Dr. Prabhat AryaMBBS, MD (Internal Medicine) · DMC Reg. No. DMC-83759drprabhatarya.com

Reviewed by Dr. Prabhat Arya, MD (Internal Medicine) on 29 September 2026

Diet chart for constipation

Most constipation eases with three things: more fibre, more water and more walking. Give the changes two to three weeks; the gut takes time to adjust.

½ Vegetables and salad ¼ Dal, chana, paneer, curd, egg, fish, chicken ¼ Whole-wheat roti, dalia, millet
  1. Add fibre slowly, over two weeks: whole grains, dal, vegetables and fruit at every meal. Too much at once causes gas.
  2. Drink 8 to 10 glasses of water a day. Fibre without water makes stools harder, not softer.
  3. Walk 30 minutes every day, and sit on the toilet at a fixed time, 15 to 30 minutes after breakfast. Never hold back the urge.

Eat more

  • Vegetables at every meal: palak, methi, bhindi, beans, carrot, gajar-matar, lauki
  • Salad: cucumber, carrot, radish, tomato
  • Whole grains: chokar-wala atta, dalia, oats, bajra, jowar, brown rice
  • Dal, chana, rajma, sprouts
  • Fruit: guava, apple, pear (with skin), papaya, orange; soaked prunes, figs or raisins
  • Isabgol: one to two teaspoons in a full glass of water daily

Eat less

  • Maida: white bread, biscuits, naan, pav, noodles
  • White rice alone: mix in dal and sabzi
  • Tea and coffee: two or three cups a day; they do not count as water
  • Milk and cheese in large amounts, if they bind you
  • Unripe banana and sweets
  • Cooking oil and ghee together: 4 to 5 teaspoons per person for the whole day

Avoid

  • Fried and packaged snacks: chips, namkeen, samosa, mathri
  • Fast food: pizza, burger, instant noodles
  • Cold drinks and packaged juice instead of water
  • Alcohol: it dries the body
  • Daily laxative tablets or churan without asking a doctor
  • Sitting still for hours: get up and walk every hour

A sample day

Vegetarian first; the swap is for those who eat eggs, fish or chicken.

On waking
One or two glasses of warm water. 2 soaked figs or 4 or 5 prunes
Breakfast
Vegetable dalia or oats, or two besan chilla with vegetables, and a katori of curdSwap: Two-egg omelette with vegetables and one whole-wheat roti
Mid-morning
One fruit with skin: guava, apple or pear. A glass of water
Lunch
Salad first. A big katori of sabzi, a katori of dal or rajma, two chokar-wala rotis, raitaSwap: Chicken or fish curry with sabzi in place of dal
Evening
Tea with roasted chana or a bowl of sprouts chaat, or papayaSwap: A boiled egg
Dinner, by 8 pm
Sabzi, dal and one or two rotis (bajra or jowar is good)Swap: Fish or chicken with sabzi and one roti
Bedtime
One or two teaspoons of isabgol in a full glass of water or milk

Common myths

A spoon of ghee in milk every night is the cure.
It adds fat, not fibre. Water, fibre and walking work.
You must pass stool every day.
Three times a week to three times a day can all be normal.
Isabgol is a habit-forming laxative.
It is fibre. It is safe to take daily for long periods.
Daily churan or laxative is harmless.
Stimulant laxatives used daily need a doctor’s advice.

Dr. Arya’s note for you

See a doctor soon if you have blood in the stool, black stool, weight loss without trying, severe belly pain or swelling with vomiting, or constipation that is new after age 50. These need a check-up, not only diet.

This is general advice for adults. With kidney disease or heart failure, that chart's limits on water, fruit and dal come first, not 8 to 10 glasses. With diabetes, choose fruits as on that chart. When in doubt, ask Dr. Arya.