food and herbs for weak digestion

My partner has a terribly weak digestion and has often constipation. He eats plenty of raw vegetables and does green smoothies. He often eats a cold lunch. In the past he even did more of that like cold brown rice salads. My gut (which works perfectly) feelings say that this aggravates the situation and I read something about how too much fibre actually can worsen the problem. It is maybe not very good to kick the gut each time it is supposed to work. My feeling says that hot porridge and cooked food is better (as I cook this is easy to influence). On the top of it he is vegetarian which probably does not help either, but I don't want to pursuade or push (everyone has to decide on its own). That is a gut feeling and no evidence or information. I don't even know weather or not it is true. What I know is that Chinese medicine does not favour raw food either. BTW it is late autumn here and cold.
What do you think? What herbs would you suggest? And what food? Can you recommend any reading?

I highly recommend making kefir with the raw milk of your choice. There's a good chance it will fix him right up. Everyone I know who drinks raw milk kefir no longer has chronic gut maladies or ailments, and the stories they've shared of offering kefir to friends/coworkers who were open to giving it a try also no longer experience whatever gut problems/imbalance they complained of. I drink milk kefir every day, it's delicious (tastes similar to buttermilk, has some delightful sour notes going on) and it's part of my breakfast. I should mention my wife had a recurring gut problem for nearly two months, but can't stand the taste of milk kefir so we purchased water kefir grains and I started making that for her. She started drinking a small glass of the water kefir every day, and her recurring problem never occurred again. It disappeared like the flip of a switch, and that was back in January. If he's sick and tired of being sick and tired and is open to the idea, it's my recommendation.

Look into ginger.   I find that it really helps with weak digestion,  I do not have the same problems but i bet you can find some good information out there that is specific to your situation.

Probiotics, like the raw kefir recommended above are a wonderful suggestion. Getting really good yogurt, making kombucha, beet kvass will also help.

Vegetarianism really isn't the issue here, but diet can aggravate it. My sister is a long term very low carb paleo eater and she also has constipation. Each of us have a very unique bowel and some are supper efficient at pulling water out of a stool and this is what leads to compaction. The digestion really isn't the issue, it is the colon that is.

In a pinch, increasing the intake of Magnesium oxide, which causes water to be retained or even dumped into the colon, can create loser stools which are easier to pass. Another suggestion is to elevate the feet onto a low step stool so the body is in a more natural position for defecating--thinks squatting.

If the body is cool and dry then raw diet according to Chinese medicine will only make matters worse. Increasing probiotics, increasing hydration in the body and increasing magnesium intake will probably make a huge difference. Another option is increasing vitamin C intake to bowel tolerance which helps keep water in the colon and also black cherry juice--start slowly, maybe a few ounces a day--until the stool is of desired softness. It is VERY cleansing.

Good luck and good health to your partner and you!

I don't make kefir but we drink kombucha every day. Maybe I could add kefir. And try to decrease raw stuff. And unfortunately I have no access to raw milk.

Pears contain sorbitol which is a laxative, figs and prunes would obviously be good too.

As well as Kefir as a probiotic- (I cant get raw milk and find it still very beneficial) I drink fresh ginger tea with lemon quite a bit, it helps with indegestion and is a very good antinflamatory helping any sore muscles from gardening.

Rhubarb
This was originally a chinese herb but the Brits bred it to be a fruit
Very gentle laxative Some Jam for breakfast will help
I have some nice recipes if you want Rhurbarb and apricot , Rhubarb and ginger etc

David