Each culture has its particular staple food, which is mostly dependent on the kind of fruits, vegetables, and meat that are abundant in their location. Through time, some old folks have already developed specialized traditional knowledge about the effects of food that’s abundant in their region. They were also able to determine which ones are constipating and which are digestion-helping foods. This knowledge has been passed down to generations hence some families and people know about these food secrets. However, through the changing landscape, technology, and advancement, this has become a seemingly hidden food knowledge and exclusive to those who are in the traditional food club and slow food advocates only. Some old variants of vegetables, fruits, and plants have become extinct while genetically modified food and young plant discoveries have become the food that some have become accustomed to eating.
These factors influence the food that’s being served to us by our guardians. During our formative years, we start to familiarize ourselves with some tastes, become aware of the effects of food on our bodies, and begin to discover food beliefs and wisdom. Our diet, food and nourishment belief system, nutritious food awareness, food preferences, and tastes that we are accustomed to are influenced by the people who raised us, because they introduced us to the usual food that we eat during the earlier stage of our life. Is this food familiarization manner relatable to you. Does your food and nourishment belief system formed since you were young because it was introduced to you by your family? Or were you just influenced and become aware of it when you were already studying or working?
Including camote or sweet potato as part of a regular diet is introduced to some at an early age. However, others discover it later in life or when they have become adults and have been more exposed to different life circumstances. Camote is a root crop that’s widely known in some regions due to its abundance. Some call it a ‘poor’ man’s crop because as a root crop, it grows under ground and can be planted in the house’s backyard. It’s also affordable hence ‘poor’ people can avail of it and eat it anytime they need it. Kids who are being fed sweet potatoes and those who regularly consume them would know how helpful this is for digestion. Though select people know that sweet potato is a constipation-alleviating food, not everybody is aware of this. Only those who belong to a particular social status that regularly eat this little crop and have made it a staple food in their diet are aware of its effects. Since the belief that little sweet potatoes is a digestive food hasn’t been fully investigated before, lots of people think that this is just folk knowledge despite its proven effect. However, this research from China reveals that little sweet potatoes are being eaten to manage bowel movement problems.
Influence of Camote on Constipation
1. Pure Camote
Camote, or sweet potato can alleviate constipation. Camote’s role in defecation satisfaction and constipation prevention has been explored in a Chinese research paper published in 2016. The experimental trial included one hundred twenty leukemia patients aged 20 to 60 years old. They were having their first chemotherapy and were recruited from the Hematology Department of First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University in Suzhou, China from October 2012 to June 2013. The patients were clustered into the control group or intervention group. The control group received routine care only while the intervention group was provided with routine care and a sweet potato diet. The routine care included psychological intervention, abdominal massage, increased water intake of 93000 milliliters per day, suitable physical activities, and a diet containing coarse and refined grains and fruits. It also included administration of laxatives or enemas if the patients have constipation symptoms. Meanwhile, the intervention group was provided with the usual routine nursing care and a sweet potato-included diet. Firm sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) that do not have any cracks or soft spots were chosen for the supplementation diet. This type of sweet potato is common in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. The hospital cafeteria prepared the sweet potato meals by chopping them into small pieces and cooking them into gruel. Each patient in the intervention group had to consume 200 grams of boiled sweet potato or sweet potato congee, per day. They can eat it with or without rice. They had to consume 100 grams per serving once in the morning and once at night. If the patient vomits and results in reducing the amount of consumed sweet potato, it has to be replenished by eating extra servings of it. The dietary sweet potato supplementation intervention was given to the participants from admission to discharge which is a 20-day median duration. It was provided and initiated a few days (a median of 4 days) before the start of chemotherapy. ) No patient withdrew from the intervention group due to sweet potato intolerance. Also, there were no reported adverse effects of sweet potato supplementation, such as acid regurgitation, heartburn, and stomach ache. Defecation details were gathered on admission, on the morning of the second and fifth days after chemotherapy initiation, and on discharge day.
