As a rich source of fiber, nuts have many health benefits as versatile snacks, such as being filling while helping you lose weight, and giving you many vitamins and minerals.
Aside from these benefits, you might need something to help you go.
Can nuts help you poop?
Nuts can help you poop because they’re rich in dietary fiber.
Almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts, and pecans have more fiber than other nuts.
A lack of magnesium will lead to constipation, and most nuts have high magnesium levels, a mineral that relaxes bowels and moves the poop through the intestines.
In the rest of the article, we’ll talk about the influence of nuts in fighting constipation, if they can lead to bladder irritation and whether you can use them to ease an upset stomach.
We’ll also suggest other ways to relieve constipation.
How Nuts Help You Poop?
Besides being filling and a perfect on-the-go snack, nuts are among the best choices to ease constipation, because of their rich fiber content, which is an essential factor that helps you poop.
Like other plant-based foods, all nuts are packed with fiber.
Some nuts have more than others, such as almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts, and pecans.
For example, a one-ounce (28.35-gram) serving of almonds has 3.5 grams (0.12 oz) of fiber, making it the richest nuts in fiber content.
Nuts are good sources of insoluble fiber, which is an indigestible carbohydrate that doesn’t contain calories, and it passes through the body without getting absorbed.
Magnesium is another nutrient that helps you poop by relaxing the bowels, as it absorbs water and helps move the stool through the intestines.
A study has shown the relationship between low magnesium intake and constipation.
Almonds are also the richest source of magnesium among nuts, with 80 mg per ounce.
So, having a small serving of nuts a day can relax your intestines and help solve the problems of your bowel movements’ shape and frequency.
That said, make sure to consume nuts in moderation because they’re high in calories.
Going overboard in eating nuts can cause you to hit your daily calorie limits and gain weight.
What Other Foods Help You Poop?
If you can’t empty your bowels more than three times a week, you have constipation, which leads to dry, hard, and lumpy stool followed by an upset stomach, bloating, and cramps.
The most common causes of constipation are a diet low in water and fiber. Alcohol, caffeine, and gluten can make your constipation worse.
Other foods that help you poop include beans, which have more than 10 g (0.35 oz) of fiber per cup, and fruits like kiwi, plums, berries, and apples that regulate the digestive system with high levels of dietary fiber.
Flaxseed, chia seeds, fennel seeds, and psyllium can also relieve constipation.
You might need to cut back on refined or processed grains, including white rice and white bread, because they lack fiber, and replace them with brown bread and rice to increase fiber intake.
As mentioned earlier, magnesium-rich foods can also help you poop.
In addition to nuts, spinach, oatmeal, potato (cooked with skin), lentils, and peanut butter are great sources of magnesium.
What Nuts Irritate the Bladder?
Bladder irritation refers to a strong urge to go more than six times a day, which also might involve pains in the lower belly.
Many foods can cause bladder irritation, including alcoholic drinks, cheese, tea, coffee, vinegar, and yogurt.
Nuts that can irritate the bladder include peanuts, cashews, and almonds, according to urologists.
Some studies have shown that nuts can irritate your bladder, although the mechanisms are unclear.
If you have a sensitive bladder, it is better to stay away from such nuts.
Lab tests can’t help you identify bladder-irritating foods.
If you aren’t sure which nuts irritate your bladder, you can use a process of elimination by checking for any symptoms after consuming each nut to make sure it is or isn’t irritating.
Once you identify the culprit, you should remove it from your diet.
That said, you may be able to enjoy these foods in moderation and reduce their bladder-irritating effects by drinking lots of water after eating them.
Are Nuts Good for an Upset Stomach?
You may get an upset stomach for dozens of reasons, from food poisoning to indigestion.
However, if your nausea is from a virus, you may want to steer clear of nuts due to their high-fat contents because fats are slow to digest which slows down the emptying of your stomach.
