Constipated? The missing nutrient behind the epidemic
Jul 24, 2026
What if constipation wasn't just uncomfortable, but actually dangerous and a predictor for your overall health?
About 42 million people in the United States alone suffer or have had constipation. Thirty-three percent of adults over 60 have chronic constipation. And science is showing that this issue might be the root cause of many of the harmful diseases millions of Americans are suffering from daily.
What Dr. Denis Burkitt Discovered in Africa
A famous surgeon by the name of Dr. Denis Burkitt, during his time in Africa, discovered something interesting. For context, he was mostly treating people in rural, remote areas. In those areas, his patients rarely suffered from the typical diseases and ailments that afflict millions of Americans and Westerners, like Crohn’s disease, and other common ones like cancer, ulcers, heart disease, diabetes, appendicitis, gallstones, or autoimmune diseases.
The Difference Between a Plant Based Diet and Western Diets
He realized that the main difference was the diet people in rural Africa followed compared to the typical Western diet. The locals only ate the food they grew, which means their diet was plant-based, high in fiber specifically. They mostly consumed starchy vegetables and whole grains. Meat and dairy were considered luxury foods and were rarely consumed since there was scarce availability. He noticed that in areas in Africa (like in the big cities) where the Western diet (which is high in refined, processed foods, dairy, meat etc.) was adopted by locals, the diseases listed above were common, and within decades the health mirrored that of those in Western countries.
The Bowel Movement Connection
The main difference he noted was in the bowel movements. One of his main focuses during his research was bowel movements, and he noted that in rural areas, the locals were having, on average, two healthy bowel movements a day. And he found they moved their bowels four times more often. They were models of healthy bowel movements. He also noted that they moved their bowels significantly faster than those who followed a Western diet, which means their digestive process was healthier, quicker, and more efficient.
When people are constipated and don’t move their bowels often enough, the food, liver bile, and everything stagnates in the digestive system, leading to putrefaction. When this waste product sits in the intestines and throughout the digestive tract, it can lead to bacterial overgrowth, inflammation, and ulceration in your intestinal wall, which results in inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and colorectal cancer. Some of the toxins in your poop can be reabsorbed into your bloodstream, leading to a vicious cycle of your body being continuously exposed to toxins, increasing the toxic load on your liver.
Foods like dairy, meat, chicken, etc., are all high in protein but have little fiber, so if your body already has toxic overload, these foods will just sit in your digestive system, undigested, and become a source of food for bad bacteria.
Breaking the Constipation Cycle
Step 1: To prevent toxic overload from happening, it’s important to eliminate processed foods and reduce our protein intake.
Step 2: The second step is to start consuming whole grains, which are a great source of fiber, especially grains like Einkorn. Einkorn has twice as much fiber as flour sold in our supermarkets. Two slices of Einkorn bread can provide you with up to 14 grams of fiber alone. And the fiber found in it is soluble and easier to digest.
Click here for our High Fiber ancient Einkorn Bread
The Truth about Colon Cancer
Colon cancer is in the top 3 deadliest forms of cancer in the U.S. Diverticulitis used to be a rare disease before the 1900s but is now it is one of the most common disorders of the colon. One out of every three adults in the U.S. has some sort of intestinal problem. And the situation is even worse for young adults with something like 73% experiencing gut related issues.
The Gut is the Gateway to the body. If gut health is compromised other chronic health issues will arise. It's just a question of time. If digestive disorders are not resolved its almost a guarantee that diseases like diabetes, obesity, heart disease, arthritis, or cancer will occur down the road.
Fiber is the one nutrient that is missing in the modern diet that is the cause of this epidemic.
*The lack of this nutrient causes pathogenic bacterial overgrowth in the gut.
*As explained above the lack of this nutrient causes constipation. And constipation leads to bacterial overgrowth and intestinal disease.
Fiber is so essential to colon health, yet it's completely misunderstood.
Did you know that fiber provides a medium for beneficial bacteria to grow on?
Did you know that it also absorbs toxins and heavy metals in the colon such as cadmium?
But how are we so lacking in this nutrient when nutrition labels claim that the processed foods and even "organic" processed foods lining supermarket shelves have fiber?
The truth is that most processed foods do not contain real fiber from the actual food. They contain added or adulterated fiber. Additives like Cellulose (a fancy name for wood chips) and gums are added to foods to act as binders and fillers. They are counted as fibers on the nutrition labels, but these isolated fibers are not beneficial. In fact the opposite is true.
