Foods that help constipation: prunes, kiwi and more

The answer

Fiber-rich foods with plenty of fluid come first, NIDDK says. Of single foods, kiwifruit has the most trials, and prunes have been tested against psyllium. In a 2024 meta-analysis of 23 studies in adults with chronic constipation, fruit raised stool frequency by 0.36 bowel movements a week more than psyllium, mostly kiwifruit; prunes did no better than psyllium there. The trials ran for weeks, not hours.

Key facts

Fiber and fluids: NIDDK's advice is to eat enough fiber and drink plenty of liquids, including water, naturally sweetened fruit and vegetable juices and clear soups. [NIDDK]
23 studies, 1,714 people: in adults with chronic constipation, kiwifruit had the most trials (7), and fruit raised stool frequency by 0.36 bowel movements a week more than psyllium. [van der Schoot et al., 2024]
14.7 g of sorbitol and 6.1 g of fiber per 100 g of prunes; prune juice has about 6.1 g of sorbitol per 100 g and no fiber. [Stacewicz-Sapuntzakis et al., 2001]
80 or 120 g of prunes a day for 4 weeks raised stool weight and frequency in 120 healthy adults who ate little fiber, left transit time unchanged and brought more flatulence. [Lever et al., 2019]
8 to 10 cups (2 to 2.5 liters) of liquids a day, particularly water, is the MedlinePlus figure for people who are constipated. [MedlinePlus]

What foods help constipation?

Foods with fiber, eaten with enough to drink. NIDDK tells people who are constipated to eat enough fiber and drink plenty of liquids, and names whole grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables and nuts as good sources. MedlinePlus puts a number on the drinking, 8 to 10 cups (2 to 2.5 liters) of liquids a day, particularly water, and says to leave the skin on fruit that has an edible one.¹²

MedlinePlus also names its fruits: "Berries, grapes, peaches, apricots, plums, raisins, rhubarb, and prunes are just some of the fruits that may help." It adds whole-grain breads and cereals, brown or wild rice, vegetables such as broccoli and potatoes with the skin on, legumes and nuts, and one kitchen trick: sprinkle "1 or 2 teaspoons (5 to 10 mL) of bran flakes, ground flax seeds, wheat bran, or psyllium" on yogurt, cereal or soup.² NIDDK's own list of fiber foods is on our front page.

How much fiber in all? Physician's Choice, the publisher of this site, puts it in one line: Adults get 25 to 38 grams of fiber per day, though exact targets depend on age and sex. MedlinePlus adds a reminder that costs nothing: "Do not skip meals."²

Which foods have been tested in trials?

A short list. A 2024 meta-analysis from King's College London found 23 studies of foods, drinks and diets in adults with chronic constipation, 1,714 people in all: kiwifruit in seven, high-mineral water in four, prunes and rye bread in two each, and single studies of foods such as mango, figs, oat bran and yogurt. Its authors call that evidence scarce.³

"There is a scarcity of evidence on foods, drinks and diets in constipation and further RCTs are needed."
van der Schoot, Katsirma, Whelan and Dimidi, Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 2024

