At some point, we’ve all experienced the difficulties of constipation. Although struggling during a bowel movement may seem normal, unmanaged or chronic constipation can lead to serious diseases. And while you can resort to commercial laxatives, drinking natural juices are a better way to relieve constipation.
Prune juice is the best juice that will immediately make you poop because it has high sorbitol, fiber, and fructose levels that soften and bulks up the stool. If you don’t have prune juice or are not a fan of it, you can try drinking apple juice, pear juice, grape juice, pineapple juice, orange juice, and pomegranate juice. Watermelon juice, cherry juice, beet juice, celery juice, and lemon juice are also excellent natural laxatives!Table of Contents
Top Juices That Will Make You Poop
1. Prune Juice
Prune is a dried plum that produces a sweet taste when juiced. A cup of these pitted tiny fruits contains 12 grams of dietary fiber, around 50% of the required daily fiber intake. They also have the highest sorbitol levels among fruits, making them the best natural laxative.
Sorbitol acts as a stool softener by drawing water into the gut, ensuring quick digestion and regular bowel movement. Moreover, aside from the fact that prune juice contains more than 80% water, it is also rich in fructose (14.8 grams), facilitating constipation relief.
How much prune juice should you drink to relieve constipation?
To relieve constipation, you should feed infants 2-4 tablespoons of prune puree or 60-120 mL of prune juice, and toddlers can take up to half a cup of prune puree or prune juice in a day. Constipated adults should take a glass of prune juice or 6 pieces of dried fruit to observe relief.
While the effectivity varies depending on the severity of constipation, drinking prune juice or eating prunes should resolve occasional constipation within 2-3 days. You should see your chronic constipation improve within 1-3 weeks of drinking prune juice.
2. Pear Juice
Like prune juice, pear juice is a rich source of dietary fiber, sorbitol, fructose, and water. A single medium-sized pear provides around 21% of the required daily fiber intake, contains 80-84% water, and 100 grams of pears contain 2.1 grams of sorbitol, making them an excellent juice for constipation relief.
Pear juice also contains high levels of vitamin C, a potent antioxidant that fights digestive infections and has a mild laxative effect. Each glass of pear juice provides 141% of the required daily vitamin C intake.
However, compared to grape juice, pear juice is sweeter and contains more fructose. Each medium pear contains 11.8 grams of fructose, 25% of the daily allowable fructose intake.
How much pear juice should you drink to relieve constipation?
Generally, adults are allowed to drink up to two glasses of pear juice in a day to relieve occasional constipation. For infants, you can give 2-4 ounces of pear juice per day and a maximum of one cup of pear juice for toddlers.
Drinking pear juice in the morning will relieve occasional constipation and make you poop within 24 hours. However, if you have chronic constipation, it might take a week before you see improvements. Increasing the dosage is unnecessary, as too much pear juice might cause diarrhea. We recommend drinking 6-8 glasses of water along with 2 glasses of pear juice for faster results.
3. Apple Juice
Although apple juice contains less dietary fiber than prune juice and pear juice, they contain high amounts of fructose and have a palatable taste, making it a famous fruit juice. Apple juice also contains lesser sorbitol than prune juice, but apple juice contains high pectin levels that set them apart from other fruit juices.
Pectin is a form of soluble fiber that turns into a gel when in the stomach. The gel then softens the stomach’s contents while maintaining a regular digestion rate. Pectin is also a powerful antioxidant that prevents inflammations, irritable bowel syndrome, and even colon cancer.
How much apple juice should you drink to relieve constipation?
We recommended 2-4 ounces of apple juice to relieve a baby’s constipation. Toddlers can be given 4-6 ounces of apple juice a day, which is easy due to their palatability. In adults, drinking a cup of apple juice a day provides relief from constipation.
Apple juice takes effect immediately, especially in children with occasional constipation, making them poop within 24 hours. However, note that too much pectin in the stomach can also lead to constipation. Also, eating too much fiber without proper hydration will only bulk up your stool, making it even harder to pass.
4. Grape Juice
Grape juice is probably the tastiest juice with natural laxative effects and offers immediate constipation relief. Aside from containing fiber, grapes are a rich source of sorbitol and magnesium. Magnesium plays an essential role in constipation relief by relaxing bowel movements and acting as a stool softener, making it one of the common contents of most over-the-counter laxatives.
