Constipation is toxic!

The importance of a regular bowel movement is relevant to your state of mind


Bacteria are micro-organisms that are crucial to keep a clear connection between the brain and the gut, therefore maintaining a regular bowel movement. These micro-organisms are mostly responsible for manufacturing serotonin, our "happy hormone"; some of it is also produced from our pineal gland which is located in the brain.

Serotonin gets released during a bowel movement (that happy feeling you get after you answered the call of nature!).

When serotonin deficiency occurs

When serotonin defficiency occurs, our nervous system becomes affected by anger, aggression, body temperature, mood and sleep disturbances to name a few. Serotonin gets released every time we have a bowel movement. Every time our bowel eliminates, we feels as if we've got rid of what we have been metabolizing for the past 24 hours (for those who are lucky to have such a good transit time). And I am not thinking just about food here, but also about emotions. It feels good, it makes us happy and ready for the day ahead. It is the serotonin kicking in, and sharing that information with our brain, so that we can function in a positive and more focused way throughout the day. One might be more productive as a result.

Keeping these physical (foods) and psychological (emotions) waste in our gut for longer that 24 hours could be the start of a toxic bowel leading to constipation. Your gut bacteria start to ferment the waste that is kept there as it has not been eliminated. Bacteria release their own waste products throughout this activity. One might start feeling bloated from this fermentation process producing gases, but also feeling frustrated if used to a daily bowel movement, since serotonin has not being released as it should.

72 hours is the average for the UK population to hold on to their bowel's waste.

The importance of a regular bowel movement is relevant to one's state of mind. I believe that having at least one bowel movement everyday is crucial to a disease-free colon. When waste accumulates within your gut without being eliminated daily, it allows bacteria to proliferate, causing an inflammation cycle as they release their own waste products becoming toxic to our colon.


The brain gut connection

A link was manufactured while we were developing inside of our mother's womb.

The nervous sheet within our spinal cord, divided into two and created that link, giving us the ability to choose how and what we feel when faced with different life events. One half going up, making our CNS (Central Nervous System: the brain) and the other half going down, making our ENS (Enteric Nervous System: the gut). A very long and important nerve called the vagus nerve (starting from the 10th cranial nerve) runs from our brain, all the way down to our gut. I like to call it the direct link to our emotions.

When we are angry, hurt, happy or stressed out, this nerve has the ability to pass these emotions onto our brain. In fact, it just can't wait to let our brain know about our emotions. Our brain then reacts by promoting a relevant mood. But how these emotions are being dealt with, seems to be the fascinating aspect of this mechanism, as each individual might deal with them in a different way. We are after all our own person, with our own beliefs and thoughts, giving us the ability to make our own choice in life.

Witnessing people's reactions from their colonic irrigation treatments throughout the years, I believe that our "second brain" (gut), has lots to do with the way we behave, affecting sometime, the quality of a colonic treatment.

The term "second brain" has been used to describe our colon and one of its tasks, is to take the waste out of our body on a daily basis. From thousands of treatments I have witnessed, I believe that it is not always due to a physical waste not being flushed out of the system daily, that puts one under stress or a sad and depressed mood. But the fact that one's colon, if lacking in pre-biotics, is likely to show signs of depression, anxiety and stress. Pre-biotics are foods that our gut bacteria need to thrive on, and therefore grow healthy colonies. The latest scientific research have now come up with a conclusion that what goes in your mouth makes the real difference in your mood (1). Never doubt the power of  wholefoods until you feel its real benefits. Keep your colon's bacteria happy and they will keep you in a good mood!

1- Schmidt K et al. (2015) Prebiotic intake reduces the waking cortisol response and alters emotional bias in healthy volunteers. Psychopharmacology- Volume 232, Issue 10, pp 1793-1801



"Without the gut, there would be
no energy to sustain life.

Its vitality and healthy functioning
is so critical that the brain needs
to have a direct and intimate connection with the gut".

Pankaj Pasricha
(Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Neurogastroenterology)

The "brain-gut" connection
has lots to do with our bowel's behavior

Common patterns such as feeling nervous, could give one a looser bowel while feeling stressed and angry could do the opposite effect and give one constipation. Our brain can teach our gut to stay in a state of stress for too long, creating a false nervous reaction.

Sometimes, a feeling of wanting to empty our bowel is purely based on an emotional burden, mostly stress, and the enteric nervous system goes into a tantrum, making our bowel's muscles and nerves to go into spasms.
It makes us feel like we want to straine for something that is actually not there! It is, but on an emotional level rather than physical.

I came across many IBS sufferers who showed this common reaction and also linked to other factors, such as dehydration and wrong food choices. But stress is mostly the problem of most bowel's issues. And it seems to have become more of a problem in today's style of living. 

Our gut is very much linked to our emotions as well as being a creature of habit therefore, it needs support to snap out of this repetitive pattern, or else it will wreck havoc to our overall health.

Quality of life, influences our bowel's behavior. Therefore, relevant factors linked to stressed related gut issues need to be acknowledged and addressed. Simple first steps to care for our health should be foremost remembering about:
  • The quality of the food we eat
  • How much food we eat
  • In what state of mind we eat it
As we have to deal with a certain amount of daily stressors such as:
  • Air pollution
  • Alcohol
  • Smoking
  • Lack of exercise
  • Lack of water
  • Lack of sleep
  • Too many negative thoughts
  • Not enough relaxation time leading to too much stress

The reason why one's bowel is not eliminating regularly enough comes with a diversity of reasons, stress becoming the most relevant factor to gut's troubles. But it could well be food related. The point is, one could feel pretty miserable, depressed, stressed and irritable, leading to a broken communication between the brain and the gut. Messages are not passed onto each other as efficiently as if the gut is clear of emotional and physical waste.

Colonic hydrotherapy is a supportive tool that you could use, in order to help rebalancing your brain-gut connection. Maintaining your bowel's health requires many other lifestyle habits to be added to an everyday routine, but having a thorough cleansing is where one should start.
Keep your gut clear, keep the connection sharp!



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If you need anymore information, please, email or call me on 0207 247 7742 within the hours of 9.30am to 8pm Monday to Saturday,
I will be happy to answer any enquiries you might have.

Your therapist at 4 Balance and Health, Edwige Cabanetos



Therapies offered at 4 Balance and Health are not substitutes for traditional medical care by your GP, they are complementary therapies that may be used in conjunction with conventional medicine. Should you be aware of any reasons why these therapies are contra-indicated to you or you have a serious health problem, please consult your GP prior to their use.