Assessment results yielded that consuming sweet potato can effectively prevent constipation. It can also relieve defecation-related discomfort such as straining during defecation and incomplete evacuation sensation. It also improves defecation satisfaction. On the second day, the fifth day after chemotherapy initiation, the constipation rate was lower in the intervention group compared with that in the control group. After chemotherapy on the second day and fifth day, defecation duration was shortened in the intervention group. Defecation satisfaction was similar in both groups on the second day but on the fifth day, defecation satisfaction was higher in the intervention group than in the control group. At discharge, laxatives use for more than 7 days was lower in the intervention group than in the control group. (1)
2. Camote in combination with various interventions
The combination of sweet potatoes, warm-water foot bath, and acupuncture intervention was a safe and effective treatment in reducing constipation incidence and increasing bowel emptying satisfaction. This has been the findings of a clinical trial conducted in a hospital in Suzhou, China. 93 hospitalized patients with acute coronary syndromes were randomized to the intervention or usual care group. The control group received the usual care which included psychological intervention, education, and constipation prevention. In addition, if the patients elicited constipation symptoms, enemas were administered. Whereas the intervention group was provided with a sweet potato, footbath, and acupressure massage plus the usual care.
The intervention group was supplied with boiled sweet potato and sweet potato congee to increase their fiber intake. Firm sweet potatoes without cracks or soft spots were selected to prepare their meal. They were cut into small pieces, cooked into gruel, and eaten with or without rice. To ensure that the participant’s dietary fiber intake fell in the range of 25–30 grams per day, participants had to consume 200 grams of boiled sweet potato or sweet potato congee every day. The participants also received footbath and acupressure. The intervention combination started when the patients were admitted to the hospital up to the day they were discharged. Results of the study showed that sweet potato, foot bath, and acupressure massage interventions were more effective than usual care alone in constipation management and defecation satisfaction. The participants who received the intervention had a higher degree of satisfaction. The researcher also noted that they particularly encourage future researchers to study the use of sweet potatoes and warm-water footbath interventions in the management of constipation. (2)
Camote compounds that enable it to ease constipation
Sweet potatoes increase intestinal waste volume, thus, resulting in changed bowel habits. It also increases the stimulus intensity of the defecation reflex. By improving defecation, it may also help with intestinal malignancy prevention. Moreover, sweet potatoes can reduce cholesterol. (2)
1. Dietary fiber
Camote is rich in dietary fiber. A 100-gram sweet potato has approximately 1.6 grams of dietary fiber. (1) Camote’s dietary fiber has been associated with stool volume, and greater stool volume is correlated with a softer texture, thus making the stools easier to discharge. (1)
2. Mucus proteins
Sweet potatoes have mucus proteins which also maintain digestive tract lubrication and have an aperient effect hence increasing defecation satisfaction. (1)
Identifying the origin and reliability of your food knowledge will help you to understand your condition and distinguish which are the constipation-causing foods and digestive foods. It will provide us a realistic view of the nature of certain crops and foods that we eat, and how complex they can be. This also helps us to determine if crops are deeply rooted and if they can still correct, and remedy our constipation problems.
Preparation Method: Boiled Camote
Camotes were boiled because under high temperature some starch in sweet potato can be reduced, (2) and after being boiled, camote’s dietary fiber can increase by approximately 40%. (1,2) Moreover, boiled sweet potato is readily digested and absorbed. It also stimulates intestinal peristaltic, promotes a more comfortable defecation, (1) reduces heart and gastrointestinal tract burden, and prevents any discomforts such as acid regurgitation, heartburn, stomach ache, and abdominal distention. (1, 2)
Identify food influence
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Reference:
- (1) Zou, J. Y., Xu, Y., Wang, X. H., Jiang, Q., & Zhu, X. M. (2016). Improvement of Constipation in Leukemia Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy Using Sweet Potato. Cancer Nursing, 39(3), 181–186. https://doi.org/10.1097/NCC.0000000000000257
- (2) Ren, K., Qiu, J., Wang, X., Niu, F., & Jiang, T. (2012). The effect of a sweet potato, footbath, and acupressure intervention in preventing constipation in hospitalized patients with acute coronary syndromes. Gastroenterology nursing: the official journal of the Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates, 35(4), 271–277. https://doi.org/10.1097/SGA.0b013e31825ed7bc
📝 February 2, 2024
Oil Therapy 