Most of us have suffered from issues like constipation, difficulty in passing bowels, and diarrhea.
For some, it can also be a frequent issue. It’s uncommon for most of us to discuss such issues with ease.
However, Ayurveda has come up with a complete guide to solve bowel issues completely. It can easily cure acute constipation, diarrhea, or other bowel issues.
The Ayurvedic principles work on the root imbalances and help to get a regular normal elimination habit.
The guide for healthy elimination works on making your digestive fire (Agni) strong.
In this article, we have discussed in detail the Ayurvedic guide to healthy elimination to help you eliminate normally and regularly. The guide is quite simple to follow and can help you effectively treat bowel issues in no time.
Table of Contents
What Is Healthy Elimination In Ayurveda?
Ayurveda considers the habit of elimination as healthy if you excrete your stool one or two times daily.
The first bowel occurs after you get up within an hour, ideally, it should be before sunrise but it also depends on your wake up time.
The second bowel occurs during the day, often after your meal in the lunch or late evening.
The Ayurveda concept of healthy elimination suggests a healthy stool has the following properties:
- It is well-formed
- The shape of it is maintained even after elimination
- Has a mild odor
- Has a light brownish yellow color and oily nature
- It generally floats when eliminated in a toilet pot filled with water
- It’s not sicky. You can check this consistency if its easy to clean your anal orifice
It must be difficult for you to tell that your bowel has these properties or not. The fast-paced life, multitasking, and unhealthy food habits have taken a toll on almost everybody’s health.
So, next time give some time to yourself when you are excreting. Pay close attention to identify that your eliminating habit is healthy or not?
The Ayurveda considers eliminating your bowel and the bladder especially in the morning very necessary for the physical and psychological well being.
You should follow the nature and your body rhythm for a healthy body and mind.
Ayurveda calls the physiological systems of your body as the channels. It says the act of elimination is dependent on the digestive tract, mouth, esophagus, small intestine, stomach, etc.
The Ayurvedic principles suggest, that there are two important channels involved in elimination.
First is the channel of food that starts from the mouth and end in the small intestine and the second is of solid waste that starts from colon and end in the anus.
The two channels were based on the way of treatment. Both the channels are closely related as first is associated with healthy food and nutrition and second is about elimination.
However, for a healthy body, there should be a proper flow in all the channels of the body. For regular bowel movement, a healthy digestive channel is the most crucial part.
Excreting healthy helps your body absorb the water and glucose, remove solid waste for the body, clear heavy toxins from the body, and also remove heavy metals. Thus, it is very important for your body to eliminate healthily.
Imbalances In Elimination
The imbalances in elimination occur when the doshas of your body are not balanced. So, the key is to balance the dosha to balance the elimination.
Down below, we have written a detailed description of each dosha and its imbalance in elimination. Go through them in detail to understand and improve effectively.
1. Vata Elimination
When your Vata is imbalanced your elimination channel becomes dry, hard, and has less stool. Ayurveda says Vata is closely related to constipation.
Additionally, the imbalance also disturbs the digestive channel causing gas, gargling intestine, irregular bowel movements, frequent constipation, and abdominal pain.
The Vata imbalance elimination is caused due to irregular appetite and improper digestion. A few chronic disorder related to this are low back pain, non-bleeding hemorrhoids, fissures, and fistula.
The properties of imbalanced Vata elimination are as follows:
- The bowel is scanty, dry, hard
- Has a dark brown color
- It has the bullet like comes out as droppings
- Has a mild astringent odor
- It sinks down in the pot
- Difficult to pass and you can even feel pain if you pass it
Balancing Vata Elimination
You don’t need to take any specific ayurvedic medicines for frequent bowel movements, instead, you have to do the following consistently:
- Go for cold and dry quality food (refer to Vata-pacifying diet article for the same)
- Increase the amount oil in your diet
- drink 8-10 glasses of water daily
- Before lunch and dinner make a water drink using 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, 1 inch, ginger, a pinch of sea salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of honey. Drink this regularly about half an hour before your food.
