How’s Your Digestion?

By Dr. Jody Stanislaw Food is one of the greatest pleasures in life. But how often do you actually think about the fact that the nutrients contained in the food you eat are what become your skin, your lungs, even your heart, and every other part of your body?! (You’ll think again the next time you reach for some chemical ridden processed food, won’t you?) And how can you make sure you’re absorbing the valuable nutrients contained in your food? By having great digestion! This means you have an easy and complete bowel movement first thing in the morning (and ideally after lunch and dinner as well…but if you at least have one every morning, you’re doing well), your belly feels comfortable after you eat without any bloating or pressure, and gas is a rare occurrence. So how do you rate? Digestive complaints (also referred to as GI complaints, which stands for gastrointestinal) are among the most common reasons Americans go to the doctor. Read more

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Disease as Our Teacher

By Dr. Nicole Sundene

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week Everyone!

Who is Your Teacher?

Did you know that even adults have teachers?

We may not knowingly be matriculated into the curriculum, but LIFE is teaching us so many things.

In my opinion, disease is an amazing teacher.

Whether chronic or acute, disease is the only way the body can send us messages.

My friend with diabetes refers to her diabetes as her “teacher.”

Anyone with diabetes who is reading this can commiserate at what a challenging life lesson having this disease can be.

Pain is also one of the most common signals that the body sends to us when it wants to teach us a lesson, but we often miss the other hidden messages, the otherwise less pronounced teachers,  those substitute teachers….you know? The ones that NO ONE wants to pay attention to,  and they are known as SYMPTOMS.

Symptoms are a lot like substitute teachers because no one wants to listen to them.  They are going buh-bye in a day or two. Yippee! We can do whatever we want….

But we can’t.  What we need to do is listen to that inner wisdom of the body…pay attention to those symptoms.

Wow….symptoms are our teachers too! How amazing is that to think about? The body is trying to tell you something when you are spending hours on the toilet with The Swine Flu (or nature’s Spring Cleaning as I like to call it.) We know that this virus causing gastroenteritis is upsetting the digestive system, and the body is smartly shooting it out of us as quickly as possible (no puns intended…I promise with all due respect.)

Same thing happens when we get a bad cough, or when we have to sneeze…..and maybe boring yawns even have something to teach us.

Speaking of yawns, bear with me here for a second while we transport back in to time….

Picture it– Issaquah High School 1993:

When I was in high school, my best friend and I had this substitute teacher who eventually became our full time teacher.  He was fresh meat out of grad school, and not much older than we were. Smelling his fear, everyone in the class acted like the typical high school students that knew more than everyone else in the world (let me tell you when I was 18, I was the smartest I will ever be in my entire lifetime. The more I learn, the more I realize how little I will ever know.)

It seemed that everyone in the class had fun taking turns making his day a nightmare.  We were a bunch of arrogant Honor Society Students.  We were used to receiving “A’s” for thinking out of the box and leaving a tiny dot on a science test that asked us to draw a scientific model of a geographical system, and the teacher gave credit.

We had been tested, we had applied to schools, we already knew where we were going for college, many had full ride scholarships, we had it made….

In all nerdy honesty, I was just taking the Advanced Physics as an elective because I almost failed small engines, and in the 17 years that Mr. Endicott taught his curriculum, he never had a group of students not have their lawn mower run.  He even took it apart and put it back together again, and it still didn’t work.

He never had a group of students like us, who thought we were taking the class for an easy “A,” kind of like the “nerd” in “Breakfast Club” who wanted to kill himself with a flare gun because he couldn’t get his elephant lamp to work. Anyway, I got a C in the small engines class, the worst score I had ever received, and never had to work harder to almost not fail.  My BF and I would stay up late with flashcards talking about “tulip valves” and memorizing auto parts. To each his own genius right?

I digress….

In advanced physics class we refused to listen, we had already had six months of physics and thought we knew more than the teacher. We caused trouble just to cause trouble. We made our poor teacher work a million times harder than necessary. We chatted loudly amongst ourselves while he was forced to just yell louder and louder over us to gain our attention. In guilty hindsight, I’m quite certain we must have driven him to drink. I think he may have even given up teaching.

One morale of this blabbering story is that: He kept yelling louder and louder….and we didn’t listen. Hmmm…sound familiar? Pain and other disease symptoms can keep yelling louder and louder too….when we aren’t listening.

