“If you are having a bowel movement every other day or less frequently—or you experience pain and straining—then you may be suffering from constipation,” says Vincent Pedre, M.D., mbg Collective member and author of Happy Gut. “For many people this is caused by dehydration and a diet low in fiber.” So, since nobody wants to feel crampy and bloated or strain with all their might for minimal reward, we polled the experts and dug into the research for the best ways to get things moving—fast. If all else fails and you really need to get things moving, enemas can be useful too. “I like enemas because they simultaneously empty out the colon and also encourage the colonic muscle to remember that its job is to contract,” says Trubow. “There are all types of fancy enemas, but a water one is fine to start with.” Ultimately, though, “we want to know why you have these problems and try to get to the root cause and address the issue so that you don’t need to take these types of things regularly,” says Singh.
