Are you constipated? Better question: did you know that you could be constipated even if you poop regularly?

As a gut health dietitian, I’m no stranger to the constipation conversation…because constipation is super common: according to the Canadian Digestive Health Foundation, constipation affects roughly 25% of Canadians.

In the US? According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), constipation affects about 15% of the US population and that number skyrockets if looking at older adults.

And people live with constipation for years - sometimes their whole lives - without realizing that proper nutritional care can actually do a lot to relieve their symptoms.

Which is why we are chatting with my friend and dietitian colleague Andrea Hardy RD, who is one of my most trusted sources of digestive health information..and the author of a brand new ebook about constipation called Backed UP.

Andrea is going to drop a lot of practical, useful information about what constipation is, what causes it and most importantly, what you can do about it.

We cover everything from exactly what counts as constipation - even if you poop daily! - to the root causes of constipation, how nutrition helps and why throwing a ton of fibre into a constipated body can actually backfire, dramatically. This episode is a must listen for anyone who has a gut, AKA every single human on the planet.

About Andrea Hardy RD:

Andrea Hardy is a registered dietitian from Calgary, Canada where she runs a multi-disciplinary digestive health practice called Ignite Nutrition.

Her focus is gut health & gastrointestinal diseases and is recognized in the media as Canada’s Gut Health Expert. She is passionate about translating science into ‘easy to digest’ information to support a healthy gut.  She has spoken on the TEDx stage, as well as internationally about digestive health.

On this episode we chat about:

• Andrea’s own experience with constipation-predominant IBS
• How do we know if we’re constipated?
• The different types of constipation, and what causes them
• The foundation of healthy bowel movements
• Fibre supplements for constipation
• Should you do low FODMAP if you have IBS-C?
• Signs you want to see your doctor right away
• Hypothyroid and bowel movements
• How your pelvic floor interacts with constipation
• How to increase fibre in the diet for long term bowel health

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A huge thank you to the wonderful folks at One Degree Organics for sponsoring this episode...we love their 100% sprouted oatmeal and granolas!

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