Using Laxatives For Dieting

Laxatives, whether herbal or bought on prescription, are sometimes necessary if you don’t have enough fiber in your diet, or are under stress. Used sensibly, they can help you.

Unfortunately, occasionally people who want to lose weight will turn to laxatives for dieting, thinking that laxatives are a solution.

The belief is that the food that is eaten will not have time to be completely absorbed because the laxative will stimulate the intestinal tract to dump the food. They believe that they can eat essentially anything and the laxative will cause the food to be eliminated before the calories can be absorbed. This is not only a faulty way of thinking but is a very dangerous approach to dieting.

Over-using laxatives will harm your health
There are several dangers in using laxatives for dieting.

The laxative works on the large intestine and colon to cause elimination of bodily waste. When a person eats, the food will spend several hours in the stomach being broken down and then will continue into the small intestine where the nutrients will be absorbed into the body including the caloric content. When the food reaches the large intestine all that is left is usually indigestible fiber and water. The water is then gradually absorbed and the fiber is eliminated.

When you use laxatives constantly your fluid balance can be disrupted. Laxatives may cause dehydration, fluid and electrolyte imbalance and finally death.

Laxatives can also damage the colon. With the repeated use of the laxative the colon will stop functioning normally and will be unable to work without a laxative or medical intervention. Because of the frequent loose bowel movements another problem may be that the sphincters in the anal region will lose their ability to function and a person can become incontinent.

Please don’t use laxatives: they are not a diet aid. They will harm your health over time.

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