# what are the right foods when you have Diarrhea?



## Fredjs (Mar 21, 2004)

Hey,Anybody noticed when they are having an attack what foods seem to be the best to take. For me, I get a tight feeling in my mid and lower intestines--and I can all but guarantee that at some point it will come out as painful diarrhea. Does any body have any recommendations for what I can do (besides sit at home and wait)? Does anyone recommend taking Citrucel at such a point, or eating any particular foods. Thanks. - FredFredjs###ufl.edu


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## calid (Aug 4, 2003)

When I had attacks like that, I resorted to roasted chicken, rice and applesauce.


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## simon2004 (Jan 23, 2004)

As food intolerance is a prime factor in many cases of long standing digestive & intestinal discomfort problems, you should try to follow an elimination diet that mainly consists of eating chicken, fish, white rice & soft boiled or steamed vegetables for the first 5 to 10 days (before following the Meal Plan below).Thereafter you can introduce 1 other food at a time but gauge the reaction you have to the new food.There is no 'One diet that fits all' as everyone has different reactions and in our opinion, this is the best approach to determine your problem food item(s). It is a bit more difficult for vegetarians due to limited choice of high protein and low fibre foods.Start by eliminating wheat, gluten & dairy products i.e. no bread, pasta, cheese etc.Eat mainly soft boiled or steamed vegetables with white rice, eggs, fish (if you eat it) & only 2 fruits per day for the first 5 to 10 days. Thereafter you can introduce 1 other food at a time and gauge the reaction you have to the new food.If you have found losing weight difficult while having Digestive & Intestinal problems, it has been determined that food intolerance is one of the main reasons. This is due to your body's reaction to various foods. You will find that once you have corrected your digestive & intestinal problems, you will be able to shed that excess bodyfat, fluid retention (that puffy look) & weight far more easily. Eat 5 to 6 small meals per day as opposed to 2 or 3 big meals. Try to eat every 3 to 4 hours as this curbs the appetite and keeps the metabolism working at optimum speed and helps to avoid putting excessive strain on your digestive system per meal Avoid eating bread, pasta, spaghetti (wheat products), added sugar and/or salt products too often. Don't drink fruit juices often. Use mainly mineral water, herbal teas and sugar free Cranberry juice. NO 'Ready Meals' - most of these contain lots of added salt, sugar, additives, preservatives etc.Beneficial supplements - Digestive Enzymes, Probiotics (Acidophilus & Bifo), Psyllium Husk, Aloe Vera, Magnesium, Zinc


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## Kaylis9d9 (Mar 15, 2004)

That diet is in every book that claims to know the condition... You can not add just one food in this day and age... EVERYTHING has 50+ ingredients in them. From pop tarts, to cereal, to even something as plain as pasta... In addition, one would never be able to eat out because you have no idea what they use in restaurants... And I have never heard that eggs are good to eat for this condition.. they have always been rough on me... even just the whites of eggs.... What if they try your diet and they still don't feel good after 10 days on just rice?


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## abigailcrane (Mar 26, 2004)

Rice makes my D worse..and Im talking just plain rice...not uncle bens rice the real stuff that takes longer than a minute to cook and the long grain rice variety as well causes me to have D really bad. So I avoid it. Could it be the starch that causes the D? Who knows. But rice is a definate NO NO as well as pasta's, breads and certain cereals. As for eating eggs. I shudder to think. I eat an egg and I'm in the bathroom all day and part of the next. Very gassy so I avoid hen fruit at all cost. We are all different what works for Tom, Dick and Sally may not work for me. So you have to play it by ear...try things, eliminate things from your diet and eventually in time your body will tell you what are the good things to eat and what are the things you don't eat...and once you've discovered that you are half way there...Me myself Im still working on it.


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## Suzannedmb (Mar 9, 2003)

My favorite thing to eat on a bad day is baby cookies. (Mr. Christies Arrowroots). I figure that if its a food that gentle for a baby's little belly then its a good choice for me. It's light and I like the taste. Its probably one of my favorite snacks. I also drink a lot of water when my stomach hurts.


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## BertAPU (Feb 24, 2004)

I agree with abigailcrane...rice is awful for me, and often gives me diarrhea. That and bread. Perhaps I am gluten intolerant and have never been diagnosed, but I certainly feel better not eating rice. Oh yes, and pototoes--those suckers ferment terribly in my stomach.However, I have had great luck with roasted chicken and turkey as far as meats go. On my worst days I munch on that, as well as some Yogurt (it works JUST fine for me) and I feel relief almost immediately.Also, I seem to be okay with oatmeal and/or barley. With both I feel quite well afterwards, just make sure you cook it well.Good luck!


