Amaranth for Redundant Colon and Chronic Constipation

Hi @annbk and welcome to the Digestive Health group on Connect. I was unfamiliar with amaranth so did a quick internet search and found this:

- Amaranth: An Ancient Grain With Impressive Health Benefits https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/amaranth-health-benefits

Great to read that amaranth is naturally gluten free. Quinoa is another grain that I love that is gluten free. @astaingegerdm @bandaids @darlia @shayshay may also have something to add or learn from this conversation.

Ann: I, too, have to manage constipation despite all plumbing being normal (a bit loopy) and eating well. I'm interested in hearing how you incorporate amaranth in your daily diet. What is its flavor? Do you use it as a grain or simply add it to things like smoothies?

I'd like to try it!

what is Amaranth?

I’d love to hear more!

Please try MCT oil. Just a teaspoon in your tea or coffee in the morning, will sort out constipation. It taste like nothing and you will go every day!

It would be great to get your recipe for using Amaranth for natural regularity.
If you or anyone has ideas about the following that would be great. Sorry for how many words I sent. I am exasperated!

Racked with constipation most of my life especially following a near fatal '72 auto accident; pain pills caused such bad constipation manually cleaned. Have been and still am active on an organic farm, did work helping to build seven park hiking trails etc. But also farm surrounded by a big timber company possibly affected by roundup and other herbicides Working on natural regularity and glad colonoscopy OK. Have lived doing organic eating most of my adult life - over 70 yrs

Last colonoscopy I did with no sedative and it was a wondrous trip to see myself from outside in. It turns out, I have a REDUNDANT COLON which makes sense why I'm constipated. There is very little advice + what there is online is contradictory. It appears IBS and redundant colon don't usually happen to the same person. I have some SIBO symptoms along with stress + worry about doing the right things for my health. A person I know with a redundant colon says they eat to keep it moving. She needs more carbs to get the bulk.

Current actions:
- Walk 1 -2 miles on farm trail but have done for years
- Eat organically permaculture veggies and fruit but have done for years
- Eat predominately organic bought food, not processed
- Gastroenterologist who did my last, second colonoscopy without sedation, has me on antibiotic from US and one from India to do SIBO cleaning on my small intestine
- He also has me doing PT to learn not to push and to breathe right for BM. As a gymnast in HS and Jr college I learned to pull in my gut and breathe backwards
- Had hemorrhoids removed a few times over the years by an ND - OK but not complete cure for constipation
- My three ND's feel a redundant colon needs an assist for regularity so trying to find it. Lots of inconsistent advice online
- I WANT NATURAL BUT HAVE NOT FOUND MY REGULARITY CONSISTENT
- Every laxative, softener, etc even natural say things like, DON'T USE MORE THAN A WEEK, ONLY FOR OCCASIONAL IRREGULARITY, etc.
- I use a stool stool my husband made but if I lean too far forward I feel pg and cut off

Thank you for ideas on how to be regular!
Trying:
- Smooth move tea with Senna kind of works but may cause problems if taken continuously
- A quart of warm water am + 3 cups coffee may work but then doesn't
- Lemon juice night and morning seems to help but not always
- Last lesser BM, I threw up my hands and took Citracel (not suppose to take more than a week) + prune juice (not recommended on SIBO cleanse) + winter squash (not recommended for redundant because FODMAP) + rhubarb I froze from the garden. I may try it tomorrow again but will it work two days in a row?
A thought I had: Am I expecting my BM to be in too short a time schedule because of the low motility? If so, how will I manage feeling heavy and pg (I am about right weight) and because my urge is next to non-existence how do I know when to have a BM?
OH BOTHER

@farmer

I also have a redundant colon along with adhesions and mobile cecum. I have intermittent intestinal obstructions as well. You can drive yourself crazy doing the right thing but it won’t help. Sometime I think doctors give you stuff to eat and do to keep you busy and off their back.

