10 Foods to Avoid When You Have Diarrhea

8. Red Meat

While red meat is a good source of many good nutrients, it takes time to digest. Red meat intake also increases levels of C-reactive protein and ferritin, both of which are inflammatory chemicals. Inflammation of the digestive tract can worsen your diarrhea.

On top of that, red meat is linked to cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes, conditions in which inflammation plays a key role.

While suffering from diarrhea, avoid red meat and look for other sources of protein, such as Greek yogurt.

9. Citrus Fruits

Citrus Fruits such as seeded berries, pineapples, cherries, currants, and grapes can also add to your troubles when dealing with diarrhea.

This particularly happens when there is malabsorption of the fructose in the fruit, which contributes to loose stools.

You can still have other fruits like bananas.

10. Cruciferous Vegetables

When you have diarrhea, cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, coleslaw and sauerkraut can worsen your condition.

These vegetables contain a complex carbohydrate that’s difficult to digest. Also, they have insoluble fiber that worsens diarrhea and gas within the gastrointestinal system.

Apart from these cruciferous vegetables, also limit your intake of artichokes, Brussels sprouts, onions, shallots, leeks and asparagus.

Tips to speed up recovery from diarrhea

While staying away from the above mentioned foods can help improve your diarrhea symptoms, there are also certain foods that you can eat to speed up your recovery and get your digestive tract back to normal.

• Foods that help reduce inflammation and reestablish healthy bacteria in your digestive tract include potatoes, white rice, pasta, oatmeal, almond milk, eggs, pureed vegetable soups, salmon, mackerel, bananas, papayas, chicken, avocados and butter lettuce.
• Eat small meals every three to four hours and avoid big meals to help minimize your symptoms.
• Make sure to drink plenty of water or an oral rehydration solution throughout the day. When suffering from chronic diarrhea, there is a risk of dehydration.