I think many of us that now work with super scary teenagers wish that we could flash back in time and apologize to or thank a particular teacher who worked really hard to make us better.

Teachers are some of the most under-appreciated professionals in the working world in comparison to what they are asked to do, and how much they are asked to give.

As a doctor, I have grown to accept that disease is one of our best under-recognized teachers.

Why else does the public speaker develop laryngitis when he does, or the athlete sprain their ankle? Why do most people have heart attacks at 8am on Monday mornings? Why does the skin problem finally show up on your face where your own vanity is forced to recognize it? Why do we get sick when we get sick? Why do we get sick with the things that we get sick with?

Why does our body choose the particular messages in the form of disease that it chooses to communicate with us?  Why aren’t we listening to the inner wisdom, or in Naturopathic Medicine we call it, “The Vis Medicatrix Naturae” or “The Healing Power of Nature.”

We recognize that although their is no cure for the common cold, for instance, the body manages to still recover.

The problem with symptom suppression is that we are ignoring the body’s inner wisdom. Obviously there are times when we have to ignore this “inner wisdom” and intervene to do what is safest, such as in the case of a high fevers! But let’s stop and think about what the purpose of a low grade fever is before we choose to immediately suppress it with acetaminophen.

When the immune system first interacts with a virus or bacterial particle, a message is sent to the brain to increase our thermostat. When the body has a higher temperature, it makes oxygen more available to white blood cells that kill the very bugs that are making us sick.  This is the immune system equivalent to the President giving a report that then gets distributed and the captain of the ship then says, “Computer–activate our shields.”

Sorry once a Trekkie always a Trekkie.

When we ignore our teachers, and assume we are better than our teachers, we are not quite present for life’s lessons. We miss the growth opportunity in the challenge. When we don’t listen to the messages sent by disease, disease just shouts back louder at us. What is that cold really telling you? Why did you have a heart attack? What is your chronic heart burn telling you?  Why does your back really hurt so bad?  Why do you do more nurturing for other people than you do for yourself?  Why aren’t you taking care of yourself?  Why aren’t you listening to your teachers?

Today is the day to start thinking about these things.

And, if you happen to be the 6th period Advanced Physics teacher at Issaquah High School in 1993, I would like to offer my sincerest apology!

God bless all of our teachers!

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Heart Healthy Herbal Cocktail

By Dr. Nicole Sundene

With the hot summer months upon us (well not so much in Seattle today), I thought I would share my favorite herbal iced tea recipe to help you “Unleash your inner fabulosity”.

Mixing fat burning green tea with pomegranate juice is a most delicious delivery system for the heart healthy antioxidants, proanthocyanins, bioflavonoids, and polyphenols that protect our cardiovascular systems from the ravages of inflammation.

Ultimately these gifts from nature work synergistically to preventing heart disease and aging. Green tea is also a known fat burner, and can be consumed copiously by dieters for its thermogenic properties.

Ingredients:

• 8 bags of Green Tea.
• 1 cup pure Pomegranate juice (Trader Joes has a great organic one that I like).

Directions:

• Steep eight tea bags with seven cups of boiling water for about 15 minutes in a Pyrex container.
• Remove tea bags.
• Allow to cool to room temperature.
• Add 1 cup of pomegranate juice (Or to taste).
• Chill and serve over ice cubes.
• Drink several glasses daily to prevent heart disease, and increase fat burning.
• One eight ounce glass is only about 20 calories! If you are trying to get off diet soda, a Villain of the Kitchen Table, this Whole Foods cocktail should be your new best friend! Diet pop actually makes you fat, this recipe will burn fat.

Variations:

• For parties add some festive garnishes: Mint, lemon balm, lavender, fruit, and edible flowers will surely make you look like Martha Stewart gone on a health rampage. Plop a few frozen blueberries or raspberries in there as well to make it look interesting, or chop a bunch of fruit and create an herbal non-alcoholic “sangria” for your guests.
• Black tea is also high in polyphenols for those that don’t care about burning fat, you may also use Oolong, White Tea, or any herbal tea. Have fun with the ingredients you have readily on hand.
• For stress relief, grab a box of herbal stress relief tea like Celestial Seasonings “Tension Tamer” or a “Night Night” tea and enjoy iced with your favorite fruit juice.
• For diarrhea, mix heavily steeped black tea with blueberry juice. The tannins have an astringent quality on the gut that serve to stop diarrhea. For extra tannins, try a bit of cinnamon too if you like!
• Add a pinch of sea salt and you have yourself an herbal fat burning organic sports drink! For long work out sessions you may also want to increase the amount of juice in the recipe.
• For sick children, mixing pure juice and prescribed herbal teas (not caffeinated!) prevents dehydration while also treating illness. Add a pinch of sea salt for electrolytes.

