Yes, we're talking constipation. You may just need to eat more fiber and drink more water to move things along. But if that doesn't do it, talk to your doctor. Inflammation that results after eating a food you're sensitive to can also create stool that is tough to pass, Myers says, thanks to an immune system that goes on attack after consuming that food. Or, in some cases, the constipation could be due to an inflamed thyroid—whether from pregnancy, an infection or an autoimmune condition such as Hashimoto's disease (the most common cause of an underactive thyroid, which affects about
14 million Americans, and is seven times more common in women than in men). That means everything moves more slowly in your body, including in your GI tract, which can result in constipation.
