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Fasting basically means abstaining from partaking any food or drinks, or both, for a certain period of time. This period of time can vary from just one day to four or five days, or they can last up to 40 days as well. A short fast for four or five days could entail abstaining totally from all kinds of food, abstaining from only a certain type of food, or else having only one meal throughout the day. This kind of fasting usually depends on your reason for doing it. The reason for this kind of fasting, in most cases, is usually based in religious rituals. However, sometimes, the reasons could be medical treatments, such as, undergoing a diagnostic fast (anything between 10 to 64 hours) to investigate a problem like hypoglycemia.
Constipation, on the other hand, is a physical condition where it is difficult for a person to have smooth bowel movements. During constipation the bowel movements are usually hard, in very small quantities, and highly irregular. Constipation usually occurs amongst people who have poor and unhealthy eating habits. If you want to get rid of constipation, the first thing that you need to do is improve your eating habits. Firstly, you need to eat your meals at fixed, regular hours so that your digestive system is not overworked and the food is digested properly. Secondly, as part of your regular diet, you need to include foods that have high fibrous properties. Fibrous foods help to keep the bowel movements running smoothly. Some of the foods that are rich in fiber and can be easily included in your diet are papayas, pears, figs, prunes, and peaches. A word of caution, eat papayas only in the mornings, as they take a long time to digest.
Apart from this, make sure you drink as much liquid as possible - both water and juices -as they help to move things smoothly along in the intestine. Drinking warm milk also helps as milk is considered to be a mild laxative. But make sure it is warm milk and not cold, as warm milk provides better results. If the constipation is extremely stubborn, add a tablespoon of castor oil to the warm milk and drink it every 2-3 days. Castor oil also has medicinal properties which will take care of any infection or inflammation in the intestines. Along with this, walk for half an hour everyday. This too will prove beneficial.
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