If you have your own favorite herbal iced tea recipe, feel free to share it in the comments section.

Isn’t being healthy so much fun?

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen table!

~ Dr. Nicole Sundene

Naturopathic Physician
www.KitchenTableMedicine.com

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Recipe: Organic Sports Drinks

Most sports drinks are just pollutionfests chock full of Kitchen Table Villains such as High Fructose Corn Syrup, food colorings, additives, preservatives, and artificial flavorings and colorings. With just a few simple kitchen ingredients, you can make your own homemade sports drinks.

The two widely available sports drinks I commonly recommend for athletes and those that are at risk of dehydration are Emergen-C and Recharge.

If you do not have these readily on hand, you can also easily make your own sports drinks at home.

Making your own sports drinks is fun, cost effective, and MUCH healthier than most alternatives.

Ingredients for Homemade Organic Sports Drinks:

• Pure Organic Fruit Juice (No High Fructose Corn Syrup!)
• Water or Green Tea
• Organic Sea Salt

Directions: Fill your sports bottle with half juice and half water. Add a pinch of organic sea salt, shake, and enjoy!

Sports Drink Variations and Information:

• You can use table salt, but organic sea salt is best to use as an electrolyte source as the minerals of the sea are very similar to our own electrolyte composition in our blood. Sea salt contains 84 minerals. Aside from sodium, you are receiving potassium, iodine, magnesium, calcium, zinc, manganese, and more!
• A small pinch of sea salt is sufficient for most, a larger pinch should be used for endurance athletes, and convalescent care to stave off hyponatremia, the dangerous condition of low sodium levels that can cause muscle weakness, confusion, slurred speech, and more.
• The RDA for sodium depending on your age, ranges between 1200-1500mg daily.
• Most athletes lose around 1000mg of sodium per hour, depending on how much they sweat, you do not have to replete all of this at once though, doing so may result in gastrointestinal distress such as nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.
• Most sports drinks contain around 20-60mg of sodium per 100 mL.
• One teaspoon of salt contains 2400mg of sodium. For hard core endurance athletes such as Ironman triathletes, that are in need of strict sodium regulation, I would aim for about 1/8 of a teaspoon of salt an hour for starters. If you get cramps or weakness in your muscles then you probably need more sodium and magnesium. If you get an upset stomach, chances are you need less sugar and electrolytes. These are just basic guidelines, the best formula is the one that works for you!
• Soups like chicken and vegetable broth can also be enjoyed as electrolyte sources.
• Green tea can be used for athletes wanting a little bit of a fat burning or energetic edge.
• Honey and sea salt can be added to green tea or your favorite herbal tea if fruit juice is unavailable. Enjoy hot or chilled.
• Try adding an Emergen-C packet to your room temperature green tea for an energizing, fat burning sports drink! Let the tea cool a bit because vitamin C is heat sensitive.
• Herbal teas can also be used in this formula as a simple way to deliver herbal medicine to sick children.
• Hydrating foods such as watermelon, cucumbers, honeydew, cantaloupe, and other such water packed fruits and vegetables are also excellent sources of water, sugar, and electrolytes. They are “Nature’s Sports Drinks”! Keep them in your refrigerator and serve them up cold to kids that have been actively playing in the warm summer sun.

Reference: Exercise Associated Hyponatremia, Cape Town, South Africa 2005. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. 15(4):208-213, July 2005.

Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by my kitchen table!

~Dr. Nicole

Naturopathic Physician

www.KitchenTableMedicine.com

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Natural Medicine for Traveler’s Diarrhea

What can I do to prevent traveler’s diarrhea?

If you are traveling, the yeast Sacchromyces boulardii is the supplement that you should always carry along with you. Trust me, anyone that is sick with bacterial food poisoning or a bad viral case of gastroenteritis will think you are the absolute greatest if you have this natural medicine on hand. You can take it as a preventative, as well as use it to treat a case of travelers diarrhea.

