Smooth Move is a herbal tea made by Traditional Medicinals that works as a natural laxative. Its active ingredient is senna leaf, a plant that has been used for centuries to relieve constipation. The tea is widely available in grocery stores and pharmacies and is one of the most popular over-the-counter options for occasional constipation relief.
How Smooth Move Tea Works
Senna, the tea’s primary ingredient, contains compounds called sennosides. When you drink the tea, these compounds travel to your large intestine, where bacteria break them down into their active form. They stimulate the muscles lining your colon to contract more forcefully than usual, pushing stool through and triggering a bowel movement. Senna also reduces the amount of water your colon absorbs from stool, keeping it softer and easier to pass.
Most people experience a bowel movement within 6 to 12 hours after drinking a cup. Because of this timeline, the tea is typically consumed before bed so it takes effect the following morning.
What’s in the Tea Besides Senna
Smooth Move isn’t pure senna. The blend includes several supporting herbs like licorice root, ginger, fennel, and cinnamon. These aren’t just for flavor. Ginger and fennel have long been used to ease gas and bloating, and licorice root can help soothe the digestive tract. Together, they’re intended to soften the cramping that senna sometimes causes on its own. The tea has a mildly sweet, slightly spicy taste that most people find palatable.
Common Side Effects
The most frequent side effects are abdominal cramps and diarrhea. In a study of 640 children treated with senna for chronic constipation, 16 experienced side effects, mostly abdominal pain and cramping or diarrhea during the first few weeks, and these typically resolved on their own. Adults generally experience similar patterns: mild stomach discomfort that fades as the body adjusts or after reducing the dose.
More concerning is the risk of electrolyte imbalance, particularly low potassium levels. Your body loses electrolytes through frequent or watery bowel movements, and potassium depletion can cause muscle weakness, heart rhythm changes, and fatigue. This risk increases significantly with prolonged or excessive use.
How Long You Can Safely Use It
The NHS recommends taking senna for no longer than one week at a time. Beyond that, your body can start to depend on the stimulation rather than your bowels doing the work on their own. This is called laxative dependence, and it can make constipation worse over time. Long-term use or misuse of senna can lead to chronic diarrhea, persistent cramping, weight loss, and a condition where the colon lining develops a darkened pigmentation.
Smooth Move is designed for occasional use. If you’re reaching for it regularly, that’s a signal to look at what’s causing your constipation in the first place, whether that’s diet, hydration, medication side effects, or something else worth investigating.
Pregnancy and Breastfeeding
Senna is occasionally used during pregnancy, and there’s no evidence it causes harm. That said, other types of laxatives have more safety data behind them, so they’re generally recommended as a first option. If you’re breastfeeding, only tiny amounts of senna pass into breast milk, and these are unlikely to cause side effects in a healthy baby. If your baby develops diarrhea or feeds less than usual after you start using the tea, it’s worth checking in with a healthcare provider.
Smooth Move and Weight Loss
Some people use Smooth Move tea hoping it will help with weight loss. Any drop on the scale after drinking it is almost entirely water weight lost through bowel movements, not fat loss. Your body reabsorbs water as soon as you rehydrate, and the number returns to where it was. Senna does not reduce calorie absorption in any meaningful way, and using it repeatedly for weight control puts you at real risk of dehydration, electrolyte problems, and laxative dependence.
How to Use It Effectively
Steep one tea bag in a cup of freshly boiled water for 10 to 15 minutes. A longer steep draws out more of the active compounds, which makes the effect stronger but also increases the chance of cramping. If you’re trying it for the first time, start with a shorter steep (closer to 10 minutes) and see how your body responds before going longer.
Drink one cup before bedtime. Don’t double up on bags or brew multiple cups in one evening. More tea doesn’t mean faster results; it just means more cramping and a higher chance of diarrhea. Stick with one cup per day, and limit use to a few consecutive days at most.