The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has reported that polyethylene glycol 3350, the major ingredient in laxative medication, is in major shortage in America. Plans are afoot to build new factories to cope with the rocketing demand.

Polyethylene glycol 3350 is used to soften stool and is commonly used to treat constipation.

The massive increase in demand began in lockdown where increasingly people suffered with constipation due to reduced physical activity, stress and a change in diet towards unhealthier foods (certainly lots beer and barbeques in the UK with the heatwave!).

This has now been replaced by use of the drug as a weight loss strategy – it has been dubbed the ‘budget Ozempic.’ The idea is to ‘flush out’ unhealthy food eaten before it can be digested. The downside to this strategy is that important nutrients are also flushed out with potentially harmful effects on the bacteria within the gut (the microbiome).

This has also led to difficulties for those who need the medication for medical reasons – older people (the gut slows with age) and those with other medical conditions such as Parkinsons disease.

With time, most laxatives simply stop working as the gut adapts to the drug. We would therefore recommend a more gut friendly weight loss regime for those considering this strategy. A healthy diet, physical activity and reducing unhealthy habits such as smoking/vaping are age old recommendations for weight loss that are much kinder on the gut….and if you do want to increase your gut transit times we would certainly recommend 2 kiwi fruits per day!