Home Remedies for Diarrhea

The trots. The runs. Turista. Montezuma’s revenge. No matter what you call it, diarrhea is no fun. Of course, you’re super-careful not to drink the water (or even use ice) when you travel to exotic destinations. There are several different causes of diarrhea, some more serious than others. In this article, you’ll find some home remedies for diarrhea—things you can do to replenish your fluids and electrolytes, and help clear up everyday diarrhea. For serious cases, be sure to consult your health care provider.

Home Remedies for Diarrhea

• Drink Fluids When You Have Diarrhea When you’re running like a hose, you might feel tempted to stop drinking. Don’t! says naturopath Joseph Pizzorno, N.D., president of Bastyr University, the naturopathic medical school near Seattle. Instead, drink more for as long as your diarrhea lasts.

Water is a start, but it doesn’t replace lost electrolytes. Dr. Simons suggests bouillon, Gatorade, or other rehydration fluids that contain sodium and potassium (or for infants and children, less concentrated electrolyte-rich fluids: Pedialyte, Infalyte, and Lytren). Dr. Pizzorno suggests dilute vegetable juices, which also contain electrolytes, particularly this old naturopathic remedy—equal parts of tomato and sauerkraut juices. “It’s high in electrolytes,” he explains, “and some naturopathic studies suggest that sauerkraut juice helps heal intestinal problems.”

• Coffee and Diarrhea. The one fluid you should not drink for diarrhea is coffee, says Melvyn Werbach, M.D., an assistant clinical professor at the UCLA School of Medicine. It has a laxative effect. Many people use coffee to treat minor constipation. In addition, there is some evidence that caffeine increases secretion of fluids into the intestine, Dr. Werbach says, something you don’t want when you have diarrhea.

• What to Eat When You Have Diarrhea. It’s known as BRATT— an acronym for bananas, rice, applesauce, tea, and toast, all of which are binding foods. Bananas are also rich in potassium, so they help replenish electrolytes. Some people say tea also helps. But stay away from coffee, milk, fruit juices, and spicy, fried, and junk foods, which usually aggravate the problem, and alcohol, which is dehydrating. As symptoms begin to improve, gradually reintroduce other foods: crackers, soups, cooked vegetables, skinless chicken, fish, etc., but stay away from high-fat items— pizza, burgers, ice cream, and french fries—until you’re back to normal again.

• Fiber and Diarrhea. Soluble fibers add bulk to stool, which helps relieve diarrhea. “Apple pulp is rich in the soluble fiber, pectin,” explains Maryland botanist/herbalist James Duke, Ph.D., author of The Green Pharmacy. “That’s why apples and applesauce are hallowed folk remedies for diarrhea.” Fiber also helps heal a leaky gut.

• Bring Back Your Bacteria. In addition to depleting electrolytes, diarrhea wreaks havoc with the helpful (“probiotic”) bacteria that normally live in your intestine and aid digestion. For years, naturopaths including Dr. Pizzorno have recommended restoring these beneficial bugs by eating yogurt with live Lactobacillus acidophilus or L. bulgaricus culture.

Recently, mainstream M.D.’s have climbed on the yogurt bandwagon. Jose Saavedra, M.D., director of pediatric nutrition at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore, studied 55 hospitalized infants. They received either regular formula, or formula supplemented with Streptococcus thermophilus, another bacterium used to make yogurt. After 12 weeks, 31 percent of the infants who received only formula experienced diarrhea, but in the formula-bacteria group, the figure was just 7 percent.

If you or your kids are prone to diarrhea, Dr. Saavedra suggests a daily four-ounce yogurt snack. Just make sure the label says “live bacterial culture.” Or you can buy powders containing these bacteria at most health food stores and supplements shops, and some pharmacies. Dr. Pizzorno recommends 1/2 teaspoon three times a day.

• Honey for Diarrhea. In one study, honey helped treat infectious diarrhea in children. Researchers gave 159 children a standard fluid-electrolyte replacement beverage, containing either added glucose (blood sugar) or honey. The kids in the honey group recovered significantly more quickly.

• The Diarrhea Carrot Cure for Infants. For infant diarrhea, an old folk remedy is cooked, mashed carrots. “I like it,” Dr. Duke says. “Cooked carrots seem to soothe the digestive tract and they help replace lost electrolytes.”

• Read Food Labels. Read food labels carefully. Try eliminating sorbitol, Dr. Simons suggests.

• Breast Milk and Diarrhea. If you’re a new mother, breastfeeding your baby helps prevent infant diarrhea. In a recent survey of 1,743 new moms, researchers with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta discovered that the more they breast-fed, the less likely their babies were to suffer diarrhea. Compared with infants who ate only formula, the diarrhea risk of those who were exclusively breast-fed was 80 percent lower. Breast-feeding spurs the growth of beneficial intestinal bacteria, which help prevent diarrhea.

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