- Follow a Vata pacifying daily routine
- Do pranayama and sun-salutations
- Take few herbs like Triphala or Hingvastak daily before going to be for regular morning elimination.
2. Pitta Elimination
When your Pitta is imbalanced, your stool is frequent and urgent. Ayurveda says pitta imbalance tends to have sticky stools.
The irregular Pitta causes hot stools, burning sensation when elimination, and acidity. If the imbalance is too much then, you might even face issues like heartburn, blood in the stool, acid indigestion, and bleeding hemorrhoids. Often you pass stools three to four times and is referred as mild diarrhea.
The properties of imbalance Pitta elimination are as follows:
- Moderate amount of stool
- Has oily, liquidy, and hot consistency
- It is loose and falls apart in the pot. it can float or sink in the pot
- Has a yellow-green or red color
- It has a strong pungent, acidic, and very strong smell
Balancing Pitta Elimination
For balancing this carry out the following measures:
- Go for hot, sharp, light, and liquid quality food items. Follow a Pitta-pacifying diet
- Take 2-3 tablespoons of aloe vera juice throughout the day to keep your digestive tract cool
- drink a moderate amount of water and avoid cold water, ice cream, and cold juices
- Follow a Pitta-pacifying daily routine
- Opt doing slow-paced exercises or yoga. Strenuous exercise is not good for you.
- Take herbal supports that aid in digestion. Consume Amalaki, Avipattikar, or Triphala before going to bed for regular healthy elimination.
3. Kapha Elimination
When your Kapha is imbalanced, your stool might be regular. However, the stools are heavy, oily and sticky. Ayurveda says Kapha has a sluggish digestion so, its imbalance can cause incomplete elimination.
The irregular Kapha can suppress your appetite, cause excessive saliva, frequent cold, mucoid vomiting, diarrhea, blood in stools or pus, and constipation of moderate kind.
The properties of imbalance Pitta elimination are as follows:
- Abundant in quantity
- Has an oily, sticky, slimy, and slow texture
- It is well-formed
- It sinks or floats with mucus
- Has a pale yellow color
- Has a mild odor accompanied with a bit of sweetness
- It is sluggish and slow. You might even find it difficult to clean
Balancing Kapha Elimination
Do the following things to balance your Kapha and get a healthy eliminating habit:
- Go for light, dry, rough, and sharp food. Eat a Kapha pacifying diet
- Minimize oil, ghee, and sugar from your diet
- Drink a moderate quantity of water. Go for hot and warm beverages more
- Before lunch and dinner make a water drink using 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, 1 inch, ginger, a pinch of sea salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of honey. Drink this regularly for half an hour before your food.
- Follow a Kapha pacifying daily routine. Be careful avoid napping in between the day
- Exercise or do yoga. Your exercise should be fun, vigorous, and stimulating Kapha. You can also go for walking, hiking, running, cycling, and high-intensity interval training.
- Take herbal supplements like Bibhitaki or Triphala before going to bed for healthy elimination.
A General Ayurvedic Guideline For Healthy Elimination
No matter what your imbalance is, you have to follow a strategy to aid in healthy elimination. Below we have discussed a few important measures that you should carry out daily to help you excrete healthily and at the same time keep you fit.
1. Hydrate Yourself
This is the easiest step. Taking appropriate amount of water helps in digestion and elimination both.
You can determine the amount of fluid you have to intake by your age, imbalances, body constitution, activity level, and the climate in your place.
If you have dark, scanty, pungent, infrequent urination, frequent constipation, or dry skin then probably you don’t take the adequate amount of water.
Additionally, take 1 glass of warm water daily after brushing your teeth. This will help you to eliminate in early morning especially if you don’t have an early elimination habit.
Also, take 1 glass of warm water 30 minutes before your food for better digestion.
Ayurveda suggests to avoid cold beverages like cold water, cold juices, smoothies, mocktails, and take only sips of water with meals.
You should also avoid alcohol, caffeine, and soda. Instead of all these as per Ayurveda, the best option is herbal teas.
