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Everyone
knows that getting enough fiber is a secret to staying
"regular," but a large new study finds that people who got
plenty of fluids were the least likely to suffer
constipation. The results highlight the importance of
hydration, but shouldn't discount fiber or other lifestyle
factors, according to lead author. "I still think that diet,
fiber, exercise and increased fluid should remain the
recommendations," she told. Estimates of how many people
regularly experience constipation are as high as 14 percent
worldwide, but they range widely. How researchers define the
problem and ask people about it are partly to blame for
inconsistent responses, research team writes in the American
Journal of Gastroenterology. Often, constipation is defined
as having fewer than three bowel movements a week, the
researchers point out. But some studies have found that
asking about stool consistency provides a more accurate
measure of slow "transit times" of stool through the
intestine, which is the source of uncomfortable blockages.
To determine how many people have "hard or lumpy stool
consistency" - the type associated with slow transit - and
what lifestyle factors might influence that, the lead author
and her colleagues analyzed responses from more than 8,000
men and women who participated in the National Health and
Nutrition Examination Surveys in 2006 and 2008. Based on
survey responses about stool consistency, exercise habits
and what participants ate, the researchers found that seven
percent of the respondents fit the definition for
constipation. The problem was more common among women and
less educated people, but it did not increase with age, as
some other studies have suggested. Neither vigorous exercise
nor fiber intake was linked with a person's likelihood of
having constipation. But among the people who consumed the
least amount of liquid daily from food and drinks, 8 percent
of men and 13 percent of women were constipated, compared to
3 percent of men and 8 percent of women who got the most
liquid. "We used stool consistency, so we took a validated
scale and defined constipation as those with the hardest
stool," lead researcher said. That could have made liquids
in the diet, which influence stool consistency but not
necessarily frequency or amount, seem more important, she
acknowledged. Exercise and fiber may have more of an impact
on frequency, she added. The study doesn't mean that those
factors are "bogus," she said, just that future studies need
to define the weekly thresholds where each factor becomes
meaningful. "It just begs for more research on the role of
fiber," she said.
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