THE SYMPTOMS OF FOOD INTOLERANCE: DIAIRHOEA
Posted: under Allergies.
Bowel function varies a great deal from one person to another, making it difficult to say exactly what diarrhoea is. For most people, one bowel movement a day seems to be the norm, but some people only go once every three or four days, while others go twice a day or more. An important question here is whether ‘average’ is the same thing as ‘normal and healthy’. One survey of 301 apparently healthy adults found that almost a third of them reported bowel symptoms of some sort (diarrhoea, constipation etc), although most had not consulted a doctor for their problem. This study can be interpreted in two ways. It either shows that everyone’s bowel function is different and there is no such thing as a normal pattern – or it shows that a large percentage of the population are suffering from minor bowel complaints. We would lean towards the latter view, and suggest that some of those people, at least, are sensitive to the food they eat.
In general, a healthy bowel pattern feels healthy, whether you go three times a day or twice a week. There is a regularity to the pattern – it is not erratic. The stools are fairly firm and well-formed and there is no particular urgency, nor any great difficulty in going. There is no sense of malaise or pain, either before or afterwards, and the movement feels complete – not as if you still have some faeces left to pass. In diarrhoea, soft, loose or semi-liquid stools are passed several times a day; there is usually a sense of urgency and, usually, some feeling of malaise. Diarrhoea is basically a means of ridding the body of toxins, harmful bacteria or other unwanted substances – it is a healthy reaction to infection, and should only be considered a problem when it serves no useful purpose. However, acute diarrhoea can lead to dehydration because so much water is lost, and this can be dangerous.
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