Watch out for a severe case of traveler’s diarrhea though! Most should resolve within 24-48 hours. If you are not getting better, or experiencing extreme symptoms be sure to visit a doctor to prevent complications such as dehydration.

S. boulardii is not only great as a preventative for travelers diarrhea, it is also an important healthy flora researched to fight super infections in the gut such as C. difficile that typically result from the overuse of antibiotics.

Think of bowel flora as a war of good guys against bad guys. The more good guys on board such as sacchromyces yeast, and other probiotics such as various acidophilus or bifididus strands; the less likely that bad bacteria and viruses will be able to take over and make us sick.

Be sure to use a high quality product. My recent review of the literature at Consumer Labs, an independent laboratory tester of supplements, revealed Florastor to be the best brand choice.

Always purchase your supplements from a reputable health food store.

All health care providers in need of quality information about supplements should register for information with www.ConsumerLabs.com to stay on top of the latest research and recalls for natural remedies.

~ Dr. Nicole Sundene

Naturopathic Physician
www.KitchenTableMedicine.com

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Castor Oil Pack

Castor oil packs aid in elimination and detoxification processes in the body, through some mechanism that is likely related to its anodyne and anti-inflammatory properties such as cytokine modulation.

INDICATIONS

Uterine fibroids, non-malignant ovarian cysts, headaches, liver disorders, abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, intestinal disorders, gallbladder inflammation or stones, night time urinary frequency and inflamed joints

CONTRAINDICATIONS

Castor oil packs should be used with caution or avoided during pregnancy, bleeding disorders and active ulcers. Castor oil packs should not be used in cancer as heating treatments may help the cancer spread. Individuals with chemical sensitivity disorders may have an increase in symptoms after using the castor oil pack, especially at the beginning of treatment, as it aids (and stimulates) the process of elimination and detoxification. It may be best to shorten the length of time of the castor oil pack treatment initially and should be discussed with your physician.

SUPPLIES

• Flannel Cloth (cotton or wool, washed and dried, 20” to 40” x 24” to 48”)
• Plastic wrap (clear kitchen plastic wrap or plastic bag without printing)
• Glass dish (Pyrex or similar dish large enough to warm the flannel castor oil pack prior to use)
• Old bath towel
• Hot water bottle or hot gel pack
• Castor oil
• Large zip-lock bag

DIRECTIONS

1. Fold the washed and dried flannel cloth so that it is 2-3 layers thick and fits over most of your abdomen.
2. Soak the flannel cloth in castor oil. Strip or loosely wring out the excess oil. There will be excess oil for the first few applications, after that the castor oil pack should not drip excess oil.
3. Put the castor oil pack in a heat-safe glass dish and place in oven or in microwave to heat to a comfortable temperature.
4. Lay down in a comfortable position. You may want to place an old towel or plastic under you during the initial applications to avoid oil stains from getting on your bedding, upholstery or carpeting. Place the castor oil pack directly on your abdomen.
5. Cover the pack with a sheet of plastic, again to avoid staining.
6. Wrap an old towel around your abdomen to hold the castor oil pack in place, and secure. Place a hot water bottle or gel pack over the towel. Wrap yourself in a warm blanket.
7. Leave the castor oil pack on for 45-60 minutes.
8. It is fine to fall asleep with the castor oil pack on, as long as you are not using an electrical heating source.
9. When you are done, store the pack in a large zip-lock bag in the refrigerator. The pack can be used repeatedly, adding more castor oil as needed. The castor oil pack can be used for several months.

ALTERNATIVE DIRECTIONS

This is an alternative method for applying castor oil to the abdominal area:
1. Use Castor oil from a bottle or in a roller ball form.
2. Apply the castor oil directly to your abdominal area.
3. Cover with and old piece of cloth and cover this with plastic wrap or a plastic bag without lettering, to avoid staining and to keep in the heat.
4. Apply a hot water bottle, hot gel pack or heating pad.
5. Keep warm pack on for 45 to 60 minutes. If using a hot water bottle or hot gel pack, change them to keep the pack warm.

Resources
1. Thom DDS, ND, Dick. Biotherapeutic Drainage using the UNDA Numbers. 2002. Beaverton, OR. JELD Publications. P. 210.

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Nutritional Suggestions for Diarrhea

Diarrhea may be described as soft, loose, or semi-liquid stools passed several times a day. There is usually a sense of urgency, and some feelings of malaise.

