Lemon
Lemon is a powerful anti-diarrhoeal food. It can be beneficially used in controlling diarrhoea. The patient may be given fresh juice of one lemon mixed with 200 ml of water. This process may be repeated several times a day. This treatment can successfully check even the severest type of diarrhoea.
Mango
The juice of this fruit constitutes an anti-diarrhoeal food It is especially valuable in chronic diarrhoea. For treating this disease, the patient should be given 50 grams of fresh sweet mango juice, mixed with 20 grams of curd and a teaspoon of ginger juice. This may be repeated twice or thrice a day. The quantity of mango juice can be increased from 50 grams to 100 grams, if necessary.
This treatment should be continued for a week or so to obtain relief from chronic diarrhoea and dysentery. The leaves of mango tree also form an anti-diarrhoeal food They contain both gallic and tannic acid and are astringent. A handful of tender leaves should be ground in to a paste or a decoction should be prepared from these leaves and given thrice daily to treat diarrhoea and dysentery.
The use of mango seeds is also valuable in diarrhoea. The seeds should be collected during the mango season, dried in the shade and powdered, and kept stored for use as a medicine, when required. A dose of about one and a half to two gram, with or without honey, should be administered twice daily to treat this condition.
Mint
Mint is a popular spice, used extensively in Indian cooking. It is useful in strengthening the stomach and promoting its action. It also counteracts spasmodic disorders. It forms an ingredient of most drugs prescribed for stomach ailments because of its digestive property.
Mint is an anti-diarrhoeal food. The juice extracted from this plant has been found beneficial in the treatment of diarrhoea. One teaspoon of fresh mint juice, mixed with a teaspoon each of limejuice and honey, can be given thrice daily with excellent results in the treatment of this disease.
Nutmeg
Nutmeg, a popular condiment, is the dried seed or kernel of the fruit, which resembles a small peach and splits when it ripens. It is an anti-diarrhoeal food and its use has been found very effective in controlling diarrhoea. About five to 15 grams of this spice should be powdered and taken, mixed with banana, as a specific medicine in treating this condition.
Pomegranate
The pomegranate is a very delicious and fairly large size fruit, with refreshing and soothing qualities. It possesses anti-diarrhoeal property. It is an astringent food and thus valuable in diarrhoea. In case of weakness caused by profuse and continuous purging, the patient should be given repeatedly about 50 ml of pomegranate juice to drink. This will control diarrhoea. If the patient passes blood with stools, this will stop by the use of fresh pomegranate juice. The flower buds of pomegranate tree are also astringent and are useful in chronic diarrhoea, especially of children.
The rind of the fruit also constitutes an anti-diarrhoeal food. It is astringent and it contains about 28 per cent of tannic acid, identical to gallotannic acid. The rind should be dried and powdered. A decoction should be prepared by boiling 15 to 30 grams of this powder in a glass of water. This decoction can be beneficially used in controlling diarrhoea and dysentery.
Rice
Rice is a much-revered oriental food and the most important tropical cereal. It is the staple food of about half the human race and is often the main source of calories and the principal food for many millions of people. Rice is one of the safest foods to treat diarrhoea. It has a very low fibre content and therefore soothing to the digestive system. A thick gruel of rice, mixed with a glass of buttermilk and a well-ripe banana, taken twice a day is a very nutritious and ideal diet in diarrhoea.
Starchy fluids
The best remedy for diarrhoea is a starchy fluid. A thick soup or drink made from any starchy food, such as rice, corn, carrot or potatoes, works as medicine in this disease. These foods have long been used in folk medicine as cure for diarrhoea. The most commonly used are rice gruel and carrot soup. Starchy liquids help diminish vomiting, compensate the fluid loss, reduce the duration of the disease and hasten recovery.
Modern research studies have confirmed the efficacy of staple starchy foods. Recently, scientists compared the therapeutic power of such traditional foods with a modern lactose-free infant formula. For instant, in Peru, children suffering from diarrhoea got mixtures of wheat flour or white potato, pea flour, carrots and oil. In Nigeria, they ate a mixture of fermented maize pap, roasted cow pea flour, sugar and palm oil. After the first couple of days, the youngsters on the food mixtures often had less diarrhoea and experienced a return to normal stools earlier than the formula-fed children.
Turmeric
Turmeric is a valuable anti-diarrhoeal food. Its use helps control diarrhoea, especially chronic diarrhoea. This spice is an intestinal antiseptic. It is also a gastric stimulant and tonic. One teaspoon of fresh turmeric rhizome juice or one teaspoon of dry rhizome powder may be taken in a cup of buttermilk or plain water in treating diarrhoea.