[Guest]

All these years I was under the delusion that apples were good for constipation and digestion in general...but my 7 year old grandson is here visiting from France and is experiencing some minor C problems...we have been giving him slices of fresh apples thinking we were doing a good thing..he has a horrible diet..hates everything that is good for him...anyway, I just read that apples are bad for C....never knew that. They always seemed to help me....whats up with that? BTW, we gave him a little of that chocolate flavored senna laxative so we hope it ends this little bout of traveler's C....also hoping the little guy doesnt have any cramps...very low dosage.

 

[flux]

quote:.anyway, I just read that apples are bad for C....never knew tha

Neither does anyone else.

 

[ghitta]

actually, both carrots and apples can work either way, for some reason. raw apples may in fact not help C but cooked, as in stewed, baked, compote, applesauce, may do the trick. same for carrots. a good recipe, especially for a young child, is a bowl of cooked fruit compote composed of prunes, pears, apples etc all it cooked very well.

 

[ghitta]

i forgot one other thing: another common cause of traveler's C between france and the states is the fact the i can guarantee you your grandson drinks no tap water but bottled only in his own home; probably mineral water such as evian; volvic or other brands which in fact have a good mineral content especially of magnesium. if you can find a local supermarket that actually sells VOLVIC from france, that may also help. i am also going to add here, as a preemptive strike, that any possible stupid and obnoxious posting by flux in response to what i am saying should be ignored; please i beg of you, ignore him.

 

[flux]

quote:and the states is the fact the i can guarantee you your grandson drinks no tap water

If this is to suggest that he should drink bottled water as opposed to tap, then consider that tap water is much cheaper and just as safe or even safer than bottled water.

 

[I'll B Snookered]

flux, if you read Ghitta's post, she is implying that there might be a higher concentration of magnesium in the water that the kid might be used to. Magnesium can help with stool softening. I don't know the validity of that statement or even if the kid drinks water, but I do find that keeping my fruits and veggies cooked (helps to break down the fiber), helps me with C. Too much fiber, even with a lot of water, constipates me.

 

[I'll B Snookered]

I'm sorry. I don't think I was clear. I mean I do not know the validity of the assertion that there is more magnesium in the bottled water from France than in Willie's tap water. It might be true. It might not.

 

[flux]

quote: if you read Ghitta's post, she is implying that there might be a higher concentration of magnesium in the water that the kid might be used to

I thought she is saying that he doesn't drink any tap water in France, but a mineral-containing bottled water. That would imply the opposite, no?

 

[I'll B Snookered]

Yes, that is what she is saying, but then she goes on to talk about high minerals in the bottled water...ah, who cares, really?! I doubt the type of water would have that much of an effect. I think the levels of magnesium we are talking about are pretty low in either case (when compared to, say, the 500mg that I take every night). So, the point is probably moot.

 

[flux]

quote: the 500mg that I take every night

Don't you mean 5000 mg?

 

[5069]

I have a idea it is not the water at all that is constipating the little fellow. He probably doesn't drink a lot of it. I think it might be the milk here in the US. I've been to France twice and each time while I was there my lactose intolerance was fine. Dairy products never bothered me but as soon as I returned to the US, they returned, gas, constipation, all of it. Annem

 

[ghitta]

i'll clarify: the following brands of bottled mineral water, sold in France, are known for their high concentrates of certain minerals including magnesium and certain brands are even touted for their "laxative" properties -Volvic, Badoit, Mont Recous, and others. Secondly, because French children often eat what their parents eat only in smaller portions, they may be more affected by C when in the States due to the #### food offered children here, both in private homes and restaurants. By "####" i mean the food born in microwaves and freezers, high fructose, flashfried, deepfried, chicken nuggets, mac&cheese,fast food, sugar fruit drinks, and ad infinitum. Certainly thousands of French suffer from C, trust me, i know, but primarily because they suffer from american type diets or other ailments; it is certainly not as prevalent as in north america. Back to the water issue: there are many places where the tap water is healthy and fine to drink (well water is most of Vermont, as an example) however i for one live in southern florida where using tap water as a drink or for cooking is slow suicide.

 

[chas14]

I am located in Florida, and I, along with several million other Floridians, not only live, but thrive on tap water. There have been a number of studies of tap water here compared with bottled water, and no significant differences have been found. I have never seen any controlled study attesting to your statement that tap water is "slow suicide". I say this, not so much as a criticism of your beliefs, as a reassurance to those who might be uable to afford bottled water, that they are not doomed to an early grave.

 

[Tiss]

Back to the apple thing--apples give me terrible gas and slow things down a little. Makes no sense to me but that's the way they work with me.

 

[flux]

quote:By "####" i mean the food born in microwaves and freezers, high fructose, flashfried, deepfried, chicken nuggets, mac&cheese,fast food, sugar fruit drinks, and ad infinitum

What's #### about this exactly? It's lack of fiber?

quote:i for one live in southern florida where using tap water as a drink or for cooking is slow suicide.

In other words, it won't hurt you.

 

[mirandafox]

Re: the 7 year old from FranceMaybe it's the time change? He's not eating, and therefore "going", on the schedule he was used to. When I went on vacation to Ireland I had more problems with C - my body didn't understand that I needed to eat breakfast at 3 am.

 

[SpAsMaN*]

F-Quote

on't you mean 5000 mg?Why 5000mg Flux?I think this dose is a little bit high...

 

[I'll B Snookered]

spasman, you are correct. 500mg is the correct dosage for the Philips soft chews, which is what I take. Heck, the couple of times I took 2000mg (4 chews), the stools were practically liquid. Flux, you must really be plugged up, if you are taking 5g of Mg+.

 

[flux]

quote:spasman, you are correct. 500mg is the correct dosage for the Philips soft chews

No, 4800 mg is the maximum normal dose of the liquid.

quote:Heck, the couple of times I took 2000mg (4 chews), the stools were practically liquid

That's less than the lowest laxative dose, which is 2400 mg. I suspect you probably see this extreme effect at this low dose because you have IBS, not motility-related constipation.But why is the dosage of this apparently unknown product so much less than dose for the liquid and why doesn't the manufacturer, http://www.bayercare.com/htm/philhome.htm , make no mention of this 500 mg product? The website doesn't appear to have been updated in two years!

 

[flux]

OK, I think I figured why there is such an odd discrepancy in the dosage.I found these soft chews at http://www.drugstore.com/qxp81072_333181_s...olate_creme.htm According to the label, it contains of 500 mg of magnesium. But the others (e.g., liquid MoM) don't list their magnesium content. Instead, the numbers are for magnesium hydroxide. That is, the 2400 to 4800 dose refers to the amount of magnesium hydroxide, not magnesium.My calculations say that2400 mg of magnesium hydroxide contains 990 mg of magnesium.4800 mg of magnesium hydroxide contains 1980 mg of magnesium.That makes the low dose of liquid MoM eqivalent to 2 soft chews and the high dose eqivalent to 4.So I take back about the statement I made about your condition