Goal-oriented, motivated, driven. You work harder than anyone you know and the results show in your work – and your alimentary canal.

Hours behind a keyboard, bookmarked by hours behind the wheel or on board a plane. You give little thought anything but work and then wonder why you’re constipated.

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Constipation is easy to treat, but it’s also your body’s way of telling you that your lifestyle isn’t what it should be. It’s usually an indication that you’re too sedentary, and not eating enough fibre. But these bad habits, combined with delayed a dump can be bad for you.

Here’s how it works: As the food you eat passes through your digestive tract, your body extracts nutrients and water from the food. This process creates a stool, which is passed through your intestines by muscle contractions.

When you delay going to the toilet the stool becomes compacted. It becomes increasingly difficult for the muscles to move it along.

Here are a few basic steps to get things moving:

• Don’t ignore the urge to purge: When it’s time to go, go.
• Knock back a few: Drink plenty of fluids. Eight glasses of water a day might sound like a lot, but if you drink one every few hours you’ll get there. Fruit juices, soup, tea and milk are also good, but remember that alcoholic drinks and coffee dehydrate you.
• Get active: Cardiovascular exercise of any sort will stimulate your metabolism.
• Eat fibre: Fruit is the ideal food for relieving constipation gently. Six to eight pieces of fruit per day is a good benchmark. A bowl of cereal for breakfast is good, but you can increase its effectiveness by munching an apple on the way to work. Other useful foods include unprocessed wheat bran, unrefined breakfast cereals, wholegrain breads, such as whole wheat, rye or pumpernickel and fresh fruits.
• Eat dried fruits, such as prunes, apricots and figs.
• Substitute white bread and meat for vegetables, legumes, such as chickpeas, baked beans and lima beans.

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