My dad used to sing a little song he’d made up:
“Have a happy colon and you’ll be happy too!”
It was a bit of a joke in our family, but there was a serious message behind it.
Dad believed in keeping things moving. What goes in must come out. It wasn’t a subject we avoided at the dinner table, and nobody seemed particularly embarrassed talking about bowel movements.
Looking back, I think he was onto something.
After all, you can eat the healthiest food in the world, but if your digestive system isn’t doing its job properly, how healthy are you going to be?
I’ve carried that philosophy with me for most of my life.
And about 25 years ago, I discovered something that’s become one of the most consistent habits in my daily routine.
Plain old psyllium husk.
Nothing fancy. Nothing expensive. No miracle formula with a slick advertising campaign behind it.
Just psyllium husk.
And I wouldn’t want to start my day without it.
Getting Older Changes a Few Things
I’ve always been a pretty active guy.
Exercise, drinking plenty of water, watching what I eat — those things have been part of my life for decades.
And for most of that time, I never had much difficulty keeping my bowels functioning properly.
But somewhere around my early fifties, I began noticing that things weren’t moving quite as efficiently as they used to.
Nothing particularly dramatic. Just that familiar feeling that things could be working a little better.
As usual, I started doing some research.
I’ve never been particularly good at accepting that something is just part of getting older and there’s nothing you can do about it.
That’s how I eventually came across psyllium husk.
I started taking a heaping tablespoon every morning, mixed into a glass of water.
And I liked what happened.
So I kept taking it.
Twenty-five years later, I’m still doing exactly that.
It’s Not Just About Going to the Bathroom
Here’s the thing.
People talk about being regular as though having a bowel movement every day is the whole story.
For me, it isn’t.
Whether I have one bowel movement or two, what matters is the feeling of complete evacuation.
When you’re finished, you’re finished.
No sitting there wondering whether there’s more to come. No uncomfortable feeling that things haven’t quite cleared out.
That’s what psyllium has helped me achieve.
And when your bowels are functioning properly, you notice the difference.
At least I certainly do.
It’s one of those things you might not appreciate until you’ve experienced it consistently for years.
I don’t have to spend much time thinking about my bowels anymore because I’ve developed a routine that works for me.
And that’s a pretty good reason to keep doing something.
Why I Think a Healthy Colon Matters So Much
I’ve always believed that what happens in your digestive system affects a lot more than your next trip to the bathroom.
Think about it.
Every day, we put food into our bodies. We digest it, absorb what we need, and eventually eliminate what we don’t.
That last part isn’t optional.
Your digestive tract is also home to trillions of microorganisms and an enormous amount of immune activity.
It’s a remarkably complicated system, and I think we tend to take it for granted until something stops working properly.
My philosophy has always been simple: I want that system functioning as efficiently as possible.
I don’t want to be constipated. I don’t want to feel backed up. And I certainly don’t want to ignore what my body is telling me.
Does having a bowel movement eliminate every toxin in your body? Of course not. Your liver and kidneys have important jobs of their own.
But regular bowel elimination is one of the body’s normal ways of getting rid of waste.
Why wouldn’t I want to keep that process working properly?
That’s the way I’ve looked at it for decades.
Then Mercury Changed Everything
If you’ve read my story, you know that I spent years struggling with health problems I believe were connected to my extensive history of mercury amalgam fillings.
At one point, I had as many as 16 of those fillings in my mouth.
Over the years, I became increasingly concerned about what mercury exposure might have been doing to my body.
And when my health began deteriorating, keeping my elimination systems functioning properly became even more important to me.
I wanted my liver, kidneys, and bowels doing their jobs as effectively as possible.
I believe my body has been slowly recovering from years of exposure, and regular bowel movements have remained an important part of how I look after myself.
I can’t tell you how much mercury, if any, my daily psyllium routine has helped eliminate.
But I can tell you that I feel better when my bowels are working properly.
And that has been reason enough to continue.
If you’re interested in what happened to me, you can read My Mercury Symptoms.
My Morning Psyllium Ritual
These days, my routine is almost automatic.