Grape juice also contains tartaric acid and malic acid as its main acid contents, which regulate digestion by maintaining the pH of your digestive system. Aside from all these, grape juice is highly available and is absolutely tasty, making them an absolute favorite home remedy for constipation.
How much grape juice should you drink to relieve constipation?
Kids can drink half a cup of grape juice to relieve constipation, and adults should take a cup of grape juice a day until they see improvements. It may take a week for grape juice to work, but rest assured that you can get more than just constipation relief when drinking it.
5. Pineapple Juice
Another great-tasting juice that can be used as a home remedy against constipation is pineapple juice. Aside from providing fiber, vitamin C, magnesium, and fructose that aid digestion, pineapples contain bromelain, a digestive enzyme that breaks down protein. When taken in adequate amounts, bromelain helps digestion by breaking down meat and other food that delays digestion.
Aside from being a natural laxative, pineapples contain high levels of antioxidants that prevent inflammation and cancer. In addition, regular intake can ease irritable bowel syndromes, relieve digestive system inflammations, and reduce the risks of colon cancer and rectal cancer.
How much pineapple juice should you drink to relieve constipation?
Babies under 12 months old should not be given pineapple juice to prevent allergic reactions. However, kids more than 1-year-old can drink half a cup of 100% pineapple juice, as bottled or canned pineapple juice tends to contain more sugar. Adults can drink a glass of pineapple juice a day and increase the dosage to two glasses when needed.
Pineapple juice should relieve occasional constipation and make you poop within 24 hours but may take a week to relieve chronic constipation. However, people with allergies, diabetes, and kidney problems should prevent drinking too much pineapple juice to avoid complications.
6. Orange Juice
Although orange juice is one of the most loved juices, many people are unaware of its natural laxative effects. Orange juice is rich in fiber, electrolytes, and vitamin C, which all play a role in maintaining a healthy digestive system. Juicing one orange with pulp contains 4 grams of fiber, 21 grams of sugar, 10% potassium, 6% magnesium, and 30% daily calcium needs.
Orange juice contains more soluble fiber than insoluble fiber, which means too much orange juice can cause constipation, as soluble fiber slows down digestion. However, orange juice is rich in vitamin C, which acts as a mild laxative and flushes toxins through bowel movements.
How much orange juice should you drink to relieve constipation?
It’s not suitable for babies younger than a year old to take orange juice, as they cannot benefit from the nutrients. Plus, the high sugar content may cause more harm than good. Toddlers can only drink a glass of orange juice in a day if made from fresh fruit juice and water. Bottled orange juice often contains added sugar which can cause tooth decay in this age group. Lastly, adults can drink up to two glasses of orange juice daily.
You can expect results within the day, but it might take 1-2 weeks to relieve chronic constipation. Note that orange juice contains a lot of sugar, and people with diabetes should go easy on drinking juices.
7. Pomegranate Juice
Like prune juice, pomegranates are rich in fiber, fructose, sorbitol, and water, making them an excellent home remedy against constipation. Since pomegranate juice is not highly available in local grocery shops, you can make your pomegranate juice using fresh fruit. Not only does this method ensure a fresh juice, but including pomegranate arils in the juicing process increases the fiber and sorbitol levels in your juice.
Aside from functioning as a stool softener, pomegranates also hydrate the gut, as it is composed mainly of water. Since dehydration is a typical cause of constipation in adults and toddlers, pomegranate juice should resolve the symptoms.
How much pomegranate juice should you drink to relieve constipation?
As soon as your baby turns 6 months, you can start giving them fresh pomegranate juice to relieve their constipation but limit it to half a cup. Adults can drink a glass of pomegranate juice to relieve constipation and increase the dosage to two glasses when needed.
Since pomegranate juice is not as powerful as prune juice in relieving constipation, you can expect symptoms to alleviate in 3 days. However, if you suffer from chronic constipation, it might take 1-2 weeks before you finally see improvements.
8. Cherry Juice
Cherry juice may not contain the highest amount of insoluble fiber, but it contains sorbitol, vitamin C, and sugar, making it a natural laxative. Red cherries contain 8% sugar, and sweet cherries contain 13% sugar. Tart cherries have about 10% sugar, while canned cherries have higher sugar content than fresh cherries and tart cherries.