Besides being uncomfortable, diarrhea can cause excessive losses of fluids, nutrients, and electrolytes, leading to dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. What is eaten can make a big difference. Consultation with a dietitian will ensure that nutrient needs are being met while managing these side effects.

Treatment for Diarrhea:

• Eat small, frequent meals served at room temperature.
• Eat more foods such as oatmeal, applesauce, grated apples, pears, potatoes (no skin), white rice, bananas, canned fruit (rinse off the syrup), yams, squash, and taro root. Limit raw salads, bran, seeds, grain husks, and popcorn.
• Eat high potassium foods to replace electrolyte losses – bananas, apricot and peach nectars, winter squash and potatoes.
• If diarrhea is caused by dairy products – avoid all milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, and ice cream.
• Avoid greasy, high-fat foods. Avoid foods high in sugar.
• Drink plenty of non-caffeinated beverages, water, sports drinks, non-caffeinated sodas and broths. Suck on popsicles.
• Avoid clear apple juice. Sometimes citrus juices can also cause problems.
• If cramping and gas is a problem, avoid carbonated drinks, beans, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, highly spiced foods, sweets, and sorbitol-sweetened chewing gum.
• Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine due to their effect of stimulating the intestinal tract.

The following recipe may be helpful in reducing diarrhea. For persistent diarrhea, eat Congee three times a day or more, plus fluids.

• 1 cup white rice
• 6 cups water
• 1 teaspoon organic sea salt (contains the highest spectrum of electrolytes vs plain table salt which is sodium chloride.)

Cook until soft for about 40 minutes. Let thicken for 15 minutes. This will be the consistency of thin porridge or thick soup.

References: Prescription for Cooking and Dietary Wellness, 2nd Edition. Phyllis A. Balch, CNC & James F. Balch, MD, 2003. Nutrition and HIV: Eating for Life, Joanne Maurice, MS, RD & Sabina Beesley, MS, RD, 2004

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Signs of Dehydration

Dehydration is a very serious complication of illnesses associated with high fevers, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Preventing dehydration when sick is an easy way to prevent a trip to the hospital for an IV of fluids. The first sign of dehydration in most people is typically a headache.

I would say that most individuals complaining of a high fever and headache, usually just have a headache because they are dehydrated, although meningitis and other conditions are of course a concern. Simply ensuring that hydration levels are optimal typically resolves a headache in these scenarios rather quickly.

I always feel like such a miracle healer when I cure someone’s headache with a glass of water! They say that 80% of headaches are caused by dehydration, and a high fever is simply burning off a person’s fluids at a faster rate than usual.

Aside from headaches, dark colored urine is also an easy indicator of dehydration, you can pinch the backside of your hand, and if the skin does not rapidly flatten you are dehydrated. If you have dizziness from standing you are most likely dehydrated.

If you are experiencing the stomach flu be sure to drink plenty of fluids with electrolytes such as Emergen-C, Recharge, chicken broth, or you can even make your own by adding a large pinch of sea salt to a diluted juice of choice. Hydration is not just about water, you have to have sodium, potassium, and trace electrolytes.

Dr. Nicole Sundene

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L-glutamine and Diarrhea

Let’s face it, no one likes to have diarrhea. No one likes to even talk about diarrhea. As a doctor how can I even help someone with diarrhea if they won’t even talk to me about it? I have spent weeks if not months combined talking about diarrhea, so please don’t hesitate to bring up this “embarrassing problem” to your doctor.

A simple remedy for diarrhea involves feeding the lining of the digestive track with it’s fuel of choice. The amino acid L-glutamine is the fuel of choice for the “enterocytes” the cells that line the digestive track. Before starting any therapy such as L-glutamine you should check with your health care practitioner. L-glutamine in clinical trials has been shown to be effective in diminishing diarrhea induced from chemotherapy.

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I am too embarrassed to tell my doctor about my diarrhea!

No one wants to talk about the embarrassing complaints involving diarrhea, not even at a doctor’s visit.
So let me just tell you everything you need to know about diarrhea right here. First of all please do not hesitate to discuss this with your doctor, because although you may be embarrassed, your doctor talks about peoples poop problems all day long and just wants to help you get better. Diarrhea lasting longer than a week should have a visit to the doctor especially if you have tried home treatments for diarrhea, and they do not seem to be helping. Your doctor should order a stool culture to determine the cause of the diarrhea especially if you have travelled recently to a foreign country.

