Taking Laxatives To Lose Weight

Taking Laxatives To Lose Weight

Taking Laxatives To Lose Weight

Losing weight is an admirable goal, especially given that obesity is reaching epidemic proportions. Along with the rise in people who are overweight or medically obese comes a rise in other health problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes. Doctors make many recommendations on different ways to lose weight. Other people also make recommendations, some smart some not so much. One of the least intelligent weight loss methods that has been promoted is using laxatives. This article will take a look at why taking laxatives to lose weight could never work.

The human digestive system begins with the mouth and contains well over 20 feet of tubes and organs through which food passes before it reaches the end of the line at the anus. Digestion begins in the mouth and continues through the stomach and most of the way through the small intestine. Anything that reaches the end of the small intestine and enters the large intestine is strictly waste material that the body could not digest.

Inside the large intestine are many different bacteria that are harmless to the human body as long as they stay inside the intestine that can be deadly if they are outside it. These bacteria further break the waste down as it passes through making it easier for the body to expel it in a smooth natural motion.

There is also a very delicate balance between solid matter and water in the large intestine. This balance is occasionally disrupted, resulting in either constipation or diarrhea. Constipation results when the balance leans too far toward the dry and diarrhea results when the balance leads toward too much water.

purpose of laxatives

The purpose of laxatives is to relieve constipation by pulling water back into the bowel from surrounding tissues and softening the stool so that it can pass comfortably . Taking laxatives to lose weight can never work because there is no significant amount of weight to the contents of the large intestine. There can be up to maybe 5 pounds of waste and water in the intestine at any given time.

While a laxative can help expel this waste quickly, this weight is quickly replaced as food continues to move down the digestive tract and hunger and thirst cause the person to consume more food or water or both. The only way to achieve measurable results with weight loss is to change the way a person he is and the amount of exercise the person receives.

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