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10 min read
How can traveling affect your body ?
Imagine this: you took a week off work, created your out-of-office email reply, and patted yourself on the back for taking a much-deserved break. When you get to your destination, you know you should be feeling excited and ready for a new adventure—yet something doesn’t feel right inside (literally).
It is common for occasional constipation to occur when your life or daily routine changes. Traveling can sometimes shake things up and disrupt your bowel movements. Adapting to new circadian rhythms, new foods and new environments can lead you to get constipated. Understanding what is causing your constipation will make you more prepared to act on it. Let’s take a look at how travelling can trigger occasional constipation.
Changing diet
The most common reason traveling can impact your gut health and cause occasional constipation is the changes in diet that occur when you’re on vacation. It’s completely normal to indulge in local delicacies but try to incorporate as much fiber-rich foods like fruit, vegetables, oatmeal and lentils as possible.
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Being jet lagged
Jet lag is a result of traveling across time zones, which can affect you for several days. It can disrupt your usual bathroom timing, causing you to feel constipated. Additional factors can affect your gut's activity: new lunch and dinner times, new time zones, new sleep cycles. Besides exhaustion, disorientation to time, and disruption in sense of wellbeing, memory and performance, jet lag manifests itself in symptoms like insomnia, headache, and occasional constipation.
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Changing poop routine
While traveling, you may temporarily have fewer opportunities to use the bathroom. Whether you’re too busy exploring, in transit, or there’s no restrooms available, holding back the urge to get relief can cause constipation.
Research has shown that a five-to-eight-hour time difference will cause symptoms that may take from two days to two weeks to overcome. Long-distance travelers may need 8 – 10 days for bowel habits, temperature regulation, and hormonal cycles to equilibrate.
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Little to no movement
The traveling process, getting from one distance to another, requires little to no movement. From sitting in the airport for hours, to then sitting on a plane for hours, little physical activity is done during travel. This tendency to not move around a lot can result in constipation. Try walking around as much as possible during long airport waits or flights – this may help prevent occasional constipation from occurring.
How does traveling trigger occasional constipation ?
Here are some of the ways that travel can affect your digestive system:
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Deviating from nutrition habits
Whether you’re on vacation or just traveling to a new place, chances are that you’ll be eating new foods. Changes in your eating habits can be triggering, especially if you’re not eating as much fiber as usual. While traveling, avoid indulging in high-fat meats, prepared food, dairy products and eggs, rich desserts, and sugary sweets, as these foods in excess may cause occasional constipation.
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Stressful periods
While traveling, multiple factors can trigger occasional constipation – stress being one of the more common ones. Since stress and anxiety can arise from being on a new adventure, trying to keep a normal schedule and routine can be a good solution.
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New rhythm
People often become constipated when travelling because their normal diet and daily routine are disrupted. Changing your bedtime or mealtimes may affect bowel activity and trigger occasional constipation. When you don’t sleep well, you may feel bloated, stuck or just a general sense of discomfort. These are typical adverse effects that disturbed sleep or lack of sleep can have on bowel functions.
A few tricks to move things along
Vacation Constipation – although it rhymes and rolls off the tongue nicely, it’s not a condition most people want to deal with. Planning ahead and taking the right measures beforehand may be helpful in preventing discomfort during your travels.
DulcoLax® family of products
DulcoLax® products help your digestive system get moving with gentle overnight or fast relief solutions. Find the DulcoLax® product that’s right for you.
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DulcoLax® Liquid
DulcoLax® Liquid provides gentle and fast relief of occasional constipation by increasing water in the bowels to soften stools for easy evacuation. When you need gentle and fast relief in as little as 30 minutes*, reach for DulcoLax® Liquid.
* relief in 30 minutes to 6 hours
DulcoLax® Soft Chews Kids
DulcoLax® Soft Chews Kids help kids* to get fast and gentle constipation relief, so they can get back doing the things they love. This great-tasting chew works in as little as 30 minutes*, so parents can help their child with occasional constipation episodes. This laxative works by increasing water in the bowels to soften stools so kids can go comfortably.
*suitable for kids 4 to under 11
** relief in 30 minutes to 6 hours.
DulcoLax® Soft Chews
DulcoLax® Soft Chews provides gentle and fast relief of occasional constipation by increasing water in the bowels to soften stools for easy evacuation. When you need gentle and fast relief in as little as 30 minutes*, reach for DulcoLax®Soft Chews.
