Causes of Diarrhea
and Diarrhea Symptoms

For most people, diarrhea (or diarrhoea as it's spelled in England) is of short duration, maybe just a day or two. For others, it's a habitual, chronic problem with seemingly no detectable cause.

For many of us, it strikes when we visit other parts of the world and it's then known as 'traveler's diarrhea'.

Diarrhea is not a disease in itself, but a symptom of some other underlying cause, most benign, some serious. It can exist alone or be accompanied by other symptoms as well.

What are the Causes of Diarrhea?

If something speeds up or otherwise interferes with this process, the fluids will be expelled from the body with faecal matter instead of being re-absorbed.

So one of the causes of diarrhea is when too much water is excreted in the stools, resulting in frequent and loose, watery bowel movements.

But sometimes, other factors can cause the bowel to secrete more water. For example, bacteria such as E. coli and staphylococcus bring on diarrhea by stimulating water secretions, which explains why food- and water-borne infections commonly cause diarrhea. Some laxatives work the same way.

Apart from the loose stools, other symptoms that may accompany diarrhea include vomiting, cramping, thirst and abdominal pain. Some people may run a fever as well.

It's rarely a serious condition, except in infants, young children and the elderly, as dehydration can happen suddenly and be very dangerous.

Diarrhea causes the loss of both fluids and electrolytes (minerals), which can make you feel disoriented and weak and can effect your blood pressure, heart rate and muscle movement, so it's essential to replace the lost fluids!

Many factors can cause a decrease in water absorption in the intestinal tract, or an increase in water secretion, or a combination of both.

The causes of diarrhea can be many:

• The most common causes of diarrhea are gastrointestinal bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic infections.
• Food poisoning or consumption of contaminated water can be the cause of these infections.
• Incomplete digestion of certain foods that end up fermenting in the intestines.
• Intolerance, allergies or sensitivities to certain foods or food compounds.
• Disease conditions such as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or celiac disease.
• Lactose intolerance.
• Laxative use and abuse.
• The use of certain drugs, including antibiotics such as tetracycline, clindamycin or ampicillin as they destroy the intestine's 'friendly' bacteria.
• Many substances can cause diarrhea, including excess of vitamin C and magnesium.
• Antacids that contain magnesium salts can be one of the causes of diarrhea.
• Sorbitol, mannitol and xylitol are sugars found in dietetic foods that can cause diarrhea in people sensitive to them. Some people also react to fructose.
• Cancer and pancreatic disease.
• People with gallbladder problems often experience diarrhea after a fatty meal.
• Excessive alcohol consumption.
• Emotional stress also can be one of the causes of diarrhea.

Types of Diarrhea

Osmotic diarrhea - when too much water is drawn into the bowels - can be the result of carbohydrate malabsorption (e.g. lactose intolerance); magnesium salts; and excessive vitamin C intake.

Secretory diarrhea - when there is an increase in the active secretion, or there is an inhibition of absorption - can be the result of toxin-producing bacteria; hormone-producing tumors; fat malabsorption (e.g. lack of bile output); laxative abuse; and surgical resection of small intestine.

Exudative diarrhea - with the presence of blood and pus in the stool - can be caused by inflammatory bowel disease (Chron's disease or ulcerative colitis); pseudo-membranous colitis (a post-antibiotic diarrhea caused by an overgrowth of the bacterium Clostridium difficile); and bacterial infection by other organisms.

Inadequate-contact diarrhea is caused by inadequate contact between the intestinal walls and the intestinal contents, leading to poor absorption and is the result of surgical removal of sections of the intestine.

Most diarrhea is self-limiting. It's the body's way of getting rid of something disagreeable - food, microbes or toxins. So for acute diarrhea, just let it flow and keep drinking plenty of water and fluids.

Diarrhea Treatment

If you suffer with chronic diarrhea, you aren't getting the maximum benefit from the foods you eat, no matter how good they are, because you aren't absorbing all the nutrients and this can have long term effects on your health.

If you want to find out what the food triggers are in your particular case, you might want to try an Elimination Diet specific for people who experience diarrhea (either related to IBS or to other conditions).

Unquestionably, diet can bring on, aggravate or alleviate diarrhea. Food triggers can provoke diarrhea through complex intolerance mechanisms. And definitely the foods you eat can prolong or cut short the duration of occasional episodes of diarrhea. In fact, by eating the right stuff, you can shorten by 1/3 to 1/2 the recovery time from a bout of diarrhea.

RELATED PAGES:

Diarrhea Treatment which deals with some of the myths and facts related to the treatment of diarrhea.

Diarrhea Diet which will discuss the best diet that can help treat and prevent diarrhea.

5) Murray, M., Pizzorno, J., (2005) The Encyclopaedia of Healing Foods London: Time Warner Inc.

Top of page

Back to Homepage from Causes of Diarrhea

New! Comments