Are you or someone else in your family suffering from diarrhea? Would you like to find out how to combat this with home remedies? Do you know the signs when you should immediately seek medical care? Find about the home remedies for Diarrhea which you can consider.
If you or a loved one got hit with diarrhea, then read on and find out what to do to get relief from this disease. From drinking lots of water to get the best probiotics for diarrhea, there are home remedies for Diarrhea that you can do to alleviate its symptoms and ultimately make it go away.
Tummy Troubles
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), diarrheal disease kills approximately 525,000 children a year. It is the leading cause of malnutrition and the second leading cause of death for children under the age of five.
Diarrhea is typically caused by bacterial or viral infections. Food intolerance (getting a food intolerance test can help identify which specific foods are causing the issue), intestinal disorders or diseases, parasites, or reaction to certain medications may also bring about diarrhea. Consuming contaminated drinking food or water and person-to-person transmission due to poor personal hygiene may spread the infection.
It is normally exhibited by the passing of three or more loose or watery stools a day. It may or may not be accompanied by abdominal bloating, flatulence or gas, or pressure. Some other symptoms include bloating, bowel movement urgency, dehydration, fever, and stomach cramps.
While diarrhea can be treated at home, people should seek immediate medical care when diarrhea is accompanied by lethargy, high fever, and moderate-to-severe abdominal pain. If dehydration cannot be managed at home by drinking fluids, one should also seek medical assistance. Other symptoms of severe diarrhea to watch out for are
- Bloody diarrhea
- Dehydration
- Vomiting or inability to hold down food or liquids
- High grade fever
- Significant abdominal pain
- History of travel
- Is pregnant, elderly, or has some underlying health conditions like diabetes, heart, kidney, or liver disease
- If symptoms do not improve in three days or appear to become worse
On the Bright Side
Diarrhea is both preventable and treatable. Some of the leading interventions to prevent diarrhea is through safe drinking water, thorough hand washing with soap, and improved sanitation.
There are also home remedies for Diarrhea that can help in managing with it. Here are some of the things that you can do:
1. Hydration is Key
One thing that you have to watch out for is dehydration. This is considered to be the most serious threat since a person loses water and electrolytes during a diarrheal episode. Breathing, sweating, urinating, vomiting, and passing of liquid stools can all lead to dehydration when these fluids are not replaced.
Dehydration can be mild or severe. Symptoms range from thirst, irritability, restlessness and sunken eyes, to inability to drink, lethargy or unconsciousness. When severe dehydration occurs, it is best to seek medical care right away.
To prevent dehydration, a person suffering from diarrhea should drink plenty of fluids. Clean water, clear broths, weak tea or ice pops. Intravenous fluids may need to be administered for severe cases.
2. Know Which Types of Food to Eat
You can put your cooking classes to good use by preparing food that can help ease the symptoms of diarrhea.
Ideally, diarrhea patients should eat nutrient-rich food. The BRAT diet – Bananas, Rice (white), Apples, Toast — is highly recommended because these kinds of low-fiber food help make stools firmer.
Other food choices include baked or boiled potatoes and chicken. Make sure to remove the skin so lessen the fat content. Chicken soup and oatmeal are also good alternatives. To help you avoid fatigue, you should eat food that is high in protein like well-cooked eggs or tofu or lean meats like baked beef, chicken, pork, or turkey. To replenish the water that you lost, you can also eat food high in sodium like crackers, pretzels, and soups.
Some fruits or vegetables may worsen diarrhea when eaten raw. If you want to have your daily dose of fruits and veggies, cook them first. You can check to concoct dishes with cooked asparagus tips, beets, carrots, celery, mushrooms, tomato puree, or zucchini.
Also try to eat small, frequent meals of the allowed diet to make it easier for your stomach to digest food. Drink at least a cup of water or any of the permitted liquids after a bout of diarrhea to avoid dehydration.
3. Know Which Types of Food to Avoid
If there are food types that you should go for, then there are also some that you or a person with diarrhea should steer clear of.
Limit intake of high-fiber food like bran products, raw nuts, and wholegrain bread as this may irritate your digestive tract more. Avoid eating fatty, greasy, or spicy food as well.
You should also limit drinking milk or other milk products as these are harder to digest. Other digestive tract irritants that may aggravate diarrhea are alcoholic, caffeinated, and carbonated beverages. Too hot or too cold drinks should also be avoided.
If you have diarrhea, you should also avoid tobacco products.
4. Consider Probiotics
People have around 100 trillion bacteria living in their guts. This is commonly called the intestinal or gut flora. Each person has a different microbe ecosystem but one thing is for sure, there should be a balance between the bad and the good bacteria inside. If there are more bad bacteria living in the gut, it leads to a variety of ailments that cause intestinal infections.
To ensure that you have a healthy gut or to stave off diarrhea, you should eat probiotic-rich food or take probiotic supplements. There are probiotics supplements that contain the Bacillus clausii bacteria strain. This friendly strain of bacteria helps in restoring the balance of gut flora, reduces the adverse effects of antibiotics on the gastrointestinal system, and relieves the symptoms of diarrhea and lessens its duration.
You can also eat food rich in probiotics such as green olives, kefir, kimchi, kombucha, sauerkraut, miso, natto, pickles, sourdough bread, tempeh, and yogurt.
5. Check OTC Remedies
Diarrhea can also be managed by taking OTC medication such as oral rehydration salts (ORS) solution. This solution is a combination of clean water, salt, and sugar and is available in most pharmacies. It is easily absorbed by the small intestine and helps replace the electrolytes and water that went out with the loose bowel movement.
There are also zinc supplements available that can help cut down diarrheal episodes by 25%. It is also linked to the 30% reduction in stool volume.
Drive Diarrhea Away
Knowing which kinds of food to avoid, hydrating with water and other clear fluids, taking oral rehydration salts or probiotic supplements can all help alleviate symptoms of diarrhea. These home remedies can be your go-to options when you are suddenly struck by diarrhea. However, if your symptoms become worse, it is best to consult a doctor or go to a medical facility.