An issue most people are afraid to talk about is constipation. However, many adults suffer from it, affecting 14% of the adult population. Women are also more likely to experience it because of fluctuating hormones. (1)

If you struggle with constipation, certain natural herbs will not only help get your bowels moving well but can also benefit your digestive tract. (1)

Healthy Bowels

As a sign of healthy digestion, individuals should have 2 to 3 bowel movements a day. Essentially, there should be a bowel movement for every meal eaten.

Bowel movements shouldn’t be too hard or soft, and there should be no strain when emptying bowels if effectively detoxing. Too much strain can lead to hemorrhoids and other challenges. Stools shouldn’t be watery without form either. In between is the standard. (2, 3)

If your bowels are moving too fast, they will lose too much water and risk becoming dehydrated. Yet, if your bowels are moving too slowly, they risk reabsorbing the toxins their bodies are trying to purge. 

1. Aloe Leaf

This widespread plant has been used for millennia by many ancient civilizations. The ancient Egyptians upheld aloe vera as “the plant of immortality.” (8)

While many individuals use aloe in their beauty routines, or to soothe sunburns, it also has health benefits when ingested inside the body. In this case, it can also be used as a natural laxative. (1, 9, 10)

Aloe vera contains 12 anthraquinones or compounds that help move the intestinal muscles. 

Anthraquinones also have antibacterial and antiviral properties that help protect the cells in the intestines. Two of these compounds also help to reduce pain. (8, 11)

Aloe vera has: (8)

  • 8 anti-inflammatory enzymes
  • Amino acids that are the building blocks for healing
  • Antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E
  • Fatty acids that help to cleanse and reduce pain in the digestive tract
  • Hormones that trigger wound healing and lessen inflammation
  • Minerals essential for healthy cell growth
  • Mono and polysaccharides that are anti-inflammatory and antiallergenic

Not only does aloe vera help with bowel movement but it also calms and nourishes the body by reducing inflammation and restoring the mucosal barrier lining the GI tract. (1, 12, 13, 14, 15)

2. Barberry Root

The barberry plant is an evergreen bush that is often planted for its beauty, not its health benefits. However, the barberry bush has a component called berberine that has multiple effects on the whole body, not just the intestines. (16, 17)

Barberry root helps to:

  • Act as an antifungal, resistant to fungal growth that can change bowel movements (18, 19, 20)
  • Increase natural antioxidants in the body to lower inflammation in the gut (21, 22)
  • Reduce the growth of cancer cells, especially liver and colon cancer (23, 24, 25)
  • Stimulate bile production which makes digestion and microbiome healthier, so bowels flow more smoothly (26, 27)
  • Suppress parasite growth and activity in the gut (28, 29)

Berberine is especially helpful to the gut’s microbiome. When ingested, the barberry transforms the berberine into a more absorbable form. This metabolized form gets into the bloodstream and lowers cholesterol and glucose levels. (30, 31, 32, 33)

Therefore, the benefits for the intestines, as well as the rest of the body, make barberry root another helpful herb for digestive health. (34)

3. Black Walnut Hulls

Harvested from the black walnut, or Juglans nigra, this dry casing contains antioxidant activities used to treat a wide variety of infections, including parasitic infections. They are also high in tannins, which are compounds with antibacterial properties. (35, 36, 37, 38, 39)

In addition to its antipathogenic and antiparasitic properties, it also can be used to facilitate bowel movement and treat intestinal worms. The high tannin content may help with constipation. (40)

Along with using the bark, husk, leaves, and nuts medicinally, several Native American tribes — such as the Cherokee, Delaware, Iroquois, and Meskwaki — used the hulls as a natural cathartic laxative and disease remedy agent. (41, 42, 43)

With all of its health properties, black walnut hulls are a helpful addition to aid regular bowel movements.

4. Cascara Sagrada Bark

This herb was first used by Native Americans who called it “sacred bark” due to its digestive health effects. (44, 45)

As long as it’s used for the short term, this herb helps to gently move the waste out of their body at a safe pace. Using small portions of this plant can ensure it stays non-habit-forming. (45)

Cascara sagrada bark has one of the same components as aloe vera that stimulates the intestinal muscles — anthraquinones. (11, 46)

One of those anthraquinones in cascara sagrada bark is called emodin. This compound may prevent colon cancer cells from multiplying since cancer cells don’t die at regular times like healthy cells. Emodin influences these cells to go into apoptosis or programmed cell death. (47, 48)

Cascara sagrada bark may offer you cancer protection while helping to keep your bowels moving regularly. While more research must be conducted, the bowel-moving benefits — plus its possible effects on colon cancer cells — make cascara sagrada bark a powerful herb for digestive health. (47, 49)

5. Cayenne

This red hot spice has excellent digestive health properties. Cayenne helps to stimulate the release of enzymes for proper digestion to avoid undigested food in stools and works as an antioxidant for the digestive tract. (50, 51, 52, 53)

Cayenne also increases digestive fluid production for the stomach’s defense against infections. It also works great for fighting fungal infections, such as Candida albicans. Cayenne weakens candida’s cell wall so the body’s immune system can do its job. This will help the good microbes in the gut for better bowel movements. (53, 54)

Cayenne can also help get rid of parasites in the body and has been used to help increase appetite, relieve congestion and pain, and treat circulatory problems. (55)

6. Clove Bud

While more well-known as a spice flavoring, clove has also been used for centuries as a food preservative and for medicinal purposes due to its antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Clove bud contains an essential oil component called eugenol. (56, 57, 58)

Eugenol is what gives clove bud’s powerful health benefits, such as:

