An oral thermometer

Foods and liquids as suggested in Steps 2-5

Optional:

Herbs and fiber supplements found at health food stores (see Step 7)

A selection of magazines and books for the bathroom

Patience and a positive attitude

Magnesium is a small but important part of your body. It's a component of bones and teeth; it helps in making proteins, blood clotting, muscular contractions and nerve signal transmission.

Potassium is one of the most important elements in your diet. Persons who consume 4,000 mg. of potassium or more per day have a much lower incidence of all degenerative diseases including insulin resistance syndrome, hypertension, stroke, obesity and adult- onset diabetes.

Sodium is an essential nutrient, important to your body's nerves and muscles. It's a mineral that the body cannot manufacture itself but can be found in table salt.

Table Salt is processed from the naturally-found mineral, sodium chloride (NaCl) which is 40% sodium (Na) and 60% chlorine (Cl). It's an easy, inexpensive, and effective method to supplement your body's requirements for sodium and the chlorine compound known as chloride.

Chloride preserves the acid-base balance in the body, aids potassium absorption, supplies the essence of digestive stomach acid, and enhances the ability of the blood to carry carbon dioxide from respiring tissues to the lungs.

Homeopathy: a medical tradition that maintains that the symptoms of disease are the body's attempt to deal with the disease process. Homeopathy teaches that the symptoms should not be suppressed as they are in regular Western medicine (alopathy).

On the road: The best strategy while traveling is to assume that all water is contaminated, and never drink untreated water. Don't even brush your teeth with untreated water, or eat a raw salad that may have been washed in untreated water. Ice cubes are also suspect.

Infants and children with diarrhea get dehydrated more easily than adults--so watch their fluid intake carefully. Check with a doctor before giving children over-the-counter diarrhea medications. These often contain aspirin-like substances that present the risk of Reye's Syndrome, a potentially fatal liver disorder in children with fever.

A serious case? If you have two bathrooms in your home, claim one for yourself and off-limits to everyone else. Especially for cases like Giardia infection (or any other microbial infection, it's best to have unlimited and uninterrupted access to a bathroom.

If you read the Metamucil label (or a similar product), you'll notice that it's primarily psyllium seed husk. Skip the middleman...buy the psyllium in bulk and you'll save a lot of money.

Keep the anal area clean and dry using mild soap and water. If you have discomfort even when you're not on the toilet, try soaking in a tub of warm water.