I have been at this too long however and done it all. A tortuous colon is a mechanical thing and no amount of microbiom blah…blah….blah crap will work. It is more the texture that goes through loops. Think of your intestines more like the kitchen sink and what can go down the garbage disposal. If you get stopped up eat only liquids. I take a stool softener daily. Since i am prone to obstructions, i don’t take stimulants. My surgeon told me that you can’t open a locked door and stimulants will make things worse.

Trying different things the doctor tells you to take or do makes him feel that he is proactive to make everyone feel better. Don’t bother as none of it helps. Don’t eat raw veggies. The fiber just stops up the works.

Hi Judith
I appreciate your feedback thanks! Actually I go to MD's as little as possible and rely on Naturopaths, a better fit for me. I used to study natural healing and am a retired Reflexologist. Still I find few recommendations or health providers who understanding RC. I want to go natural because I can't stand drugs. I will try more soup which is my husband's favorite anyways. Gosh I didn't think of downing more food in liquid form. Hells bells I drink a quart of warm water and 2 cups of coffee, I don't care for, each morning why not do more soups through the day!? Darn it anyway, I raise lots of our food organically and want salad and the carrot sticks and winter squash... Cabbage family may not be so good for RC? Hey what I don't like about softeners you buy is they all say don't use more than a week because of things like lowering your electrolytes or they're sweetened by aspartame or like Senna or rhubarb that are natural they also take your electrolytes down. Could you share what you use? Also I don't plan surgery.

Thanks again, Lorna born 1952, bowel issues nearly my whole life. I am up to the challenge of my ND, Dr. Matt who said if I can find a solution for pain in my leg from a 1972 auto accident deformity (topical pounce pounce pounce with stinging nettle - check out substance P it is when our bodies get chronic pain and our brain gets a message about pain and mixed up. The AMA uses hot pepper cream I learned from my late mom's foot dr so I tried our nettles last July and it's great) Anyway he thinks I can figure out something that works for me. It was just December 2023 I learned about having the redundant colon. It is what it is, like you say.

Thanks again, best to you, @farmer

I was also born in 1952. The stool softener I take is Docusate Sodium without a stimulant. Also snack on prunes, prune juice and my surgeon says white grape juice. All this does help. Also eat many times a day. No large meals. Soups are wonderful as you can use all of your veggies you grow. Play with the recipes and have fun. Remember it’s not the what you put in your mouth, it is the texture. I make a good chicken soup with lots of veggies. I add a dash of Cayenne pepper. This adds a lot of flavor. Some with microbiom issues think you shouldn’t have spicy things. You should….remember texture.
I don’t know if soups will make you go more, but you will feel better. I do. Large hearty meals are the worst.

Thank you sister Judith,
Do you take the Docusate Na daily? What a great regularity summer I had. Our prune tree über produced so I ate them constantly and really didn't have much trouble with regularity. Yes great idea to include lots of veggies in soup. Darn about the greens for salad - my ND said a quick dip of salad greens in hot water or another hot food cooking could help.
You probably don't have arthritis, right? Fortunately I don't have much in my joints but I avoid the nightshade family to keep it that way. We don't eat potatoes, tomatoes, hot and regular peppers, eggplant, paprika or smoke because they make joints hurt. When I did reflexology I shared with my clients who had arthritis and they appreciated having less pain. We've been off nightshades for at least 15 years. It makes a big difference because we were both in bad accidents in our youth that hurt our bodies making them more susceptible to arthritis.
Drats about not eating big meals. I often have a low level of feeling hungry, I come from an obese overeating family, I am about the right weight not being overweight, partly because I am active. I do have an urge to eat and with the family history it is hard to stop. I also think I need to rethink intermittent fasting. I eat at 9 am and 3 pm and pretty much fast the rest of the day. It just might not fit me? We aren't out much and have lots to do at home so go to bed early and get up early.
I hope for lots of prunes again but you never know.
Thanks again