Aside from being undeniably tasty, cherry juice offers enough vitamin C and antioxidants that ensure a healthy digestive tract and a regular bowel movement. Juicing cherry juice with cranberry juice is also a great combination. Just mix cranberry juice with cherry juice or follow any juice recipe.
How much cherry juice should you drink to relieve constipation?
Babies can drink up to 4 ounces of cherry juice to relieve constipation. Cherry juice is beneficial to babies due to its vitamin and mineral contents. On the other hand, adults should intake 2 glasses of cherry juice daily until they see improvements. It may take more time for cherries to work than prune juice, but you will enjoy every sip of this tasty drink.
9. Beet Juice
Although a root crop, beet juice also offers a natural laxative effect, just like other fruit juice on this list. You might not expect the same sweet taste as you can get from fruit juice, but beet juice also contains soluble and insoluble fiber, vitamins, antioxidants, and betalain. This powerful digestive tract aid promotes faster digestion and maintains stomach acid values.
Due to the presence of betalain, you can expect your stool and urine to turn red once excreted—a normal consequence of ingesting high amounts of beets and beet juice. Passing red or pink stool not longer than 24 hours after beet ingestion signals that your digestive faculties are back to normal. Meanwhile, excreting pink or red stool more than 24 hours after beet ingestion indicates slow digestion or constipation.
How much beet juice should you drink to relieve constipation?
Some people may have betalain allergies and develop allergic reactions after drinking beet juice. However, once cleared for any allergies, kids can drink up to one glass of beet juice and two glasses of beet juice for adults. The insoluble fiber, betalain, and water soften stool and performs a colon cleanse for a healthier digestive tract.
10. Watermelon Juice
Unlike other fruit juice on this list, watermelon contains only a small amount of sorbitol. However, it is composed of 92% water and has high fructose levels that make one poop. Since most toddlers and adults suffer from constipation due to dehydration, drinking watermelon will hydrate their gut, soften their stool, and facilitate easier passage.
While fructose occurs naturally in fruits, consuming it in high amounts triggers the intestines to flush them out through bowel movements. For example, a glass of watermelon juice contains 19 grams of sugar, which is high enough to get you going number two.
How much watermelon juice should you drink to relieve constipation?
For children, limit their watermelon juice intake to 1 glass per day. That is enough to hydrate their gut and trigger bowel movements. Otherwise, drinking too much will cause a sugar spike. Adults can drink as much as 2 glasses of watermelon juice a day. The effects vary depending on the severity, but it can usually ease occasional constipation within the day.
11. Celery Juice
Celery juice is the only green juice on this list. Generally known as a superfood, this green juice not only offers significant amounts of insoluble fiber that make one poop but also electrolytes and vitamins that greatly contribute to our digestive health.
On top of all these great benefits, drinking a cup of pure celery juice, which is composed of 95% water, resolves the primary cause of constipation—dehydration.
Celery has also been known to increase metabolism in adults, causing a massive drop in total body weight. The weight loss has been linked to thyroid function, altering other body functions. Moreover, celery juice is also rich in magnesium, a mineral that facilitates a regular bowel movement.
How much celery juice should you drink to relieve constipation?
You can give your babies celery juice if they are constipated, but we recommend diluting two tablespoons of celery juice with half a cup of water and giving them 2-4 ounces of the mixture per day. On the other hand, adults can consume up to 2 glasses of celery juice daily.
However, celery juice is rich in electrolytes such as potassium and sodium, and diabetic patients and those with kidney problems should not drink too much to avoid complications.
12. Lemon Juice
Although lemon juice is mainly used to enhance a salad’s flavor, these little yellow fruits are full of organic acids that aid digestion. Some of the most potent acids in lemon juice are citric acid, malic acid, and ascorbic acid. These natural acids draw water into the gut and balance the stomach acid to aid digestion.
However, lemon juice has a pH value of 2-3, making them very acidic. For this reason, we recommend squeezing a fresh lemon into a glass of water. This lemon water aids in hydrating the gut while hastening digestion. In fact, this lemon water has grown popularity recently as a way to lose fat.
How much lemon juice should you drink to relieve constipation?
Babies cannot tolerate lemon’s acidity, so we recommend other juices on this list for them. However, constipated adults can benefit from drinking a glass of warm water with a tablespoon of lemon juice in the morning. This method has been proven to make people poop within the day.