Diarrhea is a common disorder, and we all have experienced the severity of it at some point in time. Diarrhea offers a wide range of symptoms such as bloating, frequent loose stools, abdominal cramping, and tummy pain.
A study conducted in the US amongst 604 kids aged 3 to 36 months in general community settings ahead of the introduction of rotavirus vaccination concluded that the highest frequency of acute Diarrhea was during January and August, revealing an overall occurrence of 2.21 episodes per person per year. About 90 percent of these cases were associated with acute Diarrhea(1) (i.e., lasting a maximum of 14 days at a stretch, with an average duration of 2 days and an average of 6 stools a day) |
A balanced meal contains all three core food groups in the right proportion. Talking about the ratio, a balanced diet includes one-quarter carbohydrates, one-quarter proteins, and mixed vegetables.
A balanced or healthy meal contains all three core food groups (within one complete portion) as discussed below:
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Foods rich in carbohydrate include rice, pasta, bread, barley, quinoa, couscous, potatoes, oats, and cereals. These carbohydrate-rich foods provide energy for the muscles, brain, and other vital organs of the body. Dieticians prefer wholegrain carbohydrates since they include essential vitamin B and fiber, hence adding to the value of a healthy meal.
Protein-rich foods include eggs, pulses, milk, yogurt, seafood, poultry, red meat, cheese, tofu, and nuts. This core food group is essential for maintaining red blood cells, enzyme and hormone production, and muscle tissue growth. Children need more of these protein-rich foods to support the needs of their growing bodies and to prevent physical illness.
Vegetables, herbs, and seeds are an excellent source of antioxidants, fiber, minerals, and vitamins. Minerals and vitamins keep our organs and metabolism running efficiently, hence promoting healthy living. Antioxidants and vitamins repair tissue and muscle damaged resulting from environmental pollutants or metabolic processes.
Low Fiber diets include the food items that contain a small amount of fiber content that facilitate smooth bowel movements. It mainly consists of the roughages, that make the digestion process easy to stimulate bowels.
The estimated amount of 25 grams of low fiber content per day can generate good health of the intestines. A low fiber diet includes food items like cereals, fruits, vegetables, bread, nuts, legumes, dried beans, meat, fish, poultry, milk, and other dairy products.
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Banana is a perfect fruit that can soothe you from the symptoms of Diarrhea. It holds a significant number of properties, and it is a good source of potassium, which is also essential for the blood vessels.
You can eat bananas by including them in your milkshakes or smoothies. They can add good texture and flavor to your fruit custards. Also, you can eat some bananas by cutting and freezing them along with some sugar.
Bananas are easily digested and, therefore, make a great option to settle your upset stomach. They are an excellent source of pectin, an essential fiber that comes handy in absorbing liquid in your intestines to help move stools along smoothly. Also, potassium in bananas provides you the much-needed electrolyte replacement after a severe bout of Diarrhea.
Avoid overeating bananas during bananas as if induced in large quantities, it could aggravate Diarrhea.
[Also Read: Benefits of Banana to Treat Diarrhea]
As per the USDA guidelines, canned fruits are equally healthy as the normal ones. Canned fruits are stored by using different ways.
It is a benefit provided by the canned fruits that they do not tend to lose Vitamin C when stored for several days. The Vitamin retains in the can even if you save it for several months. The canned fruits do not lose their nutrient value when packed in a can.
Veggies offer essential nutrition and certainly deserve a spot in your diet while you’re suffering from Diarrhea. Carrots, acorn squash, peeled zucchini, and green beans, beets are all excellent choices. If you have never tried steaming or microwaving a carrot, you will be amazed at how delicious and sweet it can get.
When suffering from Diarrhea, you must consider avoiding vegetables that are hard to digest and tend to cause gas, including broccoli, green leafy vegetables, cauliflower, peppers, corn, and peas.
