood pulp fibre has no nutritive value, and no one knows what the long-range effects of eating it will be. There could be loss of essential nutrients if you are eating many foods containing cellulose at the expense of good nutrition from other foods.
Ask yourself if you really are constipated. ‘Regularity’ can be defined as perhaps a twice-daily bowel movement for some people, and twice-weekly for others. Know what is ‘normal’ for you, to avoid laxative dependence. Doctors agree that constipation is frequently overemphasized, fostered by the manufacturers of laxative products, and older people become too concerned with the importance of having a bowel movement each day. This is a myth. Another fallacy is that wastes stored in the body are absorbed, are dangerous to health, or shorten life span. The huge sales of laxatives are based on these false beliefs.
But if you are unused to taking large quantities of milk or calcium supplements, they can be constipating, as can drugs such as pain medications, antidepressants, antacids containing aluminium or calcium, antihistamines, diuretics, anti-Parkinsonism drugs, anticonvulsants for epilepsy and iron supplements. Travel, prolonged bed-rest and certain hormonal disturbances such as an underactive thyroid gland can produce constipation, and it is well known that pregnancy can cause it. Injuries to the spinal cord and tumours pressing on the spinal cord may produce constipation by affecting the nerves that lead to the intestine.
To tone up your system without using harsh laxatives, try to get more exercise, more liquids (unless suffering from certain kidney or heart diseases), and a change in diet. Avoid the heavy use of convenience foods or soft processed foods that are low in fibre.
High-fibre food should be a necessary part of your daily meals, but used in moderation without going to extremes, as excessive quantities can cause harm, by putting you at risk of poor mineral absorption. How much dietary fibre we each need is still not certain, and estimates range between 25 and 50 grams per day. An ideal amount allows for proper absorption of minerals, vitamins and other food nutrients, while giving normal bowel movements. Although meat may look fibrous, dietary fibre is found in foodstuffs from plants and not from animals – preferably from generous portions of whole fruits (including skins), vegetables, legumes (beans and peas, for instance) and wholewheat breads rather than bran. There are about 9 grams of fibre in 0.5 cup serving of beans or peas; about 5 grams of fibre in 0.5 to 0.75 A cup of cooked vegetables or 1 oz (30 g) of raw nuts; about 3 grams of fibre in a medium-sized fruit, in 2 tablespoons of wholegrain breakfast cereals or two slices of wholewheat bread.
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