This is a reply to a response on linked In:

Sadly, after observing this for past twenty-five years, my conclusion is that it does not help much if the lubricant from the cilia in the intestinal tract, all the way through to the rectum is not lavishly produced by the body. In fact, bearing down to expel stool, even when it reaches the colon valve (where it meets the rectum) does not work, unless the lubrication is there either from the body itself, or from taking some type of substance which produces a non-violent lubricant.

If there is no lubrication, those muscles, like in any friction system, cannot work properly. Like in an engine for instance, remove the oil, and see how long you will get the pistons or any other parts to move.

As the body gets older the system simply refuses to provide the lubricant. That is interpreted as constipation. Asana postures do not, and simply cannot, fill in the gap. There are methods of inducing lubrication or fluidity. Once that is done, then yes, the stomach pumps and other related postures which churn the intestinal system can be done. Otherwise even if one does these hatha yoga techniques, they will have no effect.

People who have this non-lubrication problem, should find a cure for it through taking some substance which will produce liquid along the track. Instead, people usually use the word constipation which I feel is misleading.

The inability to press the stools out of the body, is mostly due to the cells in the tubing walls which do not produce lubrication. The stool becomes drier and drier as it moves through the colon and as it is held in the rectum. This is because the body extracts nutrients from the waste, and some of the waste is converted into gas. With no lubricant along the walls of the tubing, the pushing action does nothing. In fact, it makes for the risk of hemorrhoids and hypertension (increased bood pressure and heart beat irregularities).

The body sucks the stools dry as they pass through the system. That is not a muscular problem. It is a genetic malfunction which happens at about fifty years of the body and which gets worse as the years go by.