Diarrhea: Causes Symptoms and Natural Treatments

Today’s life of instant comfort has its consequences. We live in a world of push-button convenience, fast food and environmental toxins we humans were not exposed to a half million years ago.
Today we deal with air pollution, pesticides in our food, polluted water, and overly processed foods our bodies were not designed to handle.
These toxins affect the delicate balance in our digestive systems because even the air we breathe makes it to our gut… eventually. Diarrhea is one of Nature’s defense systems used to help rid the body of toxins and poisons as quickly as possible.
Acute symptoms of diarrhea can be caused by contaminated food, viruses and occasionally, antibiotic treatments.
There are two kinds of diarrhea, acute and chronic. Acute diarrhea is isolated and only lasts three, maybe seven days. Chronic diarrhea can last weeks, months, and in some cases, years.
Diarrhea is a symptom of another underlying problem of your digestive system. It is not a disease by itself.

The typical symptoms of diarrhea are -

• Bloating
• Flatulence
• Depression
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Abdominal pain and bloating
• Fever and chills
• Loss of weight/Unwanted weight loss
• Weakness
• Dehydration

The most common causes of diarrhea are -

• Bacteria, Parasites and Viral Infections
• Chemotherapy Treatments
• Antibiotics and other Prescription Drugs (antibiotics destroy the good flora in your system that keeps the digestive system working properly ).
• Drug and Alcohol Abuse
• Lactose Intolerance
• Gluten Intolerance (Celiac Disease)
• Poor Food Choices
• Food allergies
• Deficiencies in niacin or folic acid
• Aspirin, Ibuprofen and other NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs)
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) or other diseases including bowel cancer

You may also like to read - Natural Remedies for Muscle  Cramps / Spasms

Ginger Tea

So what are some of the best natural remedies for treating diarrhea?

1. Ginger tea – Ginger helps to stop cramps and pain as well as nausea that is sometimes associated with having diarrhea.
2. Fluids – Your body loses a lot of fluids when you have diarrhea so you need to be replacing these to prevent dehydration which can lead to a whole slew of other issues. Avoid caffeine and alcohol. Drink lots of water and carrot juice.
3. Probiotics – These are the beneficial bacteria that exist regularly in our intestinal system. They counteract the bad bacteria in our digestive system so taking probiotics will help to restore the balance between good and bad bacteria.

4. Apple Cider Vinegar, Honey & Water – Take a shot glass and add an equal amount of apple cider vinegar, honey, and warm water together. Sip slowly. Does not taste so good but is highly effective.
5. Grapefruit Seed Extract – Take in pill or capsule form, this is an excellent natural disinfectant.
6. Lemon juice – Squeeze a few drops of lemon juice into water and drink this a few times each day.

Lemon water

7. Diet – Especially for children with diarrhea complex carbohydrates are important such as bananas, oatmeal, potatoes and toast as some examples.
8. ORS – Oral Rehydration Solution or Salts (ORS) This refers to a mixture of salt & glucose in water. This solution will be absorbed by small intestine to replace water and electrolytes lost in the stool. Commercially this packets available in pharmacies at a much lesser price. 

Ideally, you want diarrhea to run its course to eliminate the toxins from your body. There are many other natural remedies for diarrhea so do not feel that you just have to tolerate this uncomfortable condition.