I quickly learned in my former life as a medical receptionist to never grab a brown paper bag that someone handed me without gloves on. Aside from infections, common causes of chronic diarrhea are Ulcerative colitis, Celiac’s Disease, and Chron’s. Irritable Bowel Sydrome (IBS) is simply a diagnosis made when no other cause can be determined. The following tips are designed for those with IBS, although may in fact be helpful for those with other causes of diarrhea.

First off in good ol’ Naturopathic tradition we must DETERMINE THE CAUSE of the diarrhea! Is it stress? Stress is a serious culprit in many diseases, and when it comes to IBS addressing stress is of fundamental importance because the digestive track simply does not function properly when we are under stress. Stress shuts down what is referred to as the “parasympathetic” portion of our nervous system that is in charge of digestion. Learning to cope better with stress should be a long term goal for those with chronic digestive complaints.

Many people with chronic diarrhea may just suffer from chronic food intolerances or aggravations. Frequent offenders are dairy, wheat, eggs, citrus, soy, nuts, spices, and fatty foods. The gold standard for determining if food is a culprit is to simply try an Allergy Elimination Diet. If you think it is a specific food like dairy for instance you can simply avoid all dairy for two weeks and then re-introduce it for breakfast, lunch and dinner for three days straight to determine if it is a problem or not. Although food intolerances may not be the initial cause of diarrhea, they often aggravate and confound the problem as a chronically inflamed gut will start to over react to the proteins in many common foods. I hate to be the bad guy, but it is usually a person’s favorite food that is the problem.

Things I like for diarrhea:

The Elemental diet
The Elimination Diet
Breathing exercises, meditation, stress management
L-glutamine powder
Herbs to soothe the gut lining “mucilaginous herbs” such as Slippery elm, Marshmallow, and Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra not the candy!)
Anti-inflammatory herbs Curcumin, Tumeric, Yarrow.
So most people just want me to give them something that will immediately stop the diarrhea. This strategy may or may not be successful. I strongly encourage anyone with chronic diarrhea to work directly with a trained professional to determine the cause of the diarrhea, natural medicines may help to regenerate and soothe the gut lining but are not very helpful when we haven’t figured out what is really going on! Next time you visit your doctor please don’t “forget” to bring up this subject…

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Help!! I Have the Stomach Flu

By Dr. Nicole Sundene

There is not much worse than being cursed with the diarrhea and vomiting of the stomach flu.

The stomach flu is typically a gastroenteritis caused by a virus or bacteria spread from person to person, or infected water or food.

The unfortunate symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea should resolve within 72 hours of onset.

If symptoms persist, if they are accompanied by abdominal pain, bleeding, high fever, or extreme symptoms a doctor’s visit would be necessary.

Otherwise there is not much your doctor can do for you other than make sure that you are not dehydrated. It is best if you just stay home to prevent infecting the rest of the world with the stomach flu.

• Simply stay on clear fluids such as chicken broth, diluted juices or electrolyte solutions such as recharge or Emergen C.

• If you vomit up even small amounts of fluids try drinking a teaspoon of liquid and then doubling that every 15 minutes until you are up to speed again. They say it is better to vomit up the fluid then to simply not drink it at all. Children can be given Pedialyte popsicles or fluid and Jell-O to ensure their fluid intake is optimal. A high fever causes dehydration so even if vomiting and diarrhea are no longer present be sure to provide adequate amounts of clear liquids.

• Once food is able to be reintroduced the BRAT diet is commonly recommended by most doctors. BRAT stands for “Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast” Be sure the rice is white as is the toast. Yes this is the rare occurrence that I am recommending white foods so enjoy! Also helpful for slowing down diarrhea are blueberries, cinnamon, plain yogurt (to replenish the good bacteria) and a tea made from a tablespoon of brown rice in a cup of water. This is a popular diarrhea remedy for those suffering from HIV induced diarrhea, you can then eat the rice after drinking the “tea”.

If you are experiencing diarrhea in this 72 hour period, you are best off not to suppress the diarrhea with some over the counter medicines (unless of course it is your wedding or there is some VERY special event going on). The body is simply trying to flush out the “bad guys”.

So as long as you are not getting dehydrated or experiencing any blood in your stools allowing the diarrhea to run (no pun intended) it’s course while supporting your body is the fastest way to recover from the stomach flu.

Remember you can do a spring cleaning or just wait for nature to give you one