  • Dissolving and breaking up biofilm for the immune system to clean up the infection (59)
  • Fighting parasites by causing them to lose their mitochondria (60)
  • Containing antibacterial, anticancer, and antiviral properties, plus the essential oil has been used as a chemopreventive agent (61)
  • Increasing the glutathione activity in the intestines, lessening inflammation (62)
  • Preventing Candida from multiplying with its antifungal effects (63)
  • Reducing cramping, gas, and pain in the digestive tract (64)
  • Ridding dangerous bacteria and microbes in the gut (it can start to kill them within minutes) (65, 66)

7. Fennel Seed

The essential oil in fennel seed has long been known to help with cramping, and gas, and treat respiratory and gastrointestinal disorders. Phenolic compounds are responsible for the antioxidant activity, while pharmacological experiments have demonstrated the antifungal, antibacterial, antithrombotic, and hepatoprotective activities of this plant. (67)

Fennel seed can calm the spasms in the intestines and help the muscles contract smoothly. 

Cramping and inconsistent muscle contraction can cause constipation. A study done on constipated rats also showed that fennel had a positive laxative effect when combined with Cassia obtusifolia L., part of the senna plant genus. (68, 69, 70)

Fennel seed is another herb that is very effective at helping to evict unwanted intestinal parasites, such as parasitic eggs and larvae. Fennel came out as the top herb amongst the other herbs it was tested against. (71)

Fennel seed can also be especially useful if you have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). A 2016 study showed how curcumin and fennel essential oil improved the quality of life for IBS patients after 30 days. (72, 73)

Besides having a normalizing effect on the bowels, fennel seed is a potent antimicrobial. It also prevents cells from premature aging. (74)

8. Garlic Bulb

Garlic is a powerful detoxifier and anti-inflammatory food. It detoxifies carcinogenic substances by increasing the body’s own antioxidants to help fight toxins and disease. (75, 76)

Garlic also has antibacterial and antimicrobial properties due to the allicin produced from crushed or chopped garlic. This allicin helps combat parasites, such as intestinal trematodes. 

Allicin damages the trematode’s cell wall, preventing it from releasing as much of its inflammatory proteins. This helps to protect the body from their toxins. (77, 78, 79, 80)

Garlic also serves as a powerful candida killer by breaking down the cell wall of this fungus. (17, 78, 80)

Additionally, garlic has exhibited antifungal, antiviral, and anti-tumor effects in various studies. 

This bulb has also been widely recognized for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. (81)

This pungent herb packs a potent punch when it comes to gut health by helping to increase the good bacteria and help the microbiome. (81, 82)

9. Ginger Root

This warming herb has been used for thousands of years in many civilizations with hundreds of active compounds to help the body. (83, 84)

Ginger root’s most popular application is for digestive issues. It can help in the following ways:

  • Changes in gene expression to inhibit cancer growth (85)
  • Fights parasites (86)
  • Helps relieve constipation and cramping by increasing smooth muscle contraction (83, 87)
  • Increases bile secretion (88)
  • Lowers inflammation in the gut (89)
  • Protects GI tract as a potent antioxidant (90)
  • Reduces gas in the digestive tract (91)

The compounds in ginger strengthen the good microbes to aid with constipation. Ginger roots’ effect on bile production, easing constipation, and encouraging a healthier microbiome make it a potent herb for digestive health. (92)

10. Rhubarb Root

This herb is classified as a vegetable and has been used for thousands of years in traditional Chinese medicine because of its great bowel benefits, among its other antibacterial, anticancer, anti-fibrotic, and anti-inflammatory properties. (93)

Rhubarb root helps the intestines to have better peristalsis to get everything moving in the right direction. Rhubarb contains sennoside A, a compound that provides some potent laxative properties by regulating the water content in stool. (94, 95)

Rhubarb also protects the microbiome in the gut and helps eliminate and prevent the spread of harmful microbes. It can help to repair and protect the intestinal villi from damage, especially after antibiotics. (96, 97)

Rhubarb root is essential when it comes to intestinal health and its positive effect on the microbiome. (98)

11. Senna Leaf

This member of the legume family has a long history of helping with constipation. Used by ancient Egyptians because of its laxative effects, it was used to ease constipation and stomach pain. (99, 100)

This herb is commonly used in tea and is approved by the FDA to treat constipation. (101, 102)

Senna leaf helps with regular bowel movements much the same as aloe vera or cascara sagrada. It has anthraquinones that increase the rhythmic movement of the intestines to help with detox and eliminating wastes. (103)

It will also help you avoid the hemorrhoids associated with constipation while fighting harmful bacteria to protect the microbiome. (104, 105)

Additionally, senna leaf helps lower inflammation by reducing inflammatory enzymes. The anti-inflammatory properties, along with its detox and gut health effects, make senna leaf a great addition to fighting constipation. (106, 107)

12. Wormwood

Wormwood, or Artemisia absinthium, has been traditionally used to help with digestive disorders. Studies show that wormwood can cut the body’s parasitic load in half. (108, 109)

Besides helping get rid of worms that might be affecting bowel movements, it also helps reduce inflammation in the colon. Studies show that clinical improvement and lower inflammation occurred in people with inflammatory bowel diseases when taking wormwood. (110, 111, 112)

Because of how bitter wormwood is, it is another herb that stimulates the production and release of bile. This helps you detox, as well as digest and absorb food more efficiently. It can lessen bloating and gas production. (113)

Wormwood may also help get rid of SIBO. Having SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth) has a substantial negative impact on how well bowels work when eliminating stools. (114)

Wormwood’s combined beneficial effects on digestion, inflammation, and parasites, make it a valuable herb when it comes to constipation.