Foods tested for constipation: what is in them and what the trials found

Food	What is in it, per the source	Amount, length and people	What was found	Source
Prunes (dried plums)	About 6.1 g of fiber and 14.7 g of sorbitol per 100 g¹⁰	50 g twice a day (6 g of fiber) for 3 weeks, against psyllium with the same fiber; 40 adults with constipation	3.5 complete spontaneous bowel movements a week, against 2.8 on psyllium; softer stools; straining no different	Attaluri et al., 2011; Lever et al., 2014⁴⁵
Prunes, in healthy adults	As above	80 g or 120 g a day, with 300 ml of water, for 4 weeks; 120 healthy adults who ate little fiber and had 3 to 6 stools a week	Stool weight up 22.2 g and 32.8 g a day, against a 0.8 g fall on water alone; 6.8 and 5.6 stools a week, against 5.4; transit time unchanged; more flatulence	Lever et al., 2019⁶
Green kiwifruit	Fiber that holds water, and an enzyme, actinidin, per a review written with a kiwifruit company⁸	2 a day for 4 weeks, against prunes (100 g a day) and psyllium (12 g a day); 79 adults with chronic constipation	A similar share of responders in all three groups; weekly complete bowel movements rose with all three; fewest side effects with kiwifruit	Chey et al., 2021⁷
Prune juice	About 6.1 g of sorbitol per 100 g; no fiber, because it is filtered before bottling¹⁰	54 g a day for 8 weeks, against a placebo drink; 84 adults with chronic constipation in Japan	Fewer hard, lumpy stools and more normal ones, without more loose stools	Koyama et al., 2022⁹
Rye bread	Not stated in the review's summary	Two trials, pooled; 48 people	0.43 more bowel movements a week than white bread	van der Schoot et al., 2024³
High-mineral water	Minerals; the review's summary does not list them	Four trials, pooled; 539 people	More people responded than on low-mineral water (risk ratio 1.47)	van der Schoot et al., 2024³

Sources: the trial reports and reviews named in each row, read on Oct 16, 2026 through their PubMed and PubMed Central records. Except the healthy-adult prune trial, every study here enrolled adults with constipation. Two have commercial ties, noted in the text below.

Pooled across the meta-analysis, fruits gave 0.36 more bowel movements a week than psyllium (232 people), kiwifruit 0.36 more (192 people), and prunes no difference.³ The comparison was psyllium, a fiber supplement, not doing nothing. What psyllium is, and why it gels, is explained in what is psyllium husk?

Do prunes help constipation?

In trials, modestly. In a 3-week crossover trial in 40 adults with constipation, 100 g of dried plums a day gave 3.5 complete spontaneous bowel movements a week against 2.8 on psyllium with the same 6 g of fiber. In healthy adults who ate little fiber, prunes raised stool weight and frequency over 4 weeks. Pooled with a newer trial, prunes matched psyllium.⁴⁵⁶³

Prunes carry two things that matter. A 2001 review put them at about 6.1 g of fiber and 14.7 g of sorbitol, a sugar alcohol, per 100 g, and wrote that the laxative action of prunes and prune juice "could be explained by their high sorbitol content".¹⁰ A Cleveland Clinic article on prunes puts the mechanism simply: sorbitol works by "drawing water into your colon."¹²

The 2011 trial was small and mostly women, 37 of 40, and straining and overall symptoms did not differ between prunes and psyllium.⁴ The 2019 trial, in 120 healthy adults, found stool weight and frequency up and whole-gut transit time unchanged, and flatulence was more common on prunes.⁶ Cleveland Clinic gastroenterologist Samita Garg, MD, keeps the rule short: "Start slow". She suggests beginning "with just a few prunes or a small drink".¹² The same article counts five dried prunes as roughly a half-cup of juice, and warns that too many can bring diarrhea, bloating and gas.

Does kiwi help constipation?

It has more trials behind it than any other single food: seven in the 2024 meta-analysis, where kiwifruit gave 0.36 more bowel movements a week than psyllium. In a 4-week US trial in 79 adults with chronic constipation, two green kiwifruit a day matched prunes and psyllium on the main measure and had the fewest side effects.³⁷

In that trial, run at Michigan Medicine with 87% women, all three options raised the weekly count of complete bowel movements by weeks 3 and 4; kiwifruit and prunes also improved stool consistency, and fewer people were dissatisfied with kiwifruit at the end.⁷ Why kiwifruit might work is less settled. A 2018 review points to "the water retention capacity of kiwifruit fibre" and to actinidin, an enzyme the fruit contains; two of its three authors have been paid advisers to, and one works for, a kiwifruit company.⁸

Will apple juice help constipation?