2. Carry Out A Daily Routine
Ayurveda focusses a lot on a daily routine. It is because it regulates your body clock and functioning and thus aids in healthy elimination.
If you don’t have a daily routine, you can adapt it by following a few practices initially.
An ideal ayurvedic daily routine focusses on getting up early, elimination, cleaning the senses, brushing, meditating, exercising, abhyanga, bath, consistent time for meals, and a moderate consistent work pace.
Often when following an ideal daily routine, most people neglect exercise. Exercising is very important for regular bowel habit. It is because low amount of physical activity slows down the metabolic rate and thus makes the bowel sluggish.
You should at least exercise 3-4 days a week for regular elimination. Your exercise can be a simple brisk walk, jogging, yoga, aerobic, or strength training.
3. Diet
Your diet is very important for healthy elimination. A healthy diet should be nutritious, wholesome, as per the season, and in moderate amounts.
You should neglect or limit processed foods and artificial sugars. Instead, you should for freshly prepared well-cooked foods.
Ayurveda suggests from what you eat, how you eat, and when you eat are equally important for a perfect digestion.
The powerful effective principles of eating food in Ayurveda are as follows:
- Eat only when you are hungry Appetite is important for nourishment. Avoid any kind of emotional eating. You should eat a square plate meal after every 4 hours. You can make out when you are really hungry if you feel light and feel a pleasant anticipation of eating.
- Ayurveda asks you to eat in a small amount. At once you should eat a square plate meal. If you feel its difficult to measure your food this way then, consider filling your stomach half with food, 1/3 by water, and 1/3 for digestion.
- There is should be a time adequate time gap between two meals. You should have the other meal when one meal is fully digested. Generally, there should be a time gap of minimum 4 hours between two meals. However, the time frame can differ a bit from individual to individual.
- Eat a moderate quantity of breakfast, a heavy meal, and light dinner. You should have your dinner at least 3 hours before your bedtime.
- Carry out a month detox program. This is the most efficient way of natural detoxification. You can increase your digestive fire, enjoy a good overall health, and eliminate healthily by this. Additionally, it also rejuvenates your body, repair your body cells, and remove all the toxins from your body. A cleansing routine can be as simple a half or full day fast, a detox drink, or a long mono diet like kitchari or fresh soup.
4. Reduce Stress And Overwork
Stress and long extended hours of work are very determined to your overall health. They both disrupt your digestion and thus your elimination habit.
Ayurveda suggests the most effective way to reduce stress is through meditation. It will help you to fight stress and create more constructive thought patterns. You can meditate as little as 10 minutes a day.
The other alternative for meditation is sitting quietly in a peaceful place. Sit quietly close your eyes and listen to your breath. This can also help you cope up stress.
5. Do Yoga Or Exercise Of Any form
Moving your body is another way of increasing your metabolic rate. An increased metabolic rate aids in better digestion and eventually in healthy elimination.
Pranayam or breathing exercise is very important for your body, mind, and spirit. It calms down your nervous system and helps you unwind your body.
It also helps you balance your digestive tract. Do any sort of breathing exercises for 10 minutes daily for a good health.
Yoga or any sort of exercise is a good way to reduce stress, aids in digestion, and keep your elimination on time.
6. Triphala For Elimination
Triphala is an herbal supplement that can balance your Vata, pitta, and Kapha. It cleanses your colon and supports healthy elimination.
Moreover, it effectively cleans the digestive tract while rejuvenating and nourishing your body. Take 1 teaspoon of Triphala powder in a glass of water or a tablet of Triphala daily before going to bed.
Final Talk
Ayurveda honors balancing the body constitution as the first line of treatment for any condition or disease.
If you bring back your doshas to the balanced level, your symptoms cease on its own. It is important to look at the cause of symptoms to balance them.
The above ayurvedic guide to healthy elimination is ideal. If you follow the strategies given above consistently in no time you can regulate your bowel.
Additionally, if your irregular bowel movement is a result of imbalance so first consider balancing the imbalanced dosha. Do remember, healthy elimination is the pathway for a healthy mind, body, and spirit.
