
You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who wants to run when they have the runs. ( P.S., this article has been medically reviewed by Patricia Raymond, MD, who is board certified in both internal medicine and gastroenterology.) Here, six effective and safe remedies that will help you get rid of diarrhea-and five things you absolutely should NOT do if you're having these poop probs. However, that doesn't mean you can't help things along or make things worse. While all that sounds pretty terrible, it's important to realize that most cases of diarrhea eventually resolve themselves on their own (once the offending food, bacteria, or virus is out of your system), says Toyia James-Stevenson, MD, a gastroenterologist at IU Health. And since you’re pooping everything out, there’s a good chance diarrhea will lead to dehydration. If a virus or bacteria is the culprit behind your diarrhea, you may also have a fever, chills, or bloody stool. You may feel as if you won’t make it to the toilet and sometimes actually don’t make it (in medical language that’s called “loss of bowel control"), and you may have cramps or pain in your stomach and super loose poop. In case you're some incredibly lucky individual who has never dealt with the runs, diarrhea is that “gotta go right now” feeling in your digestive tract. Whatever you call it, diarrhea sucks.Īnd while anything can tick off your tummy, from bacteria to PMS to those sketchy tacos you ate yesterday, the most common causes of diarrhea, according to the US National Library of Medicine, are: bacteria from contaminated food or water, viruses like the flu or norovirus, parasites in contaminated food or water, certain medicines like antibiotics and drugs prescribed to cancer patients, food sensitivities like lactose intolerance, digestive diseases like Crohn’s disease, and problems with the colon like with irritable bowel disease.

Ahead, GI doctors share the most common culprits to watch out for.The squirts. To help streamline the process, we narrowed down the most likely foods that cause diarrhea. You may just be able to spare yourself some discomfort-and a few extra trips to the restroom. Then, note when you have symptoms and see if you can identify the foods that trigger your tummy troubles. To do this, write down everything you eat in a day, alongside the time you eat. “The best way to investigate which foods are making your symptoms worse is to keep a food diary,” says Shilpa Ravella, M.D., a gastroenterologist and assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. So, if you suspect that food, rather than an illness, is causing your diarrhea, start paying attention to your eating habits. “Your bowel movements are the only real marker you have about what your GI health is like,” Anish Sheth, M.D., a board-certified gastroenterologist at Penn Medicine’s Center for Digestive Health, previously explained when discussing the various textures of poop and what they mean. While experiencing a short bout of diarrhea is generally not a cause for major concern, it might be worth taking note of changes related to your bowel movements to better take care of your body. adults in the United States are dealing with chronic diarrhea at any one time, according to a study in the journal of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. However, there are also lots of foods that cause diarrhea-including dairy, coffee, and anything spicy, which can send you running for the bathroom.Īnd despite feeling embarrassed, it’s a common issue. Most bouts of the unpleasant trip to the bathroom are caused by a virus or bacteria, per the National Institute of Health (NIH). Struggling to have healthy bowel movements? It’s not pleasant to talk about, and it’s even less so to deal with, but everyone experiences watery stools (a.k.a.