No trial on this page tested apple juice. Juice does count toward fluid: NIDDK lists naturally sweetened fruit and vegetable juices next to water and clear soups. Some juices also carry sorbitol. A 1988 study gave apple juice 0.5% sorbitol and pear juice about 2%, and a 2001 review put prune juice at 6.1 g per 100 g, the only juice here with its own trial.¹¹¹¹⁰

That prune juice trial gave 84 adults with chronic constipation 54 g a day or a matching placebo for 8 weeks. By week 3, hard and lumpy stools were less common in the juice group than on placebo, and loose stools did not rise. The study was partly funded by a company that employs two of its six authors.⁹

Whole fruit has what juice loses. Prune juice "is devoid of fiber due to filtration before bottling", the 2001 review notes, and Dr. Garg says: "I always prefer the actual fruit over the juice given the higher fiber content, which is good for your GI tract."¹⁰¹²

Is there a food that helps constipation immediately?

Not by the trial evidence. Every food trial on this page measured results over weeks: 3 weeks for prunes against psyllium, 4 weeks for kiwifruit and for prunes in healthy adults, and 8 weeks for prune juice, where hard stools ran below the placebo group from week 3. None measured hours.⁴⁶⁷⁹

Over-the-counter options, and how fast FDA and MedlinePlus say each one works, are compared in what helps constipation?

What foods make constipation worse?

Foods with little or no fiber, by NIDDK's list: chips, fast food, meat, prepared foods such as some frozen meals and snack foods, and processed foods such as hot dogs or some microwavable dinners. MedlinePlus names processed and fast foods too, from white bread and pastries to French fries, but says lean meats "will not make constipation worse".¹²

So the two agencies split on meat. NIDDK puts it on the low-fiber list; MedlinePlus says fish, chicken, turkey and other lean meats have no fiber but do no harm. Both trace the problem to the same gap, a plate short on fiber.

Where Physician's Choice fits

Physician's Choice, the company behind this site, sells fiber supplements, not foods, and no trial cited here tested them. The Easy Mix Fiber panel lists 6 g of soluble fiber per heaping spoonful, made from soluble corn fiber and guar fiber, and the Fiber Gummies panel 5 g per 2 gummies, with chicory root fiber as the first ingredient. The sources here put food first, and a supplement serving tops that up by a few grams. See the Easy Mix Fiber label.

In two sentences

The foods that help constipation are the fiber-rich ones, eaten with plenty to drink, and of single foods kiwifruit and prunes have the most direct trial evidence, with modest gains measured over weeks. Juice counts as fluid, prune juice brings sorbitol without fiber, and low-fiber processed and fast foods are the ones the agencies say to cut back.

How we reported this

Reader questions: In a pull of 1,145 public Reddit posts (250 communities, Sep 12 to Oct 12, 2026), 434 were tagged constipation. Six posts mentioned prunes, prune juice or kiwi.
Search question: "Foods that help constipation," with "what to eat for constipation," "foods that help with constipation immediately" and "will apple juice help constipation," plus the follow-up AI assistants run on fiber, prunes, kiwi and official guidance.
Label facts: Two panels, Easy Mix Fiber and Fiber Gummies, checked against the label images Physician's Choice posts, on Oct 16, 2026.
Sources: Twelve public sources, each fetched and read on Oct 16, 2026: NIDDK, MedlinePlus, one Cleveland Clinic article, and nine study reports (a meta-analysis, a systematic review, four trials, two reviews and one juice study). The two industry ties are named in the text.
House wording: Two lines come from Physician's Choice word for word: daily fiber, and when to talk to your doctor.

Common questions

Are prunes or prune juice better for constipation?

Whole prunes carry more of what matters: a 2001 review measured about 14.7 g of sorbitol and 6.1 g of fiber per 100 g of prunes, against 6.1 g of sorbitol and no fiber in prune juice. Both have trial data, and a Cleveland Clinic gastroenterologist says she prefers the fruit for its fiber.

