Topic summary contributed by volunteer(s): Lindey
The size and consistency of one’s bowel movement may affect and predict a host of health issues, including hemorrhoids as pressure backs up blood flow into the veins around the anus. Abdominal pressure caused by overexertion in the bathroom can also push part of the stomach up above the diaphragm, known as hiatal hernia. It may cause herniations in the wall of the colon itself (diverticulosis), or it can push blood flow back into the legs, resulting in varicose veins.
These issues are rare in rural African populations eating traditional plant-based diets (such as beans and corn) who pass a bulky stool two or three times a day. White South Africans and black and white Americans not only have more than 50 times the heart disease (the #1 killer of Americans), 10 times more colon cancer, and more than 50 times more gallstones and appendicitis (the #1 cause of emergency abdominal surgery), but also more than 25 times the rates of so-called “pressure diseases,” including hemorrhoids.
Frequency of bowel movements also plays a part in one’s health. Being vegetarian, especially vegan, is strongly associated with a higher frequency of bowel movements. Vegetarians also have a lower prevalence of allergies, coronary artery disease, strokes, high blood pressure, diabetes, diverticulosis, and diseases overall.
The fiber in whole plant foods is about more than just reducing the risk for the #1 and #2 killers of Americans—cardiovascular disease and cancer. Constipation is the most common gastrointestinal complaint in the United States, leading to millions of doctor visits every year. More than just the discomfort, constipation can increase risk for hiatal hernia, varicose veins, and hemorrhoids.
Chamomile is a powerful anti-inflammatory medicinal plant which may be beneficial in treating hemorrhoids, as well as other diseases.
For substantiation of any statements of fact from the peer-reviewed medical literature, please see the associated videos below.
In this “best-of” compilation of his last four year-in-review presentations, Dr. Greger explains what we can do about the #1 cause of death and disability: our diet.
Our physiology evolved for millions of years eating a plant-based diet. What would happen if researchers tried to recreate our ancestral diet in the lab?
Certain gut bacteria can “retoxify” carcinogens that your liver successfully detoxified, but these bacteria can be rapidly suppressed by simple dietary changes.
Squatting and leaning can help straighten the anorectal angle, but a healthy enough diet should make bowel movements effortless regardless of positioning.
Straining at stool over time may force part of the stomach up into the chest, contributing to GERD acid reflux disease. This may explain why hiatal hernia is extremely rare among populations eating high-fiber diets.
Many of our most common diseases found to be rare, or even nonexistent, among populations eating plant-based diets.
Dr. Greger has scoured the world’s scholarly literature on clinical nutrition, and developed this brand-new live presentation on the latest in cutting-edge research on how a healthy diet can affect some of our most common medical conditions.
Death in America is largely a foodborne illness. Focusing on studies published just over the last year in peer-reviewed scientific medical journals, Dr. Greger offers practical advice on how best to feed ourselves and our families to prevent, treat, and even reverse many of the top 15 killers in the United States.
For the same reason aspirin should be avoided in pregnancy, chamomile has such powerful anti-inflammatory properties that regular consumption may result in a serious fetal heart problem—premature constriction of the fetal ductus arteriosus, which allows the fetus to “breathe” in the womb.
A study of 15,000 American vegetarians suggests their lower chronic disease rates translate into fewer surgeries (including hysterectomies) and medications (including aspirin, sleeping pills, tranquilizers, antacids, pain-killers, blood pressure medications, laxatives, and insulin).
Larger bowel movements are associated with lower risk of appendicitis, colon cancer, constipation, and diverticulitis.
