by Setareh Kiumarsi
Q: How’s your bowel movement?
A: Great… fantastic… I go 5–6 times a day… my digestive tract works like a charm… whatever I eat, I go to the bathroom right after!
Q: Is your stool formed? Or is it loose and unshaped?
A: It’s not watery, but it’s loose.
Do you think just because you don’t have constipation and your bowels move a few times a day, it means your intestines are healthy?
Unfortunately, no!
Let’s first check what the definition of healthy, normal bowel movement is according to Ayurveda:
If you have bowel movements one to three times a day, if the stool passes easily without any straining, and if it’s formed (like a ripe banana) and doesn’t fall apart, then your digestion is considered healthy.
So when your stool is loose or watery and turns into diarrhea, your intestines are sending you a message that they’re out of balance and need attention.
Loose stool and diarrhea come in different forms… they can be caused by too much heat, cold, dryness, or dampness in the intestines. Pinpointing exactly which qualities are in excess and causing loose stool is a bit complex and needs some specialized Ayurvedic knowledge… but how about I explain the main causes of loose stool and home remedies for them in simple terms?
Among the different types of loose stool and diarrhea, two are more common than the rest:
- Loose stool or diarrhea due to excess heat and dryness:
Think of times when you’ve been out in the sun for hours, or gone hiking in the heat, or eaten really spicy food at an Indian restaurant…
In situations like this, heat and dryness increase in your body… the liver gets overactive and your digestive tract fills up with a bitter, sharp fluid called bile. The body’s first attempt to bring itself back into balance is to release this excess bile through the body’s detox channels… what happens then? You get bile-type diarrhea (and sometimes vomiting), and bile gets flushed out of your intestines.
What are the symptoms? You lose your appetite, food doesn’t stay in your system very long… many times during bowel movements only a yellow fluid (bile) exits your gut… and in some people, diarrhea comes with vomiting or abdominal cramps.
- Loose stool or diarrhea due to excess heat and moisture:
Think of situations where you’ve eaten a bunch of foods one after another and a bowl of ice cream on top! Or a rich oily meal like lasagna followed by a huge slice of creamy cake!
Your digestive system can’t handle this heavy mix… it reacts with stomachache and tries to push the undigested food out… so what happens? You get bloating, acid reflux, and loose stool or diarrhea.
In this scenario, heat and moisture in the intestines rise, and the body tries to eliminate it through bowel movements.
What other signs show up? A yellow coating on the tongue, foul-smelling gas and stool, acidic stool that burns or itches around the anus.
Some people naturally have more heat and dampness in their intestines and usually have loose, unformed stool and experience the above symptoms often.
So what do we do when these symptoms show up?
Home remedy for bile-type diarrhea
As we said, when heat and dryness rise in the body, the liver becomes overactive and the digestive tract fills with a bitter, sharp fluid called bile. The body tries to rebalance by eliminating this excess bile through the intestines or through vomiting.
When are you more likely to face this type of diarrhea?
Think of times when you’ve been out in the sun for too long, or hiked in hot weather, or had very spicy food at a restaurant… in many viral stomach bugs, the same process happens in the body and you end up releasing a large amount of bile through stool or vomiting.
What are the symptoms?
You lose your appetite, food passes quickly through your system… sometimes during bowel movements only a yellowish fluid comes out… and in some people it’s accompanied by vomiting or cramping in the abdomen. When you have severe diarrhea or vomiting, you lose a lot of fluids and electrolytes, your body becomes dehydrated, and the mucus membrane of your digestive tract dries out.
When this membrane dries out too much, digestion becomes impaired, and food either remains in the gut, comes up (vomiting), or is expelled downward (diarrhea).
In this situation, the first step is to hydrate the body and replenish electrolytes:
In a glass of warm water, mix one teaspoon of lemon juice, a pinch of salt, and one teaspoon of natural syrup (like grape, date, or mulberry). Sip a couple of small sips every few minutes.
The next step is to pour one cup of uncooked rice and three cups of water into a pot, and let it simmer until about a cup and a half of liquid remains. In one cup, pour three-quarters of a cup of warm rice water, a quarter cup of ayran (a yogurt-based beverage, preferably kefir), and a little salt. Sip it slowly. What does this yogurt drink do? It helps regenerate the intestinal lining and delivers a good amount of probiotics to your gut. You can drink this once or twice.
Next step: add one teaspoon of ghee (clarified butter), a bit of kefir or probiotic yogurt, and some sumac to soft cooked rice and eat it.
What other things help stop this type of diarrhea and vomiting?
Half a cup of pomegranate juice mixed with half a cup of water, one teaspoon of date syrup, and a pinch of cardamom.