How many prunes did the trials use?

The trial against psyllium used 50 g of dried plums twice a day, 100 g in all, for 3 weeks. The trial in healthy adults used 80 g or 120 g a day for 4 weeks. A Cleveland Clinic article counts five dried prunes as roughly a half-cup of prune juice.

Does kiwi help with constipation?

Kiwifruit has more trials than any other single food, seven in a 2024 meta-analysis, where it gave 0.36 more bowel movements a week than psyllium. In a 4-week US trial in 79 adults, two green kiwifruit a day matched prunes and psyllium and had the fewest side effects.

Does apple juice help you poop?

No trial on this page tested it. Apple juice contains some sorbitol, about 0.5% in a 1988 study, against about 2% in pear juice and 6.1 g per 100 g in prune juice. NIDDK counts naturally sweetened fruit juices among the liquids to drink with fiber.

What should you not eat when constipated?

NIDDK says to avoid foods with little to no fiber, such as chips, fast food, meat, prepared foods and processed foods. MedlinePlus also names white bread, pastries, sausage and French fries, but says lean meats do not make constipation worse, so the two lists differ on meat.

Sources

NIDDK (National Institutes of Health). Eating, Diet, & Nutrition for Constipation. Last reviewed May 2018. niddk.nih.gov
MedlinePlus (National Library of Medicine). Constipation: self-care. Review date Jul 15, 2024. medlineplus.gov
van der Schoot A, Katsirma Z, Whelan K, Dimidi E. Systematic review and meta-analysis: foods, drinks and diets and their effect on chronic constipation in adults. Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics. 2024;59(2):157-174. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37905980
Attaluri A, Donahoe R, Valestin J, Brown K, Rao SS. Randomised clinical trial: dried plums (prunes) vs. psyllium for constipation. Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics. 2011;33(7):822-8. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21323688
Lever E, Cole J, Scott SM, Emery PW, Whelan K. Systematic review: the effect of prunes on gastrointestinal function. Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics. 2014;40(7):750-8. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25109788
Lever E, Scott SM, Louis P, Emery PW, Whelan K. The effect of prunes on stool output, gut transit time and gastrointestinal microbiota: a randomised controlled trial. Clinical Nutrition. 2019;38(1):165-173. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29398337
Chey SW, Chey WD, Jackson K, Eswaran S. Exploratory comparative effectiveness trial of green kiwifruit, psyllium, or prunes in US patients with chronic constipation. American Journal of Gastroenterology. 2021;116(6):1304-1312. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34074830
Richardson DP, Ansell J, Drummond LN. The nutritional and health attributes of kiwifruit: a review. European Journal of Nutrition. 2018;57(8):2659-2676. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29470689
Koyama T, Nagata N, Nishiura K, Miura N, Kawai T, Yamamoto H. Prune juice containing sorbitol, pectin, and polyphenol ameliorates subjective complaints and hard feces while normalizing stool in chronic constipation: a randomized placebo-controlled trial. American Journal of Gastroenterology. 2022;117(10):1714-1717. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9531972
Stacewicz-Sapuntzakis M, Bowen PE, Hussain EA, Damayanti-Wood BI, Farnsworth NR. Chemical composition and potential health effects of prunes: a functional food? Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. 2001;41(4):251-86. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11401245
Hyams JS, Etienne NL, Leichtner AM, Theuer RC. Carbohydrate malabsorption following fruit juice ingestion in young children. Pediatrics. 1988;82(1):64-8. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3380601
Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials. Constipation relief: can prune juice make you poop? With gastroenterologist Samita Garg, MD. Published Feb 21, 2023. health.clevelandclinic.org
Physician's Choice product labels: Easy Mix Fiber and Fiber Gummies (label images on physicianschoice.com). Read Oct 16, 2026. Physician's Choice lines on this page appear word for word.