Diarrhea is a condition when you pass watery or loose stools more than 3 times in a day. The symptoms commonly are abdominal cramps, bloating, nausea, and frequent urge to pass stools, chills, sometimes fever too.
Causes:
Diarrhea is caused due to bacterial, viral, or parasitic infections, food intolerance, certain medicines, laxative abuse, diseases like irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, etc.
Although it is not usually a very serious problem, it can turn out dangerous sometimes. If it lasts for more than 3 days, or the cramps worsen, or if there is blood in the stools, or there is fever, consult a physician immediately.
What to do?
Replacing the lost body fluids is of utmost importance if you have diarrhea.
- For the first 24 hours, you should have clear liquids like vegetable juices, thin rice porridge (kanji), Rava porridge, dal water, clear vegetable soups, buttermilk, and/or coconut water.
- Drink as much water as you can. You can mix 1 tsp salt and 8 tsp of sugar in 1-liter of water to make your own rehydration preparation.
- When nausea and vomiting are in control, the BRAT diet is the most effective. BRAT represents Banana, Rice, Apple (without skin), and Toast.
- It is a traditional short-term diet plan used commonly to manage diarrhea. Avoid milk, fried/oily, and spicy foods till the stomach has settled.
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