What to eat to fight diarrhea and improve the gut

When you have diarrhea, meals should be light, easy to digest and in small quantities, using foods such as soup, vegetable puree, corn porridge and cooked fruits, for example.

In addition, during treatment for diarrhea, it is essential to drink water, tea, strained fruit juices and coconut water in the same proportion of water lost in the stool, to avoid dehydration, which can cause complications such as decreased pressure and fainting, for example. example. See the list of foods in How to stop diarrhea faster.

In the following video, our nutritionist gives quick and easy tips on meals to consume during diarrhea.

Menu of what to eat in diarrhea

An example of a menu to make when you have diarrhea can be:

	1st day	2nd Day	3rd Day
Breakfast	Chamomile tea with guava leaves and sugar	Rice porridge	French bread and strained guava juice
Lunch	Strained soup broth	Soup with carrot	Boiled rice with boiled chicken and baked apple for dessert
Snack	Roasted pear	Cornstarch biscuits and sugared chamomile tea	Banana and corn porridge
Dinner	Pumpkin puree and boiled potatoes	Carrot puree with baked potato and baked apple	Cooked carrot, potato and pumpkin puree and baked apple

It is important to remember that if there is blood in your stools, fever or if diarrhea persists in the elderly and children, you should see your doctor to identify the cause of the problem and start appropriate treatment.

Home remedies that fight diarrhea

Some home remedies can be used in conjunction with diet care to combat diarrhea, such as:

• Chamomile tea; Apple syrup; Guava tea; Apple juice; Rice water.

These natural remedies soothe the intestines and help trap feces, controlling pain and diarrhea. See how to prepare each one by clicking here.

When you need to take medicine from the pharmacy

If the diarrhea is severe and persists for more than 1 week, if there is fever or blood in the stool, or if the diarrhea is in children or the elderly, the doctor should be consulted to assess the cause of the problem and to avoid possible complications such as dehydration and fainting.

In these cases, the doctor may prescribe medications such as Imosec, Diasec, Avid and antibiotics. In addition, it may also be necessary to take probiotic drugs to replenish the intestinal flora, such as Floratil and Simcaps.

Types of diarrhea

Diarrhea is characterized by an increase in the frequency of bowel movements per day, which happen with very soft or liquid stools, which often cause urgency to go to the bathroom and abdominal pain. In addition, various types of diarrhea, especially infectious, can cause fever.

However, according to the frequency of bowel movements and the cause, diarrhea can be classified into:

Acute diarrhea

It occurs for a short period of time, usually 2 to 14 days, and its treatment is done by removing from the diet the food or medicine that causes diarrhea. It is usually caused by malabsorption of some nutrient, such as lactose and fructose, but the cause may also be the use of medications such as antacids, laxatives and nutritional supplements.

Severe diarrhea can cause other problems such as anal fissures, which must be treated using healing ointments. Learn more about treatment at Learn how to treat anal fissures.

Chronic Diarrhea

Chronic diarrhea arises when fluid and constant bowel movements last more than 2 weeks. In these cases, it is common for the doctor to order blood, stool or colonoscopy tests to investigate the cause of the problem.

This type of diarrhea can have several causes, such as infection by viruses, bacteria or protozoa, Intestinal Inflammatory Disease, ulcerative colitis, chronic pancreatitis, Crohn's disease, irritable bowel syndrome, bowel tumor, celiac disease and others. Treatment for chronic diarrhea is based on the correct diagnosis of the cause of the problem.

Infectious Diarrhea

Infectious diarrhea is a type of acute diarrhea, but it is caused by microorganisms such as viruses, bacteria, fungi or protozoa. Unlike foodborne infection, in infectious diarrhea, changes in diet do not improve the disease.

In these cases, fever is common and it is necessary to go to the doctor for blood and stool tests to identify the cause of the problem and to take the appropriate medication.

When to go to the doctor

It is important to be aware of symptoms and seek medical help if one or more of the following factors arise:

• If the diarrhea lasts more than a week; If the patient shows signs of dehydration, such as dry mouth and skin, little urine, weakness and indisposition. See more symptoms here; Strong and persistent abdominal pain; Dark or bloody stools; High fever.

It is important to remember that diarrhea is more severe in children and the elderly, and therefore extra care should be taken in these cases, seeking medical help if the diarrhea persists for more than 3 days even with a change in diet.