You can use carrots in the form of carrot soup, which will boost up the metabolism of your gut and improve your digestion. Carrot soup can help you fight with dehydration, fulfilling the requirements of essential minerals, supplying pectin to stop the inflammation of intestine walls, and preventing the feeling of nausea or vomiting.
[Read: Probiotics for Diarrhea]
The purpose of Clear Liquid Diarrhea diet is to prepare the stomach and the body for any medical test or surgeries. The surgeries require no or less food in the stomach, that’s why the patient is asked to follow a liquid diet which consists of only liquids. A clear Liquid diet is highly beneficial if you want to avoid the feeling of nausea and vomiting post the surgery. The following liquids are the part of a liquid diet –
When trying to overcome a severe bout of Diarrhea, you might wonder what foods are safe to eat and what is not. You may want to have foods that go easy on your digestive system and provide a soothing effect. You won’t surely look to avoid foods altogether, but may look for those foods that can aid in slowing things down.
While dealing with Diarrhea, you should eat pure, bland foods that are not just easy to digest but also help absorb water from the stools, hence giving bulk to your stools along with relieving the symptoms of watery bowel movements.
The Traditional BRAT diet for chronic diarrhea is not anymore the preferred choice for stomach issues since it is too restrictive. Also, in case your Diarrhea is a result of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), the traditional BRAT diet, especially the applesauce, is likely to prove ineffective.
When you have Diarrhea, it is imperative to know what foods to eat. However, it is just as essential to know what foods to avoid. The last thing you’d want is to aggravate the condition by eating something you shouldn’t.
Here’s a list of foods you must avoid when you have Diarrhea:
It is advised that you avoid milk products during and immediately after having bouts of Diarrhea. Diarrhea tends to reduce the quantity of enzyme lactase, which is needed by your body for digesting lactose (i.e., the sugar found in milk products). If the ‘milk sugar’ remains undigested, it can further aggravate the symptoms of Diarrhea, nausea, bloating, and gas.
Fatty foods such as fried, greasy, creamy, and fast foods tend to speed up your intestinal contraction, causing a reaction to your digestive system that is already weakened and sensitive. As a result, the symptoms of Diarrhea may reverse.
Sugar-free foods such as sugar substitutes and artificial sweeteners exhibit laxative properties along with contributing to excessive bloating and gas. Therefore, you must avoid them for a few days even after you feel you’ve recovered from Diarrhea.
Excess of intestinal gas can aggravate the symptoms of Diarrhea. Therefore people with Diarrhea must consider avoiding foods that tend to cause stomach gas such as onions, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, and beans.
Carbonated beverages, alcohol, and caffeine are GI irritants, means they tend to irritate the lining of your stomach as well as intestines, which can reverse symptoms of Diarrhea even days after they have subsided. Therefore, you must consider avoiding these beverages when you have Diarrhea and for a few days post recovery.
While symptoms of Diarrhea may vary from person to person, the most common symptoms include dehydration, stomach cramps, fever, chills, bloody stools (in the case of infectious Diarrhea), and reduced bowel control. Here are some general preventive measures that you can choose to prevent Diarrhea –
It is not pleasing to undergo a severe bout of Diarrhea. In such a condition, the last thing you would want is to eat or drink something you should not and end up making things worse.
With the food options discussed in this post, you will have plenty of options that will not further haunt your stomach.
If you face a severe bout of Diarrhea lasting for more than 2 to 3 days, if you are dehydrated, have chills or fever, or notice pus or blood in your stool, consult a registered medical practitioner immediately to rule out other critical underlying cause.
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When you have Diarrhea, consider eating foods that help restore the lost nutrients and electrolytes. Some of the best foods to have while recovering from Diarrhea include bananas, yogurt, white rice, soup broth, electrolyte water, sports drinks, and coconut water.
The liquid diet helps in making the digestion faster and in the absorption of all the essential nutrients easily. It does not hinder the bowel movements and also facilitates the surgeries and medical tests if any.
Eggs come under the poultry products and are low in fiber content. Food items with low fiber content facilitate the bowel movements and do not hinder the digestion process.