* relief in 30 minutes to 6 hours
DulcoLax® Suppositories
DulcoLax® Suppositories are suitable for dependable, fast, and effective relief of occasional constipation. DulcoLax®Suppositories stimulate the bowel muscles while also accumulating water in the intestines. The effect is to soften the stool to make it pass through quickly.
DulcoLax® For Women
DulcoLax® for Women are suitable for dependable and gentle overnight relief of occasional constipation.
DulcoLax® Tablets
DulcoLax® Tablets are suitable for dependable and effective overnight relief of occasional constipation.
-
DulcoLax® Liquid
DulcoLax® Liquid provides gentle and fast relief of occasional constipation by increasing water in the bowels to soften stools for easy evacuation. When you need gentle and fast relief in as little as 30 minutes*, reach for DulcoLax® Liquid.
* relief in 30 minutes to 6 hours
DulcoLax® Soft Chews Kids
DulcoLax® Soft Chews Kids help kids* to get fast and gentle constipation relief, so they can get back doing the things they love. This great-tasting chew works in as little as 30 minutes*, so parents can help their child with occasional constipation episodes. This laxative works by increasing water in the bowels to soften stools so kids can go comfortably.
*suitable for kids 4 to under 11
** relief in 30 minutes to 6 hours.
DulcoLax® Soft Chews
DulcoLax® Soft Chews provides gentle and fast relief of occasional constipation by increasing water in the bowels to soften stools for easy evacuation. When you need gentle and fast relief in as little as 30 minutes*, reach for DulcoLax®Soft Chews.
* relief in 30 minutes to 6 hours
DulcoLax® Suppositories
DulcoLax® Suppositories are suitable for dependable, fast, and effective relief of occasional constipation. DulcoLax®Suppositories stimulate the bowel muscles while also accumulating water in the intestines. The effect is to soften the stool to make it pass through quickly.
-
DulcoLax® For Women
DulcoLax® for Women are suitable for dependable and gentle overnight relief of occasional constipation.
DulcoLax® Tablets
DulcoLax® Tablets are suitable for dependable and effective overnight relief of occasional constipation.
Stay informed
Occasionnal constipation is a common condition with a wide range of possible causes. We know how unpredictable and frustrating constipation can be, so we are here to help identify the possible causes and teach you how to addres them.
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What are daily habits that can cause occasional constipation ?
Everything is connected and we mean this literally: our body, mind and habits can greatly affect our digestive health. Your daily habits, from the foods you eat to your daily activity level and sleep schedule can affect your bowel movements and the result may be that you get constipated. Fear not, making simple changes to your lifestyle habits can be a helpful first step in preventing occasional constipation.
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How is constipation related to stress ?
Healthy mind, healthy body – isn’t that what they say ? The brain-gut connection is real: our digestive system is highly impacted by our mind and our stress levels. Whether you’re experiencing stress at work, at home, or in your daily life, it can all impact your bowel movements and lead to occasional constipation.
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How can getting older cause constipation ?
About one-third of adults 60 years or older report suffering from constipation. Unfortunately, with age sometimes comes slower digestion. The bowel muscles in the digestive tract need a bit more time to move food and stool through the intestines. The resulting constipation is a commonly reported bowel symptom in the elderly and has a considerable impact on quality of life. It is important to understand how age can change your body and how to adapt to help yourself feel better.
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Occasional constipation during pregnancy
During pregnancy, there is a lot going on, to say the least. The new hormone levels can trigger many changes in the body. Pregnant women frequently suffer from difficult and infrequent bowel movements, hard and dry stools, and discomfort.
- Canadian Digestive Health Foundation. Understanding the Prevalence and Impact of Constipation in Canada A Special Report from the CDHF. February 2014
- Mayo Clinic. Jet lag disorder. Available at: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/jet-lag/symptoms-causes/syc-20374027
- Cornelson BM. Overcoming jet lag. Can Fam Physician. 1985; 31:2105-2106.
- Kok-Ann Gwee. Disturbed Sleep and Disturbed Bowel Functions: Implications for Constipation in Healthy Individuals. J Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2011 Apr; 17(2): 108-109