Diarrhea is really unpleasant condition and makes us feel uncomfortable, but it’s not a big problem if it occurs rarely in healthy adults. If diarrhea becomes a chronic condition or occurs in children and the elderly, then you have to be careful, because their bodies can get dehydrated more easily.
Diarrhea can be caused from bacteria, viruses or parasites. Norovirus, rotovirus, adenovirus and astrovirus are main viruses that cause diarrhea. The bacterias are: salmonellae, shigellae, and E coli. Parasites are rare cause of diarrhea but giardia and entamoeba histolytica can cause it.
Important! If your diarrhea lasts for more than 2-3 days, visit your doctor immediately.
What is diarrhea?
Diarrhea is an occurrence of liquid stool during the day (or night).
There are two types of diarrhea: acute and chronic. Fortunately, acute diarrhea occurs more often, it’s a diarrhea that lasts for a short period of time. It often lasts for a few days and it’s accompanied with liquid stool and gas pains in the stomach.
Chronic diarrhea lasts longer and may be a sign of a serious illness, so if you suffer from chronic diarrhea, visit your doctor immediately.
Tips on how to help yourself if you have diarrhea
Drink plenty of fluids. You can lose a lot of water if you have diarrhea, but you also lose electrolytes and potassium which your body needs. To compensate, drink plenty of fluids. Drink 8 glasses of water throughout the day. If you have a fever, drink up to 12 glasses a day. Ordinary water doesn’t contain electrolytes, but it is good for compensating the lost fluid and you’ll avoid dehydration. You can also drink tea with a little sugar or honey, apple juice and sports drinks (but don’t overdo with the sports drinks, 1-2 glasses per day is ok, in addition to the 8 glasses of water).
Don’t drink very cold liquids. Whatever you choose to drink should be cold but not too cold. Drink more liquid but in smaller sips. That’s better than drinking a whole glass of water at once.
Eat chicken soup. Eat it warm, but not too hot.
Get rest. Rest your body so it’ll be able to successfully fight the cause of diarrhea which can be virus or bacteria.
Put a hot pad on your stomach or a bottle with warm water. This will help to ease the pain a little.
Eat light food. A good choice would be soup, rice, bananas, potatoes, boiled carrots and white chicken meat.
Avoid dairy products. Avoid milk, cheese and other products (except plain yogurt) while you have diarrhea and don’t eat them for a few weeks later after you get well.
Don’t eat sweets. The high concentration of sugar can aggravate your condition. The same goes for sugar from fruit.
3 Home remedies for diarrhea
Blueberries. Fresh blueberries are a well known home remedy for diarrhea. In Sweden, doctors advice the patients to eat blueberry soup if they have stomach problems.
Chamomile tea. You can make it with chamomile tea bags or to buy chamomile flowers and make chamomile mint tea with one teaspoon of dry chamomile and one teaspoon of dry mint leaves. Drink 3 cups daily. Tannic in black tea also helps against diarrhea.
Potatoes. Potatoes can help you to overcome this uncomfortable stomach problem called diarrhea, but you shouldn’t eat them fried. Steam them or bake them.