2torial #0787: Learn2 Cope with Diarrhea Getting to the bottom of the matter Is your bathroom starting to resemble the magazine section of your local library? Is your family lined up in the hall, legs crossed, agonized looks on their faces as they wait for you to emerge, weak, but well-read? Diarrhea, the passing of watery stools many times a day, is a sign that your body's intestinal system is flushing poisons from your body. You can't cure it--but you can manage it, with common sense and time. You know your body better than anyone. If you're experiencing severe pain or cramping, bloody stools, a fever of 102F (39C) or greater, diarrhea for more than seven days, or any other extreme symptom, then call a doctor. Most common incidences of diarrhea can be reduced by observing good hygiene: washing your hands and avoiding contaminated food, utensils or other objects. Children should be taught to avoid putting non-food-related objects in their mouth. Hand washing is recommended after using the bathroom and before meals. Bear in mind that symptoms are most severe on the first day and subside over the next several days. Most people will be back to their regular old selves within three to seven days. The following suggestions will help you to cope while things run their course.   Think It's helpful to pinpoint the cause of your distress. By going over the events prior to the onset of the diarrhea, you can sometimes determine its nature and quite possibly avoid a recurrence   Did you eat or drink anything that isn't a part of your normal diet?   Were you away on a trip? If so, were you with friends or family? Check in with them to see if anyone else is suffering with the same symptoms.   If you've been abroad and have had diarrhea more than seven days, call a doctor. They may order a test of your stool for microbial infection--single-celled animals that multiply in your digestive track and wreak havoc in the process. Replace lost fluids Passing watery stools many times a day, you also run the chance of becoming dehydrated, and dehydration can cause serious health problems. Normally, this is prevented by the sensation of thirst, which encourages you to drink when your body needs water. But your thirst mechanism is unreliable when diarrhea strikes: you lose large amounts of water in a short period of time, and your thirst reaction can't keep up with the loss of fluids. Be alert to the following signs of dehydration: Dry lips and tongue.   Increase in heart rate and breathing.   Dizziness, mental confusion.   Skin that looks dry and loses its elasticity.   Dark-colored urine passed in small quantities.   To avoid dehydration, increase your fluid intake. Drink at least 6-8 glasses of liquids per day. How can you tell if you've had enough? Your urine should consistently pale and clear.   Water or clear broth is fine; avoid carbonated beverages.   For fluid replacement with additional nutrient value, drink non-citrus fruit juices diluted in water to 50-70% juice. Soy or rice milk are also good source of liquid nourishment. Replace lost minerals The intestine's main purpose is to remove fluids and nutrition from the food and liquid you consume, and then rid the body of any undigested materials through bowel movements. Whether diarrhea results from microbial infection, from stress, or other diseases or syndromes, it indicates that the intestine isn't performing its normal tasks. Important nutrients aren't being absorbed into your body; they're being sent straight to your bowels for elimination. See Keywords for more information on these minerals. Without adequate salt, your body can't adequately absorb or retain water. It'll pass right through the body and result in diarrhea and possibly severe cramping. Also, unless you take in extra salt, you need to drink twice the amount of water to replace the fluids you've lost from diarrhea.   Chloride and Sodium are supplied by common table salt. Sodium helps your body retain fluids. Unless you have a medical problem that prohibits it, eat foods that are salty. Clear broth is a good choice for both sodium and chloride replacement.   Potassium can be replaced naturally. Bananas, potatoes, cooked beans, fish and chicken are all good sources of potassium.   Magnesium is harder to replace naturally. Food sources are whole grains and nuts, but you should try to avoid these foods during this time. It might be wiser to get a magnesium supplement from a health-food store if your condition continues for more than a week. Avoid aggravating foods Watch the temperature: avoid extremely hot or cold foods. Any extemes in temperature will jar your intestines, which are already in a sensitive state.   Watch out for fats. Baked goods, butter and margarine, mayonnaise and meats contain fats that are difficult to digest, and will hinder the healing progress. Greasy and spicy foods, rich desserts, and foods with refined sugar are also unhelpful. Be wary of dairy: Many people, especially adults, suffer from diarrhea due to lactose intolerance. They lack the enzyme to digest lactose, the sugar naturally occuring in milk. If you have a milk product but your body doesn't have the enzyme for the lactose, the bowel can't absorb the lactose, and eliminates the milk product immediately. (You experience this as diarrhea ). Remember that foods like ice cream, puddings, cheese, butter, sour cream and cream cheese are also milk products. (Yogurt is the one exception to this rule--see Step 5 for more details.)   