Diarrhea – Food Intolerance Symptoms

Bowel upsets are prevalent symptoms of food intolerances, with diarrhea being top of the list. It comes in different forms, which we will discover in this article, as well as learning about how it connects to food intolerances. There are also some handy strategies that are safe for you to try at home, which can be quite effective at quelling any loose bowel motions.

For reference, diarrhoea is classified as loose bowel motions that happen at least three times per day.

Let’s start with a look at the two main types of diarrhea:

Acute – this is the kind of diarrhea that we associate with the gastro bug. It usually comes from bacteria or viruses that end up in the digestive tract. Things like food poisoning, viral infections and traveling can bring on acute bouts of diarrhea, and it can last up to 3 weeks. New medicines, including antibiotics, can also cause this to occur.

Diarrhea Food

Chronic

This type of diarrhea is what we expect of food intolerance related bowel issues. It occurs for longer than three weeks, with three bouts of loose stools or more daily. Disease states and poor digestive function can cause this type of diarrhea, particularly conditions such as IBS, leaky gut, Chrons and other gut issues. When it comes to food intolerances that cause diarrhea, fructose and lactose are high on the list. They are both intolerances that occur when sugar molecules can’t be efficiently digested, and this can cause massive fermentation and bowel issues to occur. Other symptoms can happen as well, including urgency, explosiveness and pain.

Food for Diarrhea

Diarrhea from food? Symptoms and causes

As we’ve mentioned, diarrhea often happens when the digestive system is not functioning at its best. There may be a lack of digestive enzymes or some other functional or food-related issue that is causing it.

Symptoms that occur concomitantly to diarrhea:

Sharp gut pains
Severe bloating after eating
Gas and belching
Bowel urgency
Digestive issues such as IBS or leaky gut
Irregular moods, anxiety, depression
Fatigue, sometimes extreme

Foods Stop Diarrhea

The main known causes of diarrhea are bacteria or viruses, food poisoning, travellers diarrhea, IBS, Chron’s disease, leaky gut issues and of course undiagnosed food intolerance. If at any time you find blood in your stools, speak to your GP immediately.

Food intolerances and the diarrhea connection

As we’ve mentioned above, there can be many causes of diarrhea, and food intolerances are definitely one of them. If the intolerance is to do with the break down of certain sugars, then diarrhea is especially likely to occur. The main food intolerances that have diarrhea as a significant symptom are:

Fructose intolerance – FODMAP foods can be particularly hard to break down
Lactose intolerance – the milk sugar cannot be efficiently broken down
Yeast intolerance
Gluten intolerance and also wheat intolerance

Food to Eat Diarrhea

In the case of fructose and lactose intolerance, certain enzymes are missing from the digestive tract. So the undigested sugar can cause lots of fluid accumulation, resulting in diarrhoea.

Food intolerances also elicit an IgG response in the immune system, and this can cause inflammation to occur throughout the body. When its diarrhoea that’s happening as a result, the digestive tract is the central spot for the inflammation to occur.

If you are experiencing diarrhoea, this next section gives you some strategies that are safe to try at home, and often effective at managing errant diarrhoea. Of course, if the cause is a food intolerance, then testing is your best option; we will discuss this more a bit later on.

Managing diarrhea with dietary strategies

Remove FODMAP foods from your diet. These are foods high in fructose, and you can go back to our article titled ‘Fructose FAQ’ to find out what these foods are.
There are specific foods that are well known as bowel stimulantsand removing these from your diet could be key for you. These foods include coffee (sorry!), alcohol, spicy foods and chilli’s, and high-fat foods can also be a trigger.
Stay hydrated. In may seem counterintuitive but drinking sufficient amounts of water is really important when you have prolonged diarrhoea. You can add gastrolyte (hydration electrolytes) to the water or try coconut water.
Psyllium husk can be highly beneficial in thickening up stools. 1 tbsp in a glass of water taken away from food, once or twice daily, is a good amount to try. You need to drink plenty of water with this, as the psyllium can really dehydrate you without adequate fluids.

Managing diarrhea with lifestyle strategies

The following are some simple lifestyle changes that you can make, which can be really effective at limiting diarrhea outbursts.

Stop smoking! That can be a tough one, but nicotine is well known to stimulate bowels.
The same goes for coffee! Avoiding cigarettes and coffee for a couple of weeks may give you some big results.
Pelvic floor weakness can be the cause of the problem for some people. In these cases, pelvic floor toning exercises can be beneficial. A physiotherapist trained in this area will be able to give you the guidance that you need.
If any of the above options don’t help you, there are some medications that you can discuss with your GP. Like with all medications, there are pro’s and con’s, and working out the cause of the issue is always your best option.

Best Foods to Stop Diarrhea

Foods to Stop Diarrhea

Our top recommendation

This is for you if none of the above strategies helps lessen your diarrhoea.

Take your very own bio-resonance hair intolerance test! The results will give you a list of foods that your body is intolerant to and removing these foods from your diet can have life-changing results! You will receive expert guidance from our team to help you replace these foods with healthier alternatives, so you never have to do it alone.

Safe Foods Diarrhea

Foods to Avoid with Diarrhea

Summary

Today’s article has looked at diarrhea as a symptom of food intolerances. There are several reasons why diarrhea can occur, and we take a look into these and other symptoms that can occur at the same time.

In relation to food intolerances, we discuss the main ones that can cause loose stools, why this happens, and some action steps that you can take to help reduce its frequency in your life.

If these strategies are not successful for you, the next step is to take our world-class bio-resonance hair intolerance test. We guide and support you every step of the way. This test has given many of our customers their quality of life back, and we wish the same for you.

Diarrhoea Symptom Series