Constipation In Space: A New Study Provides Answers - U.S. News & World Report

Constipation In Space: A New Study Provides Answers  U.S. News & World Report

Constipation is a well-known problem for astronauts in space, and researchers now think they know why it occurs. 

Weightlessness appears to affect the gut microbiome, the billions of healthy bacteria that reside in a person’s digestive tract, researchers reported recently in Nature Communications.

"We see changes in astronauts’ blood samples that indicate that the gut bacteria begin to ferment protein to a greater extent than usual within weeks after the astronauts arrive in space, and this change continues until they are back on Earth," co-lead researcher Giorgia La Barbera said in a news release. She is an associate professors of nutrition, exercise and sports at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. 

Protein fermentation happens when gut bacteria break down protein instead of fiber because the fiber in a person’s diet has been used up, researchers said.

"The lack of gravity in space probably causes food to move more slowly through the intestine, and this fits with the fact that we are seeing signs of increased protein fermentation," co-researcher Henrik Roager, also an associate professor of nutrition, exercise and sports at the university, said in a news release. "This may also help explain constipation in astronauts."

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