How Drinking Fluids Can Help You Manage Constipation

Medically Reviewed by Minesh Khatri, MD on January 27, 2022
2 min read

If you're looking for a simple way to ease chronic constipation, drink plenty of fluids every day. Staying well-hydrated can be a key part of your plan to "get things moving" again.

Water is important for your digestion. It keeps the food you eat moving through your intestines, and it keeps your intestines smooth and flexible, too.

Dehydration is one of the most common causes of chronic constipation. The food you eat makes its way from your stomach to the large intestine, or colon. If you don't have enough water in your body already, the large intestine soaks up water from your food waste. This makes you have hard stools that are difficult to pass.

There are other causes of chronic constipation too, including what you eat, traveling, medicines, irritable bowel syndrome, and pregnancy.

Watch the amount of fluid you drink, listen to your body, and drink more liquids during exercise and hot weather.

You get dehydrated when your body gets rid of more fluids -- usually through sweating or going to the bathroom more than normal -- than it takes in. Drinking too little water during exercise, hot weather, or daily activities can also cause your body to use up its stored water.

Extra fluids help keep the stool soft and easy to pass, but drinking more liquids does not cure constipation.

When it comes to thirst, most experts say you should let your body be your guide. The Institute of Medicine's Food and Nutrition Board suggests that women get 91 ounces of water each day from foods and drinks and men should get 125 ounces. Remember, this recommendation includes the fluids that you take in from your food.

In general, for healthy, average people, 8 cups a day is a good goal. Talk to your doctor about how much water is good for you.

People with some medical conditions may need to drink less than that. Others may need more than 8 cups a day.

Vegetable juices, clear soups, and herbal teas are also good sources of fluids. Fruit juices, while hydrating, contain a lot of unneeded sugars

Stay away from alcohol. It is a diuretic, which gets rid of water from your body and leads to dehydration. Caffeinated drinks like coffee, tea, and colas are also diuretics, but as long as you drink moderate amounts, they probably won't cause dehydration.