Symptoms:

A condition of peristaltic malfunction in the bowels wherein the fecal matter becomes condensed and compressed and the evacuations are infrequent and difficult.  This condition is produced by our modern way of life–the eating of highly refined and demineralized foods instead of a plain and coarse diet, the strain and stress of rapid living, hastily eaten meals, and lack of exercise.  When toxic waste matter is left to stagnate in the lower bowel tract, the system becomes polluted with poisonous gases which congest and irritate the surrounding organs, causing adhesions, and other ailments.  A person should have bowel movements as often as regular meals are eaten.

Herbal aids:

You may get quick, temporary relief by using an herbal laxative to clear the lower bowel tract, but only the lower bowel tonics will get at the cause.  With the lower bowel tonic, we feed the eliminative organs and allow them to work on their own and eventually eliminate the use of enemas, colonies, and laxatives.  The proper procedure is to build up the body, to cleanse it, and see that the bowels work freely.  Often prune juice or fruits will give relief and start the peristaltic motion coming again with ease.  The afflicted person can assist in restoring natural bowel action by drinking copious amounts of water between meals (one-half hour before and two hours after eating) and by eating proper foods at regular intervals, especially bulky foods.  Avoid any inorganic or concentrated foods.  If one needs a quick herbal laxative, any of the following herbs may be used: agar, or seaweed, boneset, bran, butternut bark, California bark berry root, and Chinese Rhubarb root, Culver’s root, Indian sennal leaves, mandrake root, psyllium seed, sacred bark, senna, turtle bloom leaves, Virginia snake root.  One should be wary of an incorrect use of laxatives and purgatives, because liquefied fecal matter is immediately absorbed by the intestinal villi into the bloodstream, and if there be excess, some of it will be thrown out of the bloodstream into the lungs, skin, kidneys, or other organs, producing a chronic toxemia thus laying the foundation for chronic disease.

Useful herbs:

Aloe leaf, American black alder berries, anise, asafoetida, balmony leaves, benzoin gum, bitter root, European black alder bark, black root, blackthorn flowers, blue flag, buckthorn bark, butternut bark,caraway, cascaras bark, cayenne, celery seed, chickweed, cinnamon, colic root, coriander, couch grass, culverts root, dandelion root, elder, elecampane, fennel, fringetree, ginger, Indian senna fruit, licorice, mandrake root, mayapple root, Oregon grape root, origanum, pawpaw seeds, peppermint, podophyllum root, poke root, quaker button seeds (powder), psylia, rhubarb (herb and root), sacred bark (cascaras sagrada),sassafras, scammony, senna leaves, sweet weed, Turkey rhubarb, Virginia poke root, wahoo bark, walnut bark, white ash, wild Oregon grape.