One great medical myth, prevailing for 2000 to 3000 years, is that physical exercise helps in preventing and curing constipation. This false belief is still being dogmatically propagated all over the world by practitioners of Allopathy, Ayurveda and Naturopathy, and by experts in Health Education and Sports Medicine. All therapies based on this dangerous dogma are a threat to the health of many patients.

I have never found anyscientific proofshowing that active exercise, like walking, running, swimming, cycling, weight-training, other active sports or physical work, prevents or cures constipation. I have practical as well as theoretical proofs that clearly show that active exercise tends to cause constipation! A severely constipated person is able to take very little exercise, as more of active exercise makes the problem of constipation much worse. According to my findings, active exercise and physical work are actually helpful in preventing and curing some types of diarrhea.

Law on Constipating Effect of Exercise

In scientifically controlled experiments, I have discovered the following formula: "Other things remaining unchanged, the more of active exercise a person takes, the more constipated that person tends to become." Therefore, when a person takes active exercise daily for two hours, he tends to become more constipated than when he takes exercise of the same type for only one hour.

The other things that can alter the result of the experiment, are the quantity and type of food, milk, table salt, water, etc. To keep the other things unchanged, the person, who takes exercise in the experiment, should not change the quantity or type of food, milk, table salt, water, etc, which he consumes during the period of the experiment.

Athletes Require Laxatives

From my observations, I have found that most athletes and sportspersons who take prolonged exercise regularly, consume more food, more milk, more table salt and more water. The larger intakes of these items can provide greater quantities of laxative nutrients like dietary fiber, potassium, magnesium, manganese, thiamine, pantothenic acid, vitamin C, vitamin D, sodium, iodine, etc. Many athletes and sportspersons taking prolonged exercise regularly consume Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate), milk of magnesia, mixtures of mineral salts that are laxative, or even liquid paraffin, castor oil and other laxative and purgative drugs. These laxative foods, salts and drugs are required by the athletes and sportspersons to undo the constipating effect of active physical exercise.

Proper and adequate rest and relaxation, besides more food and more water, tend to produce a laxative effect and to relieve constipation. Prolonged active exercise and a low-calorie diet can be a very dangerous combination for many people.

Why does Exercise cause Constipation?

In spite of my article, "Exercise Causes Constipation," being in circulation for more than 20 years, many "health experts" still continue to propagate the absolutely false belief that exercise can prevent and cure constipation.

It is absolutely crazy to believe that active physical exercises can produce a laxative effect and cure or prevent constipation. Millions of people are being wrongly made to believe that the performance of physical exercises can produce more energy by some magic. They overlook the fact that the body requires and uses more energy during the performance of physical exercises, which causes a deficit of energy reserves in the body. The body cannot get more energy from a dwindling supply. How can there be more energy available when the supply goes on becoming less? Can any car travel longer distances with less petrol? Can any power plant supply more electricity when it can only use less fuel?

Prolonged exercise causes exhaustion and a deficit in the energy reserves in the whole body. So, how can it be possible for exercise to produce a laxative effect? After any prolonged exercise, can the body that has a severe deficiency of energy reserves, including chemical energy, provide more energy to the intestines to make them work faster? Can the body that feels very exhausted and lazy make the intestines work with greater efficiency? Can the intestines get more energy when the whole body becomes deficient in energy? Can that be possible? We just cannot get that impossible result.

According to the universal Law of Conservation of Mass and Energy, more energy cannot be made available from less reserves of energy.This law is universally valid even when there is a conversion of matter and energy from one form to another.

TheEffectsofExercise

Exercise causes a reduction in the energy reserves of the body. During the performance of any physical exercise, the greater use of energy depletes the energy reserves in the body. There is an oxidation of larger quantities of glucose to produce the greater amounts of energy needed for performing the exercise. There has also to be a greater break up of carbohydrate, such as glycogen, along with fat and protein, to compensate for the loss of glucose. The body must try to maintain the level of glucose in the blood and other tissues at normal levels.

The break up of large quantities of glycogen, fat and protein causes a fall in the total reserves of energy in the body. So, the performance of any active physical exercise results in the reduction of energy reserves in the body.

Exercise Produces some Effects of Fasting

Fasting causes constipation, and cures diarrhea, because fasting causes a deficit of the energy available in the whole body. Exercise too produces some of the effects of fasting because exercise causes a deficit in the energy reserves of the body. It is the consumption of more food and more water that can provide many laxative factors in larger quantities toreversethe constipating effect of exercise in the athletes and sportspersons.

Yoga & Bowel Motions

The static postures of yoga are not active exercises and so do not cause constipation. But any yoga exercises that involve the movements of limbs and other parts of the body are active exercises, causing the expenditure of energy, which cannot prevent or cure constipation.

The squatting posture is like a static yoga posture. The squatting posture is a little helpful in producing peristalsis, as the squatting posture makes the thighs exert pressure on the abdomen, especially in the obese persons with bulging bellies. The squatting position helps in producing a bowel motion because the energy provided by the pressure of thighs on the abdomen is created by the force of gravity of the Earth.

Exercise causes Deficiency of Oxygen

The body consumes massive amounts of oxygen during any vigorous or prolonged exercise. In spite of deeper and rapid breathing, the body becomes deficient in oxygen during a bout of strenuous exercise. After the stoppage of exercise, the body remains deficient in oxygen for a long time afterwards. It takes some time for the body to fully compensate for the loss of oxygen and to build up the oxygen reserves again.

The body becomes exhausted due to the deficit of oxygen, but it gets exhausted much more due to the deficiencies of many biochemical factors that are caused by any strenuous exercise.

Exercise, laborious work and other physical activities can cause an increase in the compounds that contain carbon dioxide in the body.

The body requires extra amounts ofenergyand many otherlaxative factorsto undo the constipating and other related effects of exercise. Rest and sleep are laxative factors.During the period of relaxation and rest,the body reduces the expenditure of energy, which tends to produce a laxative tendencythat relieves constipation.