38. Is Miralax the Only Constipation Solution?
On today’s episode, Brittyn is discussing Miralax and constipation, which is a really common topic in autism. Constipation is one of the most common gastrointestinal issues in children on the autism spectrum, and studies show that GI issues are directly linked to increased problem behaviors and anxiety!
It's really important that you make sure your kids are having healthy bowel movements and not only for behaviors but there are many other nutritional reasons!
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IN THIS EPISODE
How GI issues and behavior problems are related
Why constipation can lead to nutritional deficiencies
Managing constipation from the inside out
LINKS
Join the Autism Nutrition Library
Follow @AutismDietitian on Instagram
TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to the Nourishing Autism Podcast where you take a deep dive into the research on autism and dietary changes, nutrition supplements, and lifestyle modifications. Every week, we break down nutrition topics and an easy-to-understand way for you to feel less overwhelmed and feel confident on your nutrition journey with autism.
Hello everybody. And welcome to the nourishing autism podcast. I'm your host, Brittyn Coleman. And today we are talking about Miralax and constipation, a really common topic in autism. So constipation is one of the most common gastrointestinal issues in children on the autism spectrum. We actually have studies that show us that GI issues were directly linked to increased problem behaviors. Like self-injurious behaviors, restricted stereotyped behaviors, aggressive behaviors, sleep problems, attention problems. Anxiety is also commonly linked to constipation. And there's also a really interesting study talking about autism severity and how it's correlated to the severity of gut issues. So certainly gut issues are a huge conversation in autism. It's really important that we make sure kids are having healthy bowel movements and not only for behaviors but there are many other nutritional reasons we want them to have healthy and regular bowel movements.
One of the big reasons treating constipation is so important is because this can heavily affect picky eating or restricted eating, which is incredibly common in autism as well. Now when we're constipated and we have full bowels or impacted bowels this presses on our stomach can also press on our bladder, which could cause incontinence in some children.
But when we press on our stomach with these impacted bowels, this can decrease a child's appetite and cause them to only want to eat the safe foods that don't hurt their tummies, are really palatable, and they can really limit themselves to just a few foods. Now this can cause nutrient deficiencies and other major nutritional issues. When we're limited in our diet also we're commonly not getting enough fiber and often are dehydrated kids aren't drinking enough water which can absolutely contribute back to constipation so we have this big loop and between picky eating and constipation.
So certainly picky eating can cause nutritional deficiencies, but so can gut issues. If your gut is inflamed and not working the way it should, you're having incredibly liquid bowel movements from consistent use of laxatives. You may not be absorbing those nutrients very well too. So we have to think about the nutrients we're getting in from our diet, as well as the nutrients that we're absorbing in our gut.
When we have constipation, this can really imbalance our gut microbiome, the good bacteria and the bad bacteria. Not to mention that can also contribute to constipation so we can see a cycle there as well.
Now when we start to have nutritional deficiencies and imbalances in the gut and all of these other nutrition issues, this can cause poor focus, brain fog, fatigue, hyper activity, and increase in behaviors, self-harm, moodiness. I mean, the the issues are endless.
So having healthy bowel movements can really impact our overall wellbeing. We want kids to be having healthy and regular bowel movements and ideally not having to rely on any kind of medication in order to pass their bowel movement. Now, one reason I say this, when ever we take any kind of laxative.
This is basically putting a bandaid on the situation. So it is absolutely helping. It's helping that child pass that easier to pass bowel movement. However, it is not resolving the underlying issue. And so a lot of times, certain treatments like this can make us feel like, yes, we are fixing the issue, but if we were to pull back on it, we can see, okay. The issue is in fact not solved. We were just putting a little bit of a bandaid on top of it.
Now, what I love to do with my clients is help them understand the reason why their child is experiencing constipation. You have to really think about many different things when it comes to autism, there's not just a one and done solution. Now diet is obviously a huge, huge contributor, and this is why I run programs like my online course, overcoming picky eating so that families can expand their child's diet to help them have healthier bowel movements. I also run an online course called healthy poops academy It's actually currently enrolling and by the time that this podcast goes out it will be about to close its doors so if you're interested in that you can go to my instagram page or my website autism dietician.com and click on the online courses tab and you'll be able to either get on the wait list or sign up but before the doors close.
So when it comes to autism, we are absolutely digging into the diet. Even kids who aren't picky eaters can still have a diet that is not beneficial for their gut bacteria or for constipation.
So, of course we dig deep into the diet and I help. So first things first, we addressed the diet, but then we also look at other factors. This could be food sensitivities. This could be imbalances of the gut bacteria called dysbiosis cause also beat withholding because of an anxiety or because they might have a past trauma that their bowel movement was painful.
We look into all of these pieces. Then we also consider other factors like pelvic floor muscles, and supplements are also a huge, huge topic in the world of constipation. We want to make sure that we're using supplements in order to benefit the gut and not just use it as a bandaid either. So there's a lot that we have to think about.
And what's really unfortunate is a lot of times when families are feeling really worried about their child's bowel movements and they may go into a clinician and ask for support. A lot of times the only answer is Mira lax, and you know, that's what doctors are trained in too. Prescribed Miralax when there is constipation. But what I want for my clients is to better understand their child and the exact reason why their child is experiencing this so that we can figure out from the ground up, look at the root cause and treat it from there so that they don't have to rely on anything in order to have these healthy bowel movements. So this is the reason why I'm so passionate about this in order to help kids feel better and help them have those easy and healthy bowel movements.
How have you noticed that your child is feeling uncomfortable is chronically constipated and not having regular bowel movements and you're looking for a solution. Using nutrition and looking at the other factors that are contributing to this chronic constipation? You may be a great fit for my new online course called healthy poops academy. And you can learn more about this on my website www.autismdietitian.com or on my Instagram page, I will also put a link to the enrollment page inside of the show notes so that you can learn more about this. I will be featuring more information about constipation and other gastrointestinal issues and future episodes in this podcast.
If you ever have suggestions on different topics you'd like to learn about or cover in this podcast, feel free to DM us @autismdietitian on Instagram. And we would love to add it to our list of topics to cover. And thanks so much everybody for joining me today, as we talk about constipation and how to manage constipation from the inside, out, looking at a root cause and treating it from there. I look forward to talking more about this conversation and again, check out my online course healthy poops academy. Enrollment is closing very soon!
This podcast is brought to you by the Autism Nutrition Library, a one-stop hub and community for all things autism nutrition created to help you explore evidence-based nutrition approaches that have proved to be effective to help individuals with autism feel their best, do their best, and be their best.
Join now by clicking Autism Nutrition Library or by stopping by my Instagram @AutismDietitian. See you next week.
Transcribed by Descript
ABOUT Brittyn Coleman, MS, RDN/LD, CLT
I’m a Registered Dietitian, Autism Nutrition Expert, and the Creator of the Autism Nutrition Library.
I work with parents of children with autism to optimize their child’s diet, supplements, and lifestyle based on their unique needs. I help expand accepted foods for picky eaters, improve digestion and gut health, find the root causes of many symptoms, and ultimately help them feel their best so that they can do their best and be their best.
Not only do I relate to families on a professional level, but also on a personal level. I have been a part of the autism community for over 20 years, as my younger brother was diagnosed on the spectrum at a young age.
I look forward to working with you to uncover the root cause of your child’s symptoms and help your child be the best version of themselves!
