Written by James McIntosh
Reviewed by Sammie Gill
High-fibre meals, like baked beans on wholemeal toast or porridge with nuts and seeds, can help relieve constipation.
If you have constipation, you’re certainly not alone. Around 1 in 7 adults and 1 in 3 children in the United Kingdom have it at any given time.
Constipation means not pooing frequently or being unable to fully empty your bowels.
Many people go for a poo between 3 times a day and 3 times a week. If you do so less often, you might have constipation.
Fibre can play an important role in relieving this issue. It’s a carbohydrate in plant foods, such as whole grains, nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables and legumes, like beans or peas.
While other carbs are easily broken down in the gut, fibre isn’t. This is because our bodies don’t have the right enzymes to break down fibre.
So, it travels down your gut, passing through your small and large intestines.
Along the way, different types of fibre have different effects. One important effect is making poo bulkier, so it’s soft and easy to pass.
If you have constipation, eating fibre-rich foods can help you have more regular bowel movements.
In this article, we’ll look at a number of high-fibre meals. We’ll also describe other ways to manage constipation – and which foods to avoid.
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High-fibre meals
Experts recommend that adults consume 30 grams of fibre a day. But most of us in the UK get less.
Luckily, plenty of breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner recipes can make reaching this target easier and help relieve constipation.
Try these meals to increase your fibre intake.
Breakfast
- porridge with blueberry compote: 7 g of fibre
- 2 slices of wholemeal toast with half an avocado: 11.6 g of fibre
- a bowl of plain, shredded whole-grain cereal: 5.5 g of fibre
Try adding a handful of nuts, seeds or dried fruit to any of these meals for an extra fibre boost.
For example, 1 tablespoon of chia seeds contains 4.1 g of fibre.
Lunch
- 2 slices of wholemeal toast with half a tin of baked beans: 14.8 g of fibre
- tomato and black bean taco salad: 12 g of fibre
- a baked sweet potato (with the skin) and vegetable and bean chilli: 19.3 g of fibre
When you’re preparing veg, keep the skin on for extra fibre. You’ll also save time by not having to peel anything.
Dinner
- kidney bean curry: 14 g of fibre
- sticky tempeh stir-fry: 17 g of fibre
- spaghetti bolognese: 10 g of fibre
- bean bolognese: 13 g of fibre
Having green salad on the side is one way to get extra fibre at dinnertime.
Snacks
- an 8-g serving of air-popped popcorn: 1.16 g of fibre
- a handful of almonds: 3.8 g of fibre
- a banana: 1.4 g of fibre
If you don’t have bananas, or you don’t like them, any piece of fresh fruit or a handful of dried fruit will do the job.
Other snacks can also sneak fibre into your diet. Try apple slices with nut butter, carrots with hummus or whole-grain crackers with smashed avocado.
Another good option is Greek yoghurt with dried fruit, seeds and nut butter.
If you’re on the go, you might opt for plant-based crips. If you like preparing your own snacks, you could put together trail mix with nuts, seeds, dried fruit and dark chocolate chips. Or, make some flapjacks to take with you.
Be sure to increase your intake of fibre gradually. This will give your gut time to adapt and minimise any unwanted effects, like bloating or wind.
Also, drink plenty of hydrating fluids, like water, milk or herbal tea. This is doubly important when you’re eating more fibre and trying to relieve constipation. Increasing hydration softens your poo and helps fibre do its work.
Best foods to include
If you’re looking for specific high-fibre foods to help ease constipation, here are some good options for your shopping list:
Vegetables
- artichokes (9.6 g of fibre per cup)
- beans (9.6 g per half-cup of haricot beans, for example)
- peas (8.8 g per cup)
- lentils (7.8 g per half-cup)
- Brussels sprouts (6.4 g per cup)
- broccoli (5.2 g per cup)
- cauliflower (4.9 g per cup)
- leafy greens (4.7 g per cup of kale, for example)
- cabbage (4.1 g per cup)
- onion (2.9 g per cup)
Fruits
- berries (8 g per cup of raspberries, for example)
- pears (5.5 g per medium pear)
- kiwifruits (5.4 g per cup)
- grapefruit (5 g per fruit)
- bananas (3.2 g per medium banana)
- prunes (3.1 g per quarter-cup)
Cereals and grains
- brown rice (3 g per 100 g)
- whole-wheat pasta (9.2 g per 100 g)
- bulgur wheat (4.1 g per half-cup)
- steel-cut oats (10.4 g per 100 g)
Nuts and seeds
- chia seeds (4.1 g per tbsp)
- almonds (1 g per per tbsp)
- sunflower seeds (1 g per tbsp)
- flaxseed (2.8 g per tbsp)
There are many types of fibre, and they work in different ways when they reach the gut.
Plant-based foods contain a mix of different fibres. For constipation, soluble and viscous fibres help bulk out and soften poo.
Can any foods relieve constipation quickly?
Prunes famously have a laxative effect, which means that they make you more ready to poo.
These dried plums are rich in fibre, but they also contain a special ingredient: a type of sugar alcohol called sorbitol.
Prunes have quite a lot of sorbitol, between 11.2 and 15.5 g per 100 g of the fruit.
Research has shown that sorbitol can have similar effects to a sugar called lactulose. This is made into a medication, which some doctors use to treat constipation.
Research has shown that eating 100 g of prunes for 4 weeks can improve the frequency and consistency of poo. However, this approach may work more quickly for some people than for others.
You could also give kiwifruit a try. A number of components in these fruits may help ease constipation, including fibre and an enzyme called actinidin.
There’s evidence that eating two kiwis a day for 4 weeks can help you poo more often if you have constipation.
If you don’t regularly eat kiwis, start with one a day for the first week to see if your constipation improves. If not, try two per day in the second week.
Whenever you’re trying to relieve constipation, it can take a few days or even weeks to begin clearing up.
Other ways to relieve constipation
Beyond getting enough fibre, here are some other strategies for easing constipation:
- drinking plenty of hydrating fluids, like water, milk, or herbal or fruit teas
- exercising more
- resting your feet on a low stool when you’re trying to poo
- trying over-the-counter laxative medication
There’s some evidence that taking probiotics could help with constipation if you’re also eating more fibre.
Probiotics are live microbes that offer health benefits when you consume the right amounts.
If you’ve increased your fibre intake and tried the other strategies above, a doctor may prescribe you a stronger laxative. They can also advise about over-the-counter options if you’re not sure what to try.
Learn other ways to make pooing easier.
Foods to avoid
When you have constipation, certain foods can make your symptoms worse or last longer.
Try to limit or avoid foods that contain little or no fibre. These are generally low in nutritional value and contain high amounts of salt, sugar and saturated fat.
They include:
- fast food and takeaways
- snacks like cakes, pastries, biscuits and crisps
- some ready meals
- processed meats, such as sausage and salami
Summary
If you have constipation, eating high-fibre meals may help. Meals that contain lots of plants will go a long way towards increasing your fibre intake.
Whether you like to take your time cooking or you’ve got no time at all, plenty of high-fibre meals can fit into your daily routine and help ease constipation.
Just remember to increase your fibre intake slowly and drink plenty of hydrating fluids throughout the day. Otherwise, you may find that your constipation gets worse at first.
To learn more about bloating and other gut health topics, visit Symprove’s Gut Hub.
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