Diarrhea Diet: What to Eat and What to Avoid for Healthy Living
To keep diarrhea under control, avoiding any further worsening and worry, here’s the right diarrhea diet. The right diet helps to keep diarrhea under control, avoiding any further deterioration and annoyance. Attention, however, to the false myths. Let’s see the advice of nutritionists.
First, of diarrhea diet, it is good to clarify what is meant by diarrhea
An isolated episode of semisolid or liquid stool emission, also accompanied by an abdominal pain, cannot be defined as such. Diarrhea is in fact characterized by frequent evacuations (at least four, five times a day) of liquid stool.
It is also good to know that in any of its forms (acute, recurrent or chronic) it can be considered a real disease, but a symptom. Therefore, to heal it is necessary to research the triggering causes and treat these.
There are several natural remedies to treat diarrhea. Find out what they are reading the article Nature that helps stomach and intestines.
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Multiple Causes
Species of acute forms the most frequent cause is a bacterial or viral infection, but also the ingestion of spoiled foods, food allergies and conditions of excessive stress can have negative effects on our intestine. Just as it should be remembered that diarrhea can present itself as a side effect of some drugs taken.
The most common forms are usually of short duration, and a proper diet certainly helps to solve this annoying symptom.
First rule: Attention to liquids
The most feared danger due to acute diarrhea, especially when it affects young and old children, is that of dehydration.
Excessive fluid loss following persistent diarrhea episodes (over three to four days) can also cause severe illness. So it is always necessary to drink abundantly.
However, avoid alcoholic beverages, which are also dehydrating, and those containing caffeine (such as coffee, tea, cola drinks) because they are irritating to the intestine, making the situation worse.
In general, it is better to forget also the carbonated drinks and to drink natural mineral water, perhaps with the addition of a little sugar and lemon juice.
Additional precaution: Drink frequently and in small sips. A glass of water taken in one breath ends up dilating the walls of the intestine, which reacts by expelling what it cannot absorb. On the contrary, small amounts of liquids, even if frequent, leave time to absorb them into the intestinal mucosa.
Finally, after an episode of diarrhea, a lack of minerals can easily occur. To overcome this problem, multivitamin and multimineral supplements can be taken.
Food to bring to the table, those to avoid
Fortunately, the foods that can be eaten without particular problems are many, so as to allow a varied and tasty diet. Here are the following: – toasted white bread, white bread without crumb, rusks – white flour dough, rice, semolina – lean meats (beef, poultry, veal, etc.) – boiled or grilled fish – fresh, unfermented cheeses ( mozzarella, robiola) – poached or hard-boiled eggs – bresaola, defatted ham (cooked or raw) – carrots, lettuce, potatoes, spinach (better cooked vegetables) – apricots, pineapple , banana, lemon, apples, peaches, grapefruit.
However, in general, all foods rich in raw vegetable fibers and slag are not recommended, as they speed up the transit and emptying of the intestine. So it is good to avoid: – wholemeal bread, white breadcrumbs – foods made with whole wheat flour – vegetables and raw vegetables: broccoli, artichokes, cabbage, chickpeas, turnip greens, onions, beans, beans, lentils, peas, radishes, celery.
For different reasons, even foods that are too fat or too fermented, fritters, creams, aromas that are too irritating should be avoided: – fermented cheeses – spicy and cured meats – lard, bacon, lard – fried eggs and fries in general – foods based on spicy sauces, mustard, mustard, spices. – avocado, persimmon, coconut, dates, strawberries, figs, dried fruit, raspberries, almonds, blackberries, hazelnuts, walnuts, pine nuts, pears, plums, currants, grapes – too elaborate sweets based on creams, and chocolate.
Some truths and false myths
Many people believe that to fight diarrhea, a “white diet” is the best thing. But is it really true?
The opinions of experts in this regard are quite conflicting. Also because not everyone has the same opinion about the ingredients that can compose it.
If by diet in white means: chicken soup, butter pasta, and maybe a nice glass of milk, you cannot think of improving diarrhea.
If, however, you eat: boiled rice very cooked (and not too drained) so you release the starch that has astringent functions, white meat (veal, chicken or turkey) steamed, boiled carrots, and it is seasoned with a little raw oil, a pinch of salt and plenty of lemon juice, the diet will be a sure help against diarrhea.
Lemon tea. What about the famous “beautiful cup of boiling tea with lemon”? As for tea, it is better to let it go: as we have seen, it can irritate the intestinal walls; as for the “boiling” one would add heat to the already present intestinal inflammation.
The only thing that can be saved is lemon juice, which can effectively regulate intestinal functions.
Probiotics. Another controversial issue concerns some milk derivatives based on probiotics, therefore containing bacteria and lactic ferments beneficial for intestinal functions. In practice, fresh yogurts containing live bacteria.
There are those who claim to be a panacea and who, instead, says the opposite. To avoid mistakes, at least in the acute phases of diarrhea, milk, fresh dairy products, including probiotics, should be avoided. You can take them again after the intestinal irritation has been resolved.
If and when to resort to drugs
A belief to be discredited is that it is good to stop diarrhea as soon as possible by taking antidiarrheal at the first symptom and without advising the doctor.
These drugs do not intervene in the causes of diarrhea, but they attenuate the symptom. Among other things, they act by blocking the motility of the intestine, thus also preventing the rapid elimination of bacteria and toxins.
Finally, since it is often an infection, many think to solve everything quickly with an antibiotic. Nothing could be more wrong. Diarrhea is often established precisely to eliminate pathogenic microorganisms that have hit the intestine.
And moreover, antibiotics, sweeping away all the microorganisms present in the intestine, upset the physiological balance of the intestinal microenvironment aggravating the situation.
This does not mean that antibiotics are always poorly indicated: in case of serious infections. In which the responsible bacterium is clearly identified, the doctor can certainly decide to prescribe the appropriate drug.
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