Prunes get things moving, but monitor sugar content

DEAR DR. ROACH: Several months ago, you had an article in the paper about an 82-year-old man who had a constipation problem.

You mentioned a couple of medications to take. I am an 82-year-old man, and just shortly after that article I became constipated for a couple of days.

My wife told me to take exlax; I took it for two or three days, and it worked. Three days later, I had it again, so I took another ex-lax or two, and it worked again.

I was sitting in my recliner a couple of days later when I remembered when I was in my late teens and had the same problem. My mother told me to eat some prunes — wow, does that work. Wouldn’t eating prunes be more healthy than taking drugs?

We read that eating prunes every day also makes our bones stronger. Is this really true, and how many should we eat daily?

ANSWER: Some over-the-counter constipation drugs used to contain phenolphthalein, which is not safe for long-term use. Occasional use of senna or docusate (the active ingredients in most OTC brands) is fine.

Prunes are a very effective treatment for constipation for many people. They are a fruit, but being dried, are higher in sugar than many others. Three to four prunes a day seems reasonable to me, and is effective for many people to treat constipation.

A recent review of studies on the effects of prune eating on bone mineral density suggested that there is some benefit. However, the studies were neither consistent nor of high-enough quality that I would recommend prunes solely for their purported benefit on bones.

DEAR DR. ROACH: My husband is physically fit and works out daily through biking, elliptical trainer, playing hockey, working outside, etc. He is of appropriate weight, and his cholesterol and sugar numbers are normal, as is his blood pressure. What concerns me is his diet. Every day, he eats meat -- red meat, pork or chicken. He also eats lunch meat and plenty of cheese. He says working out counters the effect of these foods. He has a heart murmur, and his father passed away unexpectedly from either a heart attack or stroke at age 74 this past summer. Can all of this add to his potential to have a heart attack, or do the test results indicate that he is fine?

ANSWER: To be optimally healthy, both exercise and diet are important. People argue passionately about what is the healthiest diet and whether eating red meat is healthy. Although some people have seized on newer study results, I have read many studies in the past 30 years, and believe that eating less meat and more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, and fish is much healthier. In my opinion, your husband's eating habits do contribute to heart attack risk despite his exercise regimen. I also should add that processed meats have been convincingly linked to increased cancer risk; however, the magnitude of that risk is small.

Keith Roach is a syndicated advice columnist and physi-