Laxative abuse is a common form of “weight control,” particularly in those suffering from eating disorders. The actual purpose of taking a laxative is to stimulate the large bowel to empty, which occurs only after the food and calories have been absorbed via the small intestines. Some who takes laxatives to control weight is only going to cause their body to lose fluid, which can be followed by periods of water retention and an appearance of bloating (causing the individual to want to lose more weight and use more laxatives).
The reason people seem to lose weight while taking laxatives is usually because they are reducing their caloric intake and food consumption, and/or compulsively exercising.
Laxatives are available in wide varieties in market and they are most famous products available in the market for weight loss.
What do laxatives do?
The laxatives increase the bowel activity, and with this feature, they do not allow the large intestine to absorb food where most of the food content gets absorbed. Just to list a fact, the food does not get absorbed in the small intestines. It is also known that if the laxatives are taken in large amounts for a greater period of time, they affect the absorption of the fats in the body. This leads to greasy diarrhea and this in turn results in weight loss.
People taking laxatives seem to be losing weight because they reduce their caloric intake and food consumption. Laxatives makes large bowel empty and calories will be absorbed by small intestine.
Side effects of laxatives
Weight loss is guaranteed by over dosing on laxatives, but the major thing that must be seen is the side effects that it causes, which is that it causes permanent damage to the GI Tract and it also causes the weakening and softening of the bones, and this is known as osteomalacia. People who are suffering from the eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia nervosa are the ones who use to achieve rapid weight loss and they use it because it works fast and produces watery stools that are loose in consistency.
