By: Rudy Silva
Citrus juices are a constipation remedy that is an excellent way to stimulate your colon and other parts of the body. Since your colon is less active at night, drinking juices as soon as you awaken and get up can stimulate strong peristaltic action and promote a bowel movement.
Lemons:
Lemons are filled with minerals, especially potassium, Vitamin C, and bioflavonoids. They have a cleansing action for the entire body.
Fresh lemon juice is the king of fruit juices. It contains citric acid, which acts in the body in a way no other juice does. First it acts on the liver to build up its enzymes so it can detoxify toxins in the blood. Then it combines with calcium to form soluble chemical substances. This makes it effective in removing kidney and pancreatic stones, plack build up along artery walls, and other calcium deposits that occur in the body.
When the liver, gallbladder, and pancreas are not working right, food digestion is affected. This in turn will create constipation.
Use lemons moderately since they break up oils during digestion and in our body they make oils less available to our cells and joints.
If you have lemon allergies or ulcers then you should avoid lemon juice. If you have arthritis lemons are not a good choice.
Here’s what to do:
Squeeze one lemon into a glass of warm distilled water. Drink it first thing when you wake up. Don’t drink anything else for at least 1/2 hour
You can use a citrus press to juice the lemon or just squeeze it to get the juice out.
Grapefruit Juice:
Another constipation remedy you can use is drinking a glass of fresh squeezed grapefruit first thing in the morning. Again wait at least 1/2 hour before you eat anything.
If you are taking any anticonvulsant drugs, birth control pills, estrogen, protease inhibitors and even other types of drugs avoid drinking grapefruit juice. It slows the breakdown of certain drugs allowing them to increase in the blood to dangerous levels.
Grapefruit and Orange Juice:
One drink I like in the morning is a combination of grapefruit and orange juice. Just prepare a half and half drink of these citrus fruits and drink it first thing in the morning.