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## soundie (Jan 29, 2004)

You know, when you have that warning you could take some immodium to minimise the attack. I find not eating is best, but after the attack for some reason a cheese scone (biscuit in usa) reaaly hit the spot. Don't know why.Anything you eat would stimulate the bowel I would think. Maybe some vigrous exercise to slow the system down? If you are able?


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## LNAPE (Feb 9, 1999)

I know what not to eat iceburg lettuce and too much acid foods and a real problem for most with diarrhea.Linda


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## Trudyg (Aug 16, 2002)

I don't know where simon2004 got that diet from, but try Heather von Vorous' diet plan in IBS:the first year. It's great. and she really explains why it works, so you can tailor your diet to your needs. She goes into why bread hurts, that sort of thing. Look it up, it's one of the best and comes highly recommended from almost all the regulars on this board. Also, many regulars here share recipes so scan through for a title post called food ideas or something similar.


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## bonniei (Jan 25, 2001)

I find eliminating fructose helps with D. No fruit or veggie juices , no pop containing high fructose corn syrup for sure.Have a look at this http://www.uihc.uiowa.edu/FRUCTOSE/DietBasics.htm That will give you an ides of how much fructose there is in foods.


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## AlmostFamous (Apr 11, 2004)

I just stick to non fiber food- like chicken/meat/cheese, heavy breads- like rye for example and pasta. I guess rice works ok too. I stay the hell away from roughage like fruits or lettuce.


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

> As food intolerance is a prime factor in many cases of long standing digestive & intestinal discomfort problems[/quoteFood per se is not a prime factor in many cases of long standing digestive & intestinal discomfort problems.


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## KCTony7 (Jan 18, 2004)

I've always been told by my GI to stick with the BRAT diet, during times of bad diarrhea.BRAT stands for Bananas, Rice, Applesauce and Toast.


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## KCTony7 (Jan 18, 2004)

One thing that is tough for me is determining what types of crackers, bread or rice are easy on the stomach and are good to eat during times of bad diarrhea, and which ones aren't.Generally isn't white bread and rice the easiest to digest, and whole-grain type stuff not as easy?Also I'm leery of crackers like Triscuits because I think they may have too much of that whole-grain stuff in it.


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## Scary Mary (Apr 29, 2004)

Hi. New here (but not new to IBS, unfortunately).As we all know, IBS is different for everyone. Lettuce is the big no-no for me as it is for most of us, but I'm ok with rice and eggs and cheese and crackers and pasta, unlike many.And it *is* difficult to find much of anything that is 100% X. Unless you roast a chicken every day and injest nothing else but that and water, you're going to swallow all sorts of stuff that might or might not affect your system, and figuring out which bit of which thing you ate did it, is quite a feat.I'm always interested, though, to hear what works for others, and am very happy to have found this message board - IBS is a tough topic to discuss in polite company, and it's great to have a place to go where folks understand just how rotten living with this ailment can be...* _sniff_ *I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!







Edit:Oops, forgot to add that I took Metamucil (and similar) products for years but never really noticed any difference when I did or didn't take it. I stopped buying the stuff a few months back because the expense far outweighed the benefits. Your mileage will surely vary.My doctor has prescribed Lomotil for me, and it's a lovely thing!







It doesn't _stop_ anything, but slows it down enough to give me time to get to the bathroom, or even wait half an hour if I have to. What a godsend!I've just signed up for a trial study of Lotronex being put on by a local gastro expert. They're going to make me give up my Lomotil for 12 weeks, and there's a one in three chance that I'll get the placebo. Cross your fingers for me that I don't!! Gimme Lotronex, baby! (My own doctor says I'm an excellent candidate for it).


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## bonniei (Jan 25, 2001)

> quote:Food per se is not a prime factor in many cases of long standing digestive & intestinal discomfort problems.


The amount of fructose is definitely a factor if not just fructose per se. With juices and pop you ingest a huge amount of fructose which can lead to D in many.


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## Trudyg (Aug 16, 2002)

I don't know about the rest of you, but I can generally eat pretzels, saltines, plain chicken (skinless, boiled/roasted/grilled), plain white rice, plain white potato, sourdough or french bread with nothing on it, peppermint tea and water. No cheese, eggs, milk, yeast, fruit, fibery stuff. I sometimes have a shot of brandy, but rarely, and it settles my tummy pretty good.


