Home Remedies for Diarrhea for Easing Discomfort and Relieving Symptoms

Home remedies for diarrhea are better than anti-diarrheal medicines in most cases of acute diarrhea.

Acute diarrhea is a problem that affects everyone at some point or other in their lives. While diarrhea is uncomfortable and inconvenient, it is one of the human body's natural defensive mechanisms. It is your body's way of eliminating something unpleasant, or nasty, from your system.

While many sufferers from this condition run to the medicine chest for something to stop the diarrhea in its tracks, this is not always the best solution. This not only stops the diarrhea, but also impedes the body's natural process of eliminating what caused the diarrhea in the first place.

Anti-diarrheal medications can be useful in times of an urgent need to control the situation, such as a business meeting or important social occasion. Otherwise, it is best to let the body's natural processes kick in and let the diarrhea run its course with the aid of a home diarrhea remedy.

Home remedies for diarrhea can help you endure the elimination process. Here are a few diarrhea remedy helps that can ease the discomfort associated with this condition.

1. A common cause of diarrhea is lactose intolerance. Many individuals are unaware they even have this condition. While lactose intolerance can be an existing condition when someone is an infant or child, many times it does not become a problem until later in life. If diarrhea becomes an ongoing and regular occurrence, avoid foods containing lactose (most dairy products).

If the occurrence of the diarrhea decreases, you may be lactose intolerant. If that is the case, you can try slowly adding cheddar and other aged cheeses back to your diet, along with yogurt products.

There are also different degrees of lactose intolerance. Once you ascertain that your diarrhea is eased greatly by eliminating lactose containing foods from your diet, try adding a little bit of lactose back into your diet very slowly. Keep records and note at what level the diarrhea returns, and this will give you an idea of your degree of lactose intolerance.

2. Home remedies for diarrhea can also be found by drinking carrot juice or making a smoothie in the blender using carrot juice and strained carrots. It is believed that carrots replace electrolytes and minerals lost when diarrhea occurs.

3. Plain yogurt returns good bacteria to the digestive system. At the onset of diarrhea, try to ingest approximately 3-4 ounces of plain or vanilla yogurt once or twice per day.

4. Chicken or beef broth is soothing to the stomach and the salt content helps generate your thirst. This in turn helps you ingest fluids to avoid dehydration. Limit intake to once or twice a day.

5. Don't starve yourself. Ease back into a clear liquid diet. Many people are confused about what "clear" means regarding a liquid diet. For example, Coca-cola is a clear liquid because you can see through it when it is held up to the light. Milk, on the other hand, is not a clear liquid.

6. Do not allow yourself to dehydrate. Drink water and liquids containing small dosages of salt or sugar. Add a teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of salt to a quart of water and chill. You can also add 1/2 teaspoon of corn syrup or honey along with a pinch of table salt to 8-ounces of fruit juice.

7. Slowly suck on Popsicles. This returns some liquid and sugar to the body to aid in the prevention of dehydration.

In Conclusion

Start out with clear liquids, saltines, chicken or beef broth, and Jell-O. Once those seem to sit well with you, try adding some plain cooked rice, sliced bananas, and applesauce. Test the waters slowly until the symptoms subside.

Home remedies for diarrhea are often all that is needed to find relief for common diarrhea. Acute diarrhea usually disappears within a day or so. It is important that anyone with diarrhea intake sufficient fluid to avoid dehydration.

Infants and the elderly especially should be carefully monitored to avoid a medical emergency caused by dehydration from diarrhea. Also salt intake should be kept to a minimum in infants and in the elderly on salt-restricted diets.

If diarrhea does not ease up after a day or so, or dehydration is a possibility, seek medical attention from a qualified professional. While acute diarrhea is most commonly caused by the body trying to rid itself of something nasty, there can be other causes that require consultation with your physician.