Greetings! In today’s class, we shall study about the causes of constipation and more!
The Causes of Constipation
Surely you are now anxious to know the causes of these dreadful conditions, and we are ready to tell you. Barring some extraordinary condition like constrictions from adhesions, or some growth or conditions other than constipation, the causes are one or all of three:
We will explain each group.
1. Habits: failure to heed promptly the call of nature; sour stomach of which there are twenty-seven “varieties”; lack of exercise, poor posture.
2. Elements left out which would maintain normal muscles and nerves and cause action: cellulose, minerals, and vitamins and water as explained in previous lessons. There is a laxative program, which will be explained presently.
3. Elements which hinder action-a constipating program-which now follows:
Constipating Program
1. Refined grains, chief of which is white flour and all foods of which it is an ingredient; polished rice and all other refined cereal foods; corn starch.
2. Faulty methods of cooking vegetables.
3. Meat, fish and fowl, eggs. 
4. Dairy milk.
5. Chocolate, cocoa, caffeinated tea, coffee.
6. Drinking with meals.
7. Cheese.
8. Indigestion from any of the twenty-seven causes.
9. Fried foods.
10. Highly seasoned foods.
11. Pepper, mustard, horseradish, and all irritating condiments.
12. Tobacco, alcohol, opium, sleep-producing drugs.
“ Opium is a slow poison, when taken in small quantities. In large doses it produces lethargy and death. Its effects…are ruinous. When patients use this drug until it becomes habit, it is almost impossible to discontinue it, because they feel so prostrated and nervous without it. They are in a worse condition when deprived of it than the rum-drinker without his rum, or the tobacco-user deprived of his tobacco.” 4SP 137
“Multitudes remain in inexcusable ignorance in regard to the laws of their being. They are wondering why our race is so feeble, and why so many die prematurely. Is there not a cause? Physicians who profess to understand the human organism, prescribe for their patients, and even for their own dear children, and their companions, slow poisons to break up disease, or to cure slight indisposition. Surely, they cannot realize the evil of these things as they were presented before me, or they could not do thus. The effects of the poison may not be immediately perceived, but it is doing its work surely in the system, undermining the constitution, and crippling nature in her efforts. They are seeking to correct an evil, but produce a far greater one, which is often incurable. Those who are thus dealt with are constantly sick, and constantly dosing. And yet, if you listen to their conversation, you will often hear them praising the drugs they have been using, and recommending their use to others, because they have been benefited by their use. It would seem that to such as can reason from cause to effect, the sallow countenance, the continual complaints of ailments and general prostration of those who claim to be benefited, would be sufficient proofs of the health-destroying influence of drugs. And yet many are so blinded they do not see that all the drugs they have taken have not cured them, but made them worse.” 4SP 137
13. Hasty eating.
14. Alum and aluminum are astringents and so tend to lessen mucous secretions and are held to be potential causes of constipation.
A Laxative Program
1. Use whole grains, flours, and cereals, rich in cellulose, minerals, and vitamins.
2. Cook all vegetables without loss of minerals and vitamins.
3. Eat freely of vegetables, especially the coarse, leafy ones.
4. Get a liberal order of raw vegetables daily.
5. Eat freely of fruit. Have some raw fruit daily. Most fruits are more or less laxative.
6. Use soy bean milk in place of cow’s milk.
7. Use plant-based cheese in place of dairy cheese.
8. Have meals at regular hours and take time to eat them.
9. If possible, two meals are better than three.
10. Ripe olives are very helpful, and can be eaten at every meal with much benefit. A cupful during the day is not too many. 
11. Zwieback is easy to digest.
12. In most cases, solid foods are more beneficial than liquid foods.
13. Copious drinking of water early in the morning helps many people.
14. A glass of fruit juice early in the morning is also beneficial.
15. A little olive oil at bed-time helps.
Special Helps
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An evening enema is a good treatment in an emergency. Most people can get a thorough cleansing in this way: In the morning when the stomach is empty drink one to three glasses of grape juice, depending on the severity of the case and the individual tolerance for grape juice. Sometimes one glass is enough. Some stomachs rebel against grape juice, but these people may succeed by sipping it slowly. There are those who cannot take it; for them, prune juice or fresh apple juice are suggested. With certain people these drinks are tolerated better if diluted with water. These fruit juices should work like a charm.
Another cleansing procedure is to take one to four glasses of lemonade sweetened with honey on an empty stomach. Still another, but not as good as the two above: drink, on an empty stomach, several glasses of hot water with two teaspoons of salt, and follow this with a glass of cold water.
If one will change over from a constipating program to the laxative one, his constipation will usually disappear like the dew before the sun.
Let’s Recap
1. What are the three main causes of constipation?
2. Is dairy milk apart of a constipating program or is it apart of a laxative program?
3. What are three fruits that are of special help when experiencing constipation?
4. What is a good treatment for constipation in an emergency?
5. What can a person do if their stomach rebels against grape juice?
6. What kind of oil helps with constipation?
7. What tends to lessen mucous secretions?
Grab a friend and share the wealth, from what you’ve learned in the School of Health! For those who need a very laxative program, come back next week to see a menu for one day! Let it be noted that you are more certain of success in conquering constipation if you dispense with all foods coming from animals.