Chop one or two bananas, top with one teaspoon of ghee, a pinch of nutmeg, and a pinch of cardamom, and eat it.
(Source of this home remedy: Vasant Lad, Home Remedies: An Ayurvedic Guide to Maintaining Good Health, translated by Zahra Abbasi (Tehran: Nasle Noandish Publications, 2017))
Add one teaspoon of psyllium husk to a bowl of room temperature yogurt (not cold), and eat it.
Also, be sure to get a live (refrigerated) probiotic supplement from the pharmacy and take one capsule per day.
Binding Foods and Home Remedies for Loose Stool
Is your stool generally loose and shapeless? Or do you get diarrhea whenever you mix too many foods together?
In the previous article, I wrote about the common types of loose stool and diarrhea, and some home remedies for bile-related vomiting and diarrhea. How about today we look at some binding foods?
Which foods are binding (firm up the stool) and good to include in your regular diet?
Pomegranate, acorn, persimmon, barberry, apple, potato, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, mung beans, mint, fava beans, lentils, rice, barley, ginger, cumin, rosemary, nutmeg, saffron, cardamom, coriander seed, sumac.
What else?
Avoid foods that are overly sour, salty, or spicy. Also watch out for laxative foods — don’t overconsume these:
Sour cherry, plum, greengage, pineapple, mango, fig, avocado, rhubarb, apricot, peach, nectarine, kiwi, melon, cantaloupe, tangerine, orange, tamarind, raspberry, mulberry, spinach, okra, tomato, beetroot, cinnamon, turmeric, kefir, seafood.
If your stool is generally loose, try incorporating the following cooked and spiced vegetables into your meals:
Cauliflower, broccoli, cilantro, and mung bean sprouts.
With which spices? Saffron, nutmeg, cumin, cardamom, coriander seed.
Cook apple or quince with cardamom and nutmeg and try to have it daily as a snack.
Don’t miss out on cilantro rice seasoned with cumin. Try to have it 2–3 times a week.
How’s your relationship with pomegranate juice, barberry juice, or cranberry juice?
If you like them, mix 1/4 cup of any with 3/4 cup warm water, a pinch of saffron, and a pinch of nutmeg — consume daily.
How about a comforting barley soup with carrots and cilantro? Just make sure not to use cow’s milk — instead, use almond milk.
Looking for a tea?
In one cup of hot water, add 1–2 cardamom pods, a pinch of saffron, a pinch of nutmeg, a few drops of lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon of honey. Sip it several times a day.
More herbal support?
Mix the following herbs whole (not powdered) in these proportions:
Chamomile (1) + Rosemary (2) + Cumin (1) + Coriander seed (1).
Steep 1 teaspoon of this blend in hot water and drink 3–4 times a day.
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Home Remedy for Post-Overeating Diarrhea
Overindulged? Mixed all kinds of foods together in your gut?
Your digestive system tried its best to process the unholy combo, but couldn’t handle it, and now it’s letting you know through diarrhea, reflux, and nausea?
What should you do?
First, don’t add any more heavy or hard-to-digest foods for now:
No red meat, seafood, fast food, rice and stew, fried foods, sugary desserts, etc.
Next, help your digestive system detox the accumulated waste:
Grind the following herbs into powder in equal parts:
Cumin (1) + Rosemary (1) + Chamomile (1) + Sumac (1)
Every 2.5 hours (up to 24 hours or until the diarrhea stops), mix ½ tsp of the blend with honey into a paste, swallow it, and follow with a glass of warm water.
What else?
In a cup of hot water, add ½ teaspoon chopped fresh ginger, a pinch of saffron, a pinch of nutmeg, a few drops of lemon juice, a pinch of salt, and 1 teaspoon honey. Drink every hour until symptoms subside (maximum 24 hours).
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Breakfast & Snack Ideas
Cooked Apple or Quince (with saffron, cardamom, and nutmeg)
Or: Steamed potato (with olive oil and cumin)
A whole pomegranate, sprinkle cumin on the seeds and chew the white parts between the seeds, too.
Grate one raw carrot, add saffron, nutmeg, cardamom, and 1 tsp honey. Enjoy!
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Lunch & Dinner Ideas
Mung bean rice, cilantro rice, lentil rice, or cauliflower rice — heavily seasoned with cumin and sumac.
Serve it with one glass of digestive lassi:
2 tbsp probiotic yogurt or kefir
• 1 cup hot water
• pinch of saffron
• pinch of nutmeg
• ¼ tsp cumin
• ¼ tsp coriander seed
Drink it with your meal.
Stay full of health.
Please be sure to credit the author, Setareh Kiumarsi, when sharing or republishing this article, which was written with love and the hope of well-being for all.