Know your fiber. Beware of these otherwise very healthy foods: bran cereals, corn, whole grain breads, dried and unpeeled fruits, raw vegetables and popcorn. They contain insoluble fiber (fiber doesn't absorb water), which means these foods will shoot through your body without absorbing the excess water in your bowels. See Step 7 for the lowdown on soluble fiber and its helpful properties.   Pit fruits (peaches, plums, and cherries) may worsen the diarrhea and should be avoided.   Stay away from caffeine. Remember that it's found in chocolate as well as in coffee, tea (excepting herbal teas) and soft-drinks. A stimulant like caffeine will speed up the action of your intestines, and that's the opposite of what you need. Your intestines need to relax and slow down.   Avoid alcohol and tobacco. These contain chemicals that your body has to work extra hard to process. Right now your body needs to save its strength to deal with the diarrhea. Eat the right foods   If you're hungry, eat small amounts of food and liquids throughout the day instead of three large meals. For if you stay on clear liquids too long without solid food, you can have diarrhea just from this liquid diet. In general, choose foods that are mild and easily digestible. Your intestines don't want to be shocked or forced to work overtime digesting heavy foods.   Probably the best food for most people is a very light soup made from a small amount of grain and generous amounts of water. For example, cook a half-cup (250 g) of rice or barley in 2 1/2 to 3 cups (500-750 ml) of water on very low heat for six hours or more. In traditional medical theory, the longer this soup cooks, the greater its healing power. Good vegetables to add are garlic, carrot, leek, string beans, eggplant, white mushrooms, yam. Add a few dashes of tamari or good quality soy sauce for extra salt.   Other suggested foods are white rice, yogurt, eggs, pasta, apple sauce, broiled or baked chicken, and fish.   There's a theory that yogurt contains good bacteria that help get rid of the bad bacteria that are causing the problem. The evidence isn't conclusive at this point, but yoghurt is an easily digestible food. Very ripe bananas contain tanin, a compound that has a binding effect on the stool. Be careful to avoid underripe bananas, which have a greenish tinge at the ends. These contain pectin, which has an opposite effect!   A cup of blueberries may help. These purple-blue wonders contain antibacterial agents that are effective against the diarrhea-causing bacteria. Check with a local pharmacy Over-the-counter anti-diarrhea products (such as Metamucil, Fiberall, Fibercon, Pepto-Bismol) may be used according to package directions. Another option is loperamide--a diarrhea remedy that acts so quickly and thoroughly that it's known by some as "The Cork." But it's a strong drug that, if used indiscriminately, may halt the natural cleansing action of diarrhea. Here's a good use: if you're traveling in a foreign country and you must travel despite bad diarrhea, take it. Otherwise, consider using gentler, more natural methods that allow your body to readjust itself gradually. It's sold over-the-counter under several brand names. There are some things that should be avoided, however. Aspirin or other pain killers are likely to aggravate the condition.   Keep in mind that antibiotics tend to upset the equilibrium of intestinal bacteria and cause a worsening of symptoms.   Some antacids can cause diarrhea. Since you already have diarrhea, they're best avoided until you're back to normal. Call your local health food store Alternative medicine is becoming more widely accepted. There are many natural substances, herbs and minerals available in a variety of forms which have been proven effective in the treatment of diarrhea. Psyllium, a grain naturally found in India, is an excellent soluble fiber supplement. It has the highest level of soluble fiber known--more than eight times that of oat bran. It's available as a powder (psyllium seed husk powder) and directions are clearly stated on the package.   There are herbal teas which will bring you a measure of relief. These include chamomile, red raspberry, and peppermint. Ginger is also considered to be helpful. (Caution: Red raspberry can interfere with the absorption of iron.)   Homeopathic medicine combines various natural ingredients, sometimes in amounts that are diluted so far as to be immeasurable in the final product. Their healing properties are well-documented, however. The label of a typical homeopathic solution for the relief of diarrhea might have ten ingredients, all of which are natural vegetal extracts and minerals. Each ingredient targets the symptoms (loose stool, gas, exhaustion) of diarrhea. There are several companies producing homeopathic remedies, so call your health food store to see what they have and can recommend. Rest, relax, say a little prayer   A reduction in activity is not only wise, it's probably unavoidable for the first day or two. And while you're resting, you might consider the school of thought that says "prayers can move mountains." Whether or not they can stop bowel movements is a matter of faith.   Dr. Herbert Benson, Harvard professor and founder of the Mind-Body Institute, combines relaxation techniques with conventional Western medicine. He says that his confidence in the mind-body connection comes "not from belief but from science".   According to a new survey of the American Academy of Family Physicians, 99 percent of doctors believe there's a link between faith and health.   So sit quietly and very still, picture yourself well, think positively, and (if you're inclined) say a little prayer.You have only your health to gain. -end- Learn More!