Struggling to Poop? Blend One of These 6 Smoothies for Constipation

Whether it's breakfast or snack time, drinking a smoothie is an easy and delicious way to eat fruits and veggies along with other nutritious foods, like nut butter, yogurt and seeds.

Smoothies also make getting fiber and other gut-friendly foods much easier, meaning the ingredients in smoothies could help you poop.

That's right: High-fiber foods like fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds and whole grains can help move your bowels along, keep you from feeling bloated — and some foods, especially those high in insoluble fiber, may help you poop or prevent constipation.

Ingredients you'd include in smoothies, like oats, bananas, apples and flaxseeds also have prebiotic fiber, which acts as a food source for healthy bacteria in your gut, and could help keep you regular, per the Mayo Clinic.

Plus, foods like pineapple, avocados, mango and kefir (a fermented yogurt drink) have digestive enzymes, which can help you better digest the foods you eat, per Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Smoothies also typically call for a cup or more of liquids (like water, plant-based or dairy milk or juice) — and staying hydrated is another way to help prevent constipation.

If you're wanting to give smoothies a go to help you "go," try out one of these six nutritious, easy recipes.

• ‌Calories:‌ 290
• ‌Fiber:‌ 6 grams

Turn a boring bowl of oatmeal into a delicious smoothie that can help soothe constipation. The fruit and whole grains in this recipe make this the perfect smoothie to get your bowels moving. Oats and banana add thickness to the smoothie, plus they're both rich in fiber.

Bananas and oatmeal are two highly recommended foods for constipation because of their soluble fiber content, which acts as a natural stool softener, per Johns Hopkins Medicine.

• ‌Calories:‌ 266
• ‌Fiber:‌ 4 grams

If you're dealing with constipation, this Breakfast Coffee Smoothie recipe made with cold-brew coffee could be your morning hero.

Yes, coffee poops are real. This is usually due to the caffeine, which acts as a stimulant that can affect your circulation and gut motility, per the Cleveland Clinic.

But even decaf coffee can get your bowels moving, thanks to an ingredient called furan, which stimulates a hormone called gastrin to release from your stomach lining to get things moving, per the Cleveland Clinic.

A banana rounds out this smoothie by adding sweetness, a creamy texture and gut-friendly prebiotics. We suggest using a frozen banana — it'll make your smoothie even thicker.

• ‌Calories:‌ 387
• ‌Fiber:‌ 15 grams

This smoothie from Running to the Kitchen just might have you running to the bathroom. The key ingredient? Prunes. Prunes are high in insoluble fiber, which adds bulk to your stool, and the type of soluble fiber in prunes pulls water into your colon which can help alleviate constipation.

In fact, a February 2019 study in ‌Clinical Nutrition‌ found adding prunes and liquid (as this smoothie calls for) increases stool weight and frequency. You'll love this smoothie for constipation not only for the relief it provides but because it's sweet and creamy, too.

• ‌Calories:‌ 338
• ‌Fiber:‌ 11 grams

If you've ever added chia seeds to your smoothie before, you know they create instant thickness. But they can also help with peristalsis, or the movement of the walls of your GI tract, which pushes food through your system, as explained in an April 2016 issue of the ‌Journal of Food Science and Technology‌.

And, of course, it wouldn't be a Chocolate Chia Seed Smoothie without the chocolate. This smoothie gets its creamy chocolatey flavor from cocoa powder, which also has surprising health benefits like antioxidants and antidepressant effects.

• ‌Calories:‌ 238
• ‌Fiber:‌ 6 grams

Consider kiwi a tropical fruit constipation killer. Kiwifruit contains digestive enzymes that help with digestion. Plus, they add bulk to your stool and pull water into your colon, which, in turn, helps to break up any blockages and soften stool, per Michigan Medicine.

Banana, included in this recipe, can help get things going, too, thanks to its soluble fiber content.

• ‌Calories:‌ 209
• ‌Fiber:‌ 5 grams

This smoothie is a drinkable version of sweet potato pie, thanks to the sweet potato and pumpkin pie spice, but it's well-balanced with the nutrients from protein powder, flaxseed and almond butter. Sweet potatoes benefit the gut because of cellulose, a type of insoluble fiber. Cellulose can speed things up in your gut, reducing overall transit time, according to a May 2017 study in ‌Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition‌.