In fact, I take the psyllium out the night before so it’s sitting there waiting for me in the morning.
I don’t want to forget it.
I take a heaping tablespoon of plain psyllium husk, mixed with enough liquid to drink it comfortably.
For years, I used distilled water.
More recently, I’ve switched to coconut water.
That change came about after I became concerned about my potassium levels and started paying more attention to potassium-rich foods and drinks.
I like coconut water, and it works well for me.
But the important part of the routine is still the psyllium.
I mix it, drink it promptly before it becomes too thick, and make sure I’m getting enough fluid.
That’s it.
No elaborate preparation. No expensive equipment.
Just a simple daily habit that has stuck with me for a quarter of a century.
One important point: psyllium absorbs a tremendous amount of water and swells as it does. It should always be taken with plenty of liquid. If you’re new to it, don’t assume my heaping tablespoon is where you should start. Follow the product directions and work up gradually.
Plain Psyllium Husk, Metamucil, and RestoraLAX: What’s the Difference?
Walk into almost any drugstore and you’ll find shelves full of products promising to keep your bowels moving.
Two familiar names are Metamucil and RestoraLAX. But they’re not the same thing, and there’s a distinction worth understanding.
Metamucil contains psyllium husk, the same basic fibre I’ve been taking for 25 years. It absorbs water, increases stool bulk, and helps things move along. Depending on the version, it may also contain flavourings, sweeteners, and other ingredients.
Personally, I don’t see much reason to buy a flavoured commercial preparation when plain psyllium husk does the job for me.
RestoraLAX is a different story. Its active ingredient is polyethylene glycol 3350, commonly called PEG 3350. It’s an osmotic laxative that draws water into the stool to soften it and help relieve constipation.
Unlike psyllium, RestoraLAX isn’t a fibre supplement.
That doesn’t make one product universally better than the other. They work differently, and what somebody needs depends on the problem they’re trying to solve.
But here’s the way I look at it.
I’m not interested in constantly treating constipation after it happens. I’m interested in developing habits that help keep my digestive system functioning properly in the first place.
For me, plain psyllium husk has been part of that answer for a quarter of a century.
And I’m not about to change something that’s been working so well.
Psyllium Husk Benefits Beyond Bowel Movements
One thing I discovered while researching this subject is that psyllium has attracted quite a bit of scientific attention over the years.
Researchers have studied its effects on cholesterol, blood sugar, and bowel function.
Some studies have found that regular psyllium consumption can modestly lower LDL cholesterol and improve certain measures of blood glucose control.
That doesn’t turn it into a miracle supplement.
But it does suggest that a simple soluble fiber can have benefits beyond helping you visit the bathroom.
I find that interesting.
I’ve been taking it all these years primarily because of how it makes me feel and how reliably it helps my bowels function.
Any additional benefits are welcome.
For additional information about psyllium, see the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s MedlinePlus guide to psyllium.
Twenty-Five Years Later
I sometimes wonder how many things I’ve tried over the years that came and went.
Supplements, diets, different approaches to exercise, and various ideas about improving health.
Some were worthwhile. Others weren’t.
But psyllium husk has remained.
Every morning.
Year after year.
Not because somebody keeps advertising it to me. Not because I read a new study every six months telling me how wonderful it is.
Because I tried it, paid attention to what happened, and decided it was worth continuing.
That’s really the point.
We’re all different. What works beautifully for one person may not work the same way for another.
But there are some simple things worth looking into before reaching for another complicated solution.
Plain psyllium husk has been one of those things for me.
And every time I think about it, I can almost hear my dad singing that ridiculous little song.
“Have a happy colon and you’ll be happy too!”
After 25 years of taking psyllium husk, I think Dad would be pleased.
Ivan Jeffrey Thrasher
Insure Your Health Yourself
This article describes my personal experience and is not intended as medical advice. Psyllium isn’t suitable for everyone, particularly people with swallowing difficulties or certain bowel conditions. Persistent changes in bowel habits, bleeding, or significant abdominal pain deserve medical attention.