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## AlmostFamous (Apr 11, 2004)

I'm just curious- what is the negative side of fructose? How exactly does it affect you?


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## bonniei (Jan 25, 2001)

It gives me gas and D. 4 glasses of tomato or fruit juice for a couple of days will give me the runs. It is dose dependent. When I have zero fructose I get C because of the lack of fiber.


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## c100176 (Feb 3, 2004)

Simple, low ingredient injestions, be it liquid or solids. If you look at the label and it has only a few ingredients, I would wager it is safe...


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## AlmostFamous (Apr 11, 2004)

If you look at the label and it has only a few ingredients, I would wager it is safe... <<<<That's funny. My grandmother has that attitude- maybe she's on to something!


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## KCTony7 (Jan 18, 2004)

In general I try to stick with stuff like crackers, pretzels, baked potato chips, white rice, yellow rice, baked and other types of non-fried chicken, turkey breast, white bread, toast with a little jelly, graham crackers, Sprite, brown cinammon sugar Pop-Tarts, and sometimes the mini rice cakes and chicken noodle/rice soup.If it's a day where I have really bad diarrhea though (usually caused by stress) I'll reduce that list to just crackers, toast and Sprite.


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## CalifCarl (Aug 24, 2001)

ScaryMary said "I've just signed up for a trial study of Lotronex being put on by a local gastro expert. They're going to make me give up my Lomotil for 12 weeks, and there's a one in three chance that I'll get the placebo. Cross your fingers for me that I don't!! Gimme Lotronex, baby! (My own doctor says I'm an excellent candidate for it)."I feel like I'm in a time warp here! Mary if your doctor thinks you are a good candidate for Lotronex then why doesn't he/she just prescribe it? Like most of us here know this drug is on the market, but you and your doctor just have go thru all the hoops to get it. No trial needed, no need to risk wasting time on a placebo.


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## abangay (Apr 15, 2004)

I wish I could offer some suggestions to this thread from my own experience, but I still have no idea what works for me! I'm new to IBS and I have had D every day for the past 4 months. I have tried the BRAT diet, I eliminated Gluten (I'm back on it now), I tried clear liquids for about a week amd I haven't had cheese or milk since January (or caffine, or alcohol, or spicy foods, or fast food....) My problem is I just can't seem to find anything that will stabilize me so that I can perhaps try to figure out what foods work and what foods don't. Please, if anyone can give me any advice, perhaps from your own experience when you first started with IBS-D, I would greatly appreciate it. Oh yes, and I'm also taking medication (Dicetel) and it's not working either. Help!


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## Scary Mary (Apr 29, 2004)

CalifCarl, you're right.







I met with my doc yesterday to discuss this Lotronex trial, and he told me if I really wanted a 'scrip he'd be happy to give one to me, but he feels that my using Lotronex at this point would be like jumping ahead to the biggest, baddest med around, without trying less extreme (and less potentially dangerous, less expensive) options first.Instead, we decided that I'd increase my daily Lomotil intake, to see if it will slow my system down a bit more than it currently does. I'm hopeful - I've been taking two a day and it helps a lot. Hopefully, three a day will stop the flow even better.I'm also giving the calcium idea a try, although my doc said he didn't think it would make any difference in my IBS issues. I figure, whether it helps my IBS or not, calcium is a _good_ thing, and taking it can't hurt me.


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## BertAPU (Feb 24, 2004)

Scary Mary, does your doctor have IBS-D? If so, he would discover that calcium actually might help you more than Lomotil! Anyhow, not to throw myself into a temper tantrum over this (my doc said the same thing), I just know that it has really HELPED me. Try calcium please and hopefully it will work for you!


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## Scary Mary (Apr 29, 2004)

Rob, no my doctor doesn't have IBS himself, but he's got a number of IBS patients and in the year or so that I've been seeing him, he has really impressed me with his knowledge of the ailment and the various treatments that are out there. I mentioned this message board to him, and we discussed several of the other options available for folks like me (regular, daily, neverending D - at least 6-8 times a day, always urgent, lots of mucous, etc.) that I've seen mentioned here. I'm leery of filling myself up with too many strong meds, and would prefer going a more natural route, if possible. That's why the calcium idea appeals to me.Although I've been taking calcium supplements for years now, I usually buy the oyster shell with D and only take one pill each morning, so as of yesterday I bought some calcium carbonate (Caltrate 600 w/ D) and will start taking half a pill with each meal to see what happens.Wish me luck!


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