Question: What is a healthy colon diet to follow for a middle aged woman with minor constipation from time to time?

Answer: The easy answer to a healthy colon diet is to increase your fiber intake and decrease the junk food, fast food, and frozen food, that you eat.

It is recommended that women shoot for about twenty grams of fiber per day and men should get about thirty grams or more. This is not too difficult to do as long as you pay attention to what you are eating. Here is a  partial list of foods that are high in fiber:

• Oatmeal, Bran
• Nuts, seeds
• Legumes, Beans, Peas
• Apples, Pears, Strawberries, blueberries
• Barley, Couscous, brown rice
• Carrots, cucumbers, zucchinis
• Whole grain products

This is not an all inclusive list and if you would like more suggestions or you do not see any foods you enjoy on the list you should make an appointment with a dietitian for more options.

By following a high fiber diet you can reduce the risk of hear disease, type II diabetes, diverticular disease, and constipation. It may also help reduce the risk of colon cancer, but this link is not yet one-hundred percent proven.

We hope the above recommendations help you to follow a healthy colon diet. Please let us know how it works for you. Thank you for your question.