Share:
Home remedies for diarrhea Do coke and pretzel sticks really help?
If you have to spend half the day because of diarrhea on the toilet, you often get well-intentioned advice on how to relieve the symptoms. For example, cola and pretzel sticks should help with diarrhea. But health experts advise against it; this is more harmful than useful. But there are other recommended home remedies for diarrhea and vomiting.
Various causes of diarrhea
Especially the beginning of the norovirus season in Germany has led to many people suffering from diarrhea. Also, other infections with viruses, stress, food intolerances and various diseases can lead to constantly having to go to the bathroom. Of coke and pretzel sticks in case of diarrhea, most health experts advise against. But there are ways to alleviate the discomfort.
Health experts advise against resorting to cola and pretzel sticks in case of diarrhea. Cola could even increase the symptoms. Other home remedies for diarrhea are recommended. (Image: underdogstudios / fotolia.com) Medicines usually do not have to be
Anyone who has diarrhea usually needs no medication. In some cases, these pose huge risks anyway. For example, an anti-diarrheal medicine was warned last summer that can lead to severe, sometimes fatal heart problems in high doses.
Home remedies for diarrhea are often sufficient. However, it depends on what causes the symptoms, because diarrhea is not a disease, but a symptom.
In a message from the news agency dpa experts explain how it can come to diarrhea, what can help and when a doctor should be visited.
Body loses important minerals
According to Ursula Sellerberg of the Federal Chamber of Pharmacists in Berlin has diarrhea, who has more than two to three times a day to use the toilet for several days. The chair is liquid or even watery. In addition to the liquid, important minerals are lost to the body.
Diarrhea is often triggered by viruses or bacteria. Or by certain medications. For example, antibiotics sometimes have diarrhea as a side effect, explained the director of the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Infectious Diseases at the University Hospital Jena in Thuringia, Prof. Andreas Stallmach.
In addition, diarrhea can be the result of food poisoning or chronic inflammatory bowel disease. And stress can also hit your stomach and intestines.
Cause medical clarification
Often, the stool will become tighter by itself after two to three days. "However, if the diarrhea lasts longer or returns often, then the cause must be medically clarified," explained Bettina Sauer of Stiftung Warentest in Berlin.
Special care should be taken when people find blood in their stools, they have fever and dizziness, and their skin looks flabby.
Blood in the stool may indicate a tumor in the intestinal wall and a flabby skin indicates that the body is very dry. In such a case, liquid may need to be infused in the hospital.
Therapy depends on the trigger
The therapy needed depends on the cause of the diarrhea. Concerned people have to drink a lot in order not to dry out. According to Stallmach, it should be two to three liters a day.
As scientists reported a few months ago, diluted apple juice, among other things, helps to prevent dehydration and mild diarrhea.
However, in some cases, nausea also causes diarrhea. That makes it hard to drink a lot. According to Stallmach, one should always take only small sips throughout the day. And not just water: "Electrolyte solutions from the pharmacy can help to compensate for the mineral loss," says Stallmach.
This mixture of salts such as sodium chloride and sodium citrate as well as potassium chloride and glucose can also be made by yourself: One liter of boiled tap water or still mineral water is mixed with a quarter teaspoon of table salt and baking soda, two tablespoons of sugar or honey and half a cup of orange juice.
Cola can increase diarrhea
Also helpful are one to two crushed bananas. The combination of cola and pretzel sticks is better avoided. "Cola contains too much sugar, which can increase diarrhea," said Stallmach. In addition, other salts such as potassium or nitrates are missing in the salt sticks.
If the diarrhea develops as a result of the person being stressed out, relaxation exercises can be useful for reducing stress.
Although diarrhea no longer causes light foods for doctors today, diarrhea occurs when traveling to a country with rather low hygiene standards: "There, you should not eat raw food to prevent it, just drink boiled or bottled water and ice cubes abstain, "Sellerberg said.
But hygiene is also important at home, so that pathogens have no chance. "This includes above all, before and after the kitchen work, before all meals and after each use of the toilet, the hands thoroughly with soap to wash," said Stiftung-Warentest-editor Sauer. (Ad)