Food manufacturers often add processed cellulose (derived from wood pulp or cotton lint) to products like grated cheese, sauces, baked goods, and diet foods to increase fiber content or improve texture.
FDA regulations: Under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines, added isolated cellulose counts toward the total dietary fiber
Food cellulose is derived from plants, most commonly from wood pulp or cotton. E460 is the European food additive code for cellulose
Guar gum is processed by mechanically separating the endosperm from the guar bean's husk and germ. The end result is a highly processed powder.
Processed Fibers Added to Foods that count counted as Dietary Fibers on the Nutrition Label:
- Guar gum
- Cellulose
- Hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose
- Locust bean gum
- Pectin
- Psyllium husk
Isolated fibers may get the bowel moving but they irritate the intestinal lining causing more harm than good long term. In fact, its all these added fibers and gums that are causing the intestinal problems we face. Combined with a diet high in refined sugars, refined flour, and really crappy meats and fish loaded with hormones and antibiotics, its no wonder our generation is plagued with digestive disorders.
The Benefits of Real Fiber:
- Aids Digestive Health
- Promotes Weight Loss
- Produces normal Bowel Movements
Where Can we get Real Fiber?
Fiber from real whole foods is the only healthy way to consume fiber to maintain gut health.
THE BEST SOURCE OF FIBER
Wheat bran is one of the best sources of fiber. However, its not recommended to take it as a separate supplement, these powders irritate the gut lining.
It's best to consume wheat bran from real bread that contains all 3 parts of the grain including the bran. Almost all breads on supermarket shelves are made with white flour, almost all sourdoughs are made with white flour. White flour has has the bran and germ removed. Almost all Wholewheat flour is also fake. It is white flour with a little bran and molasses thrown in for color.
Why is flour heavily refined? Because white flour rises and makes bread fluffy, which is what most people want. And bran can be sold separately for more money.
There are other reasons as well which go beyond the scope of this article.
The solution: Proper bread made with all the 3 parts of the grain intact: the bran, the germ, and the endosperm.
For Proper bread made from real 100% wholegrain, ancient grain flour try the Einkorn Bread from Josephs Organic Bakery. Our breads are not refined at all, meaning we dont separate the 3 parts of the grain and we never use white flour.
For more Dietary Fiber: Consume whole fruits, and vegetables cooked and raw.
When adding fruits and vegetables into the diet, go slow if you're not used to it, otherwise you will have loose stools, add a little more every day, within a week your body should adjust.
How does fiber work in the gut?
When fiber is present stool is large and soft. The intestine doesn't have to work hard to expel it. When stool is hard the intestine has to work hard to expel it. The intestinal wall gets squeezed between muscle fibers, in this situation the colon gets segmented and disorders like diverticulosis develops.
JOSEPHS ORGANIC BAKERY: OUR FIBER SOLUTION
Real Results from Our Customers
Many of our customers, who suffered from chronic constipation, have reported healthier, more frequent bowel movements and less bloating and overall feeling better and more energetic as a result of having our 100% wholegrain ancient Einkorn Bread.
“This bread is the best I ever had, and it clearly was a blessing for my digestive system. My whole family is very pleased” George O.
“This bread has helped me to lose weight, and I believe it has lowered my blood sugar levels too, It's not only good for you but taste great” Terra M.
We also offer powerful Anti Constipation Tea and fermented superfoods like our Umeboshi Fermented Plums and our Raw Sauerkraut to help overall gut health.
Digestive Diet Platinum Pack
Did you know that the gut lining renews every 7 days? You're probably familiar with the popular saying: Food is Medicine. Joseph (founder of Joseph's Organic Bakery) likes to say: "Proper Food is Medicine, Toxic Food is Poison" The Modern diet is terrible for gut health.
Refined flours and sugars, toxic meats and fish full of hormones and chemicals, all cause inflammation and bloating. On the other hand, by incorporating probiotic rich, nutrient dense food into your diet, you will repopulate your gut with good bacteria and eliminate the bad bacteria and inflammation. This will repair start to repair the gut and relieve bloating and constipation within a short amount of time.
It's the food you eat that determines your gut health. That's why we made our Digestive Superfood Diet Pack.This Digestive pack comes with 6 probiotic superfoods and gut supporting teas.
For thousands of years, cultures utilized the power of fermented foods. Especially in harsh climates where fresh produce was scarce, they came to rely on fermented food for nutrients. The fermented foods in the pack contain many probiotic strains and can be used as a digestive aid with meals, to repair the stomach lining, and lower inflammation.
To learn more about the Platinum Pack Click the link below: