When we have diarrhea we lose a lot of fluids and salts. Find out how to replenish them with these useful tips to provide salts to your body after bouts of diarrhea.
Diarrhea is an alteration of the intestines that appears for different reasons: food poisoning, an infection by a certain virus (rotavirus, nor virus, astrovirus or enteric adenovirus) and also due to the existence of some disease or pathology such as the case irritable bowel syndrome or Cohn’s disease or pancreatic insufficiency. Likewise, it can arise as a consequence of a constant maintenance of both stress and anxiety, which cause nerves and tension in our stomach and intestines and do not carry out their different basic functions correctly.
The most obvious symptom that we suffer from diarrhea is the appearance of an increase in the number of stools, more than 3 stools a day, and a decrease in consistency, being much more liquid or very soft. But it is also common for these two signs to be accompanied by others, such as: nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, food intolerance, excessive sweating, muscle pain and fever.
The basic recommendation to follow when we have diarrhea is to drink plenty of fluids, since in this way we will be providing our body with fluids and hydrating it correctly, preventing dehydration from appearing. However, you must bear in mind that having a party and dry mouth is already a symptom of dehydration, so the key is to try to drink liquids every so often and always in small sips to avoid reaching this point.
Why do you lose fluids with diarrhea?
When we have diarrhea, whether due to food poisoning, infection with a certain virus or an inflammatory bowel disease, there is a change in bowel movements that causes the appearance of more liquid and soft stools than normal. As a consequence, liquids are not absorbed.
What’s more, diarrhea increases fluid loss through bowel movements, and along with this fluid, salts are also lost, which consist of chemical substances that our body needs in order to function properly. Especially in infants, young children, and older adults, this fluid loss can be severe.
It is usual that with diarrhea, if fluids are not provided adequately, dehydration appears whose clearest symptoms are: dry mouth and tongue, thirst, dark-colored urination and less frequent than normal, dry skin, tiredness, dizziness and fainting.
Tips to provide salts to our body after having diarrhea
In many cases, the only medical treatment needed is to replace the fluids and salts lost from our bodies through diarrhea. Therefore, on the one hand, to provide liquids, it is necessary to drink water in small sips, broths and soups, infusions and fruit juices. But, what about when it comes to adding salts?
In these cases, serum is always the best option, since it consists of a solution in water of mineral salts and glucose that provides the body with those valuable and fundamental compounds and substances that it has lost through diarrhea.
In pharmacies serums are sold in sachets, which are prepared by mixing it with a little water. In this sense, a common guideline is to mix the contents of one sachet per liter of water in a glass jug, and drink throughout the day in small sips.
It is also possible to make our own homemade whey at home. How? You only need 1 liter of mineral water, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and half a teaspoon of salt, half a teaspoon of baking soda and 1 cup of lemon juice. You must mix everything well and drink it little by little throughout the day.
As we can see, when we have episodes of diarrhea it is very important to provide fluids and salts to our body, in order to replace what is lost and avoid becoming dehydrated since, therefore, our body cannot function properly.
