Whenever laxatives and weight loss are discussed, I am reminded of this interesting dialogue from the movie ‘Wanted’ starring Salman Khan.


Source

A chubby kid asks Salman the secret to his chiseled body. To which, he gets the reply –

“Eat Less. Visit The Loo More.”Salman Khan (Wanted)

And it does work to a certain extent.

Laxatives essentially increase your bowel movements and make you visit the loo more often.

But is the consumption of laxatives recommended?

A big, huge, resounding NO!

See, the time that digestion takes is because when you eat food, you are essentially eating nutrients (carbs, proteins, fats, minerals and vitamins).

Your body takes time to be able to absorb them effectively. Reducing your digesting time means losing out on these essential nutrients.

Look at it this way, when do you take a crocin? Right! Whenever there is a headache. Does it make sense to have a crocin everyday to prevent the advent of headaches? Of course not!

Similarly, a laxative is drug that physicians prescribe when you complain of irregular or bad bowel movements. Does it make sense to visit the loo constantly to prevent the occurrence constipation? Of course not!

Constant abuse of laxatives will make you thin as a stick within weeks. But the additional implications of laxatives on your body will be really bad, almost fatal!

You will start observing the following phenomena –

  • You will start feeling weaker with every passing day. No matter how healthy stuff you eat, it will all be drained out of your body before you could absorb all the nutrients from it.
  • You will start losing weight almost exponentially which is worse than gaining weight. Your immunity levels will drop and you will be vulnerable to a host of common illnesses.
  • Stomach Aches and Vomiting will be so regular you will be fed up. And these symptoms last for quite some time even after you stop taking laxatives.
  • Basically, you won’t be losing the fats that your body has been absorbing; rather your water weight will become naught!
  • Logically, you will feel dehydrated all the time. Every time you drink water it will be flushed out of your system within minutes and hours.
  • Dehydration is not a small issue. 3/4ths of your body is water and not staying hydrated enough has dire consequences.
  • Since laxatives force your intestines to push the food towards your bowels, your intestinal lining will sustain considerable damage.
  • Dizziness and fainting are commonplace for laxative abusers.
  • Overusing laxatives means making the body forget the process of digestion. If you suddenly stop taking laxatives one day, your body might not remember to digest food naturally and that doesn’t sound nice, does it?

We hope we have given you enough reasons to not start taking laxatives if you wish to lose weight.

Also, since now you know that increasing you loo visits helps in weight loss is not a myth and laxatives are a big no-no, may be you can have a look at fiber!

Dietary Fiber

Dietary fiber or roughage is the best way to improve digestion and regulate bowel movements. Also, eating plenty of fiber ensures that common gastrointestinal problems are kept at bay.

Increasing your daily intake if fiber will ensure a healthy digestive system. A few fibrous foods you should adopt –

  • Flax Seed
  • Cabbage
  • Raddish
  • Beetroot
  • Apple

    • Apart from these, all vegetables and fruits have dietary fiber in varying quantities!

    Eat Fiber, Stay Away From Laxatives!

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