In such cases, starchy foods are better alternatives to nuts because they can absorb gastric acid.
Interestingly, eating too many nuts can make you queasy because they contain phytates and tannins, especially raw nuts.
Plus, they contain fat, giving you diarrhea if you eat too much of them.
So, make sure not to go overboard in consuming nuts, or you’ll experience negative reactions in your body.
Another cause of digestive distress is the allergenic proteins present in nuts.
If you feel nauseous and have stomach cramps or diarrhea, it could be an allergic reaction to them.
Other Foods That Relieve an Upset Stomach
If you’re sure your upset stomach or nausea isn’t a sign of a serious emergency, you can use other home remedies.
Here are some of the best options:
Apples
Apples are high in fiber that can help ease an upset stomach in a couple of ways.
- Fiber passes through the digestive system very quickly and flushes out the harmful and poisonous substances along the way.
- It slows down digestion, leading to slower intestinal transit and thus relieving nausea.
Ginger
Powdered ginger can go a long way in reducing nausea as it contains chemicals that speed up stomach contractions.
You could take capsules of powdered ginger, a cup of ginger tea, ginger cookies, or even ginger ale.
Mint
Drinking mint tea, chewing, or sucking on fresh mint leaves can help cure an upset stomach and give you a refreshing feeling with its pleasant aroma and it has a soothing effect on the stomach muscles.
More importantly, it boosts the bile flow, which helps the body to digest fats, which increases digestion and relieves your upset stomach.
While experiencing symptoms of a queasy stomach, avoid the following:
- Difficult-to-digest foods such as fatty, fried, salty, rich and creamy, or heavily preserved foods.
- Lying down as the horizontal body posture makes the stomach acid travel back through your digestive tract and causes heartburn.
- Smoking or drinking alcohol because they’re toxic and can damage the stomach lining and liver.
Why Do Nuts Cause Gas?
Nuts can cause gas due to the tannins and phytates found in their skins.
These two substances, in addition to fat and fiber, make nuts difficult to digest, because they take a long time to pass through the digestive system, which can cause gas and bloat.
Some nuts can give you gas more than others, including pistachios and cashews because they contain carbs that are more difficult to digest.
Try replacing them with almonds and peanuts, as they’re easier to digest, and make sure to consume unsalted nuts to avoid water retention.
Can Nuts Make You Bloated?
Nuts can make you feel bloated, especially if you don’t stick to the recommended daily servings.
The phytic acid that’s abundant in nuts is the main reason you feel bloated, which is present in many plant-based foods, binds to other minerals, and creates phytates.
However, your body can’t break the phytates down because it lacks the enzymes, leading to bloating.
What’s more, it doesn’t allow the absorption of some minerals, including calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, and manganese.
A good way of lowering the chances of bloating caused by nuts is by activating them, which means soaking them in water and breaking down the phytic acid by dehydrating them at low temperatures.
However, many people believe it doesn’t work because it’s too much work and doesn’t get rid of the whole phytic acid content.
The only way to prevent bloating is to eat nuts in moderation and within the recommended daily intake.
The American Heart Association recommends 1.5 ounces (42.52 g) of nuts per day to get the most out of these nutritious foods.
Closing Thoughts
Not only are nuts rich sources of minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants, they’re delicious snacks with regulatory effects on the digestive system.
Nuts help you poop because they contain high levels of fiber, which is essential in regulating bowel movements.
Plus, they’re rich sources of magnesium, which can prevent constipation.
Eat nuts in moderation and within the recommended daily intake since they can cause gas and bloating because they contain tannin and phytic acid.
They can also lead to bladder irritation in some cases.
I’m Chris Watson & the Founder of EatForLonger.com. I’m a food and wellbeing enthusiast researching and sharing foodstuffs and simple food-based concepts, such as fasting and clean eating.
I hope it inspires you to make tiny changes to what you eat and when you eat while optimizing your healthspan and all-around well-being.
Read more About Me here.