People often ask which foods to add into the diet to stop diarrhea when this has already started. In most cases however, certain foods have to be avoided to stop diarrhea.

Anyway, let’s see in which types of diarrhea, adding certain foods into a diet can help.

1. Toddler’s Diarrhea

Toddlers, fed with excessive amount of fruit juices and lack of dairy products at the same time may develop chronic diarrhea. Limiting fruit juices and adding milk and other dairy products into a diet usually helps.

continue reading Foods to Stop Diarrhea

How Can Healthy Food Cause Diarrhea in a Healthy Person?

Foods that are not problematic as such, may still cause diarrhea (lose bowel movements) even if you don’t have any bowel disease. Why?

1. Overeating

Continuing eating when you already know that you have enough may result in lose bowel movement(s) some hours later. This is especially true in children because their short bowels cannot digest large amounts of food at once. An excessive amount of any food, especially sugary and fatty foods (cakes, ice-cream, etc.) and fiber-rich foods (fruits, vegetables, vegetable broths or cereals) may be the cause.

continue reading Inappropriate Diet and Diarrhea – Foods Causing Diarrhea

Rarely, diarrhea caused by bacterial food poisoning may be accompanied or followed by nose bleeding, body swelling, painful joints, muscle paralysis due to exaggerated body reaction to harmful bacteria.

Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS)

Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) may appear in children having diarrhea caused by food poisoning with Escherichia coli 0157:H7 or other bacteria. From the intestine, bacteria may enter the blood and break down red blood cells (hemolysis) that clog kidney vessels what may result in kidney failure. (Uremia refers to increased blood urea (a product of protein breakdown), which can not be successfully removed by impaired kidneys, so it builds up in the blood). Symptoms of HUS include: nose bleeding, pale skin with bruises, profound fatigue, fever, swelling of the face or limbs and decreased urination or blood in the urine usually develop several days after the start of diarrhea, mostly in children under 10 years of age. A child with the mentioned symptoms has to be admitted to hospital promptly. Diagnosis is made by blood test that reveal low level of red cells and platelets, and presence of bacteria. Treatment with blood transfusion and kidney dialysis usually results in full recovery (1). Without proper treatment, permanent kidney damage or even death may occur.

continue reading Complications of Food Poisoning: Bleeding, Arthritis or Paralysis

What Is Protein Losing Enteropathy?

In protein losing enteropathy (Greek enteron = intestine; pathy = disease), proteins are lost through the gut wall into the gut hollow, resulting in low blood proteins and leg swelling. Proteins are lost through the damaged gut wall (see causes bellow) or through intact gut wall due to blocked drainage of proteins by intestinal lymphatic vessels (1).

Symptoms

Symptoms of protein losing enteropathy include:

• Leg swelling (result of low levels of proteins in the blood)
• Diarrhea (from the original intestinal disease)
• Blood in the stool (if ulcers develop during intestinal disease)
• Weight loss (from reduced absorption of nutrients in damaged small intestine)
• Various infections (due to lowered immunity)  

continue reading Protein Losing Enteropathy – Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment

Rare causes of chronic diarrhea (lasting over 3 weeks) are listed below; symptoms are added to help to recognize a cause.

Read about common causes of chronic diarrhea and causes of acute (sudden) diarrhea. 

Causes of Chronic Diarrhea in Adults

1. Diabetes

Old patients with long lasting, poorly controlled diabetes may have:

• Damage of the intestinal nerves resulting in increased speed of peristalsis and diarrhea.
• Ischemic colitis with diarrhea, blood in the stool and lower left abdominal pain.
• Damage of the nerves in the limbs resulting in tingling in hands and feet.

2. Thyroid Disease

In hyperthyroidism, excessive thyroxine stimulates bowel muscles thus shortening intestinal transit time resulting in diarrhea. Other symptoms include bumps on the front side of the neck, bulging eyes, sweating and irritability. 

continue reading Rare Causes of Chronic Diarrhea in Adults and Children

Water and Food Poisoning Due to Bad Sanitation

Inappropriate sewage disposal may result in contamination of drinking water with human and animal stools containing viruses, bacteria or parasites. Drinking or swimming in such water is the main source of stomach and bowel infections in tropical areas.

If water, contaminated with microbes, is used for watering fields, crops get contaminated. Improper food storing (no cooling) and bad hygiene (no hand washing) are additional causes of food poisoning with bacteria or parasites. Infestation with intestinal worms, a huge health problem in rural tropical areas, can be attracted by walking barefoot, or swimming in contaminated rivers and lakes.

continue reading Prevention and Treatment of Bowel Infections in Tropical Areas

What Is Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)?

Various bacteria are present in the human small intestine as part of normal intestinal flora, but when they overgrow, they may cause diarrhea. They may also break down bile acids, necessary for absorption of fats, thus reducing absorption of fats and fat-soluble vitamins A, D and E. In severe cases, bacteria may damage small intestinal wall thus impairing carbohydrate and protein absorption resulting in malnutrition. Anemia may develop, when bacteria break down vitamin B12.

continue reading Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO): Symptoms, Treatment

Causes of Food Poisoning

Bacteria that can cause diarrhea in human live in the intestines of healthy or infected people, or animals, like cattle, poultry or pets. Their stool may contaminate drinking or recreational water, soil, vegetables on fields, milk during milking, meat during slaughter, or food prepared with the hands contaminated with stool. Beside that, bacteria arising from the air or food storing surfaces may quickly multiply in a non-cooled food.

continue reading Food Poisoning – Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment

A single attack (or few attacks) of diarrhea occurring few minutes to few hours after eating may be due to:

• A wrong food combination - some foods just don’t go together, like meat and sugar… 
• Magnesium - in some mineral waters, sport drinks, antacids, supplements
• Staph food poisoning with toxins released from bacterium Staphylococcus aureus; diarrhea may appear from 20 minutes to 8 hours after ingesting contaminated food (in food poisoning due other bacteria, viruses, or parasites, diarrhea usually appears more than 8 hours after a meal)

continue reading What Causes Diarrhea After Eating?

Loose Bowel Movements (Diarrhea)

Occasional loose bowel movements may be normal, but having over three loose stools per day is a symptom of diarrhea.

Check characteristics of normal and excessive bowel movements. Read how to find the cause of loose bowel movements from medical symptoms.

Constipation

Constipation means having less than three bowel movements in a week.

Check the causes of chronic constipation and severe constipation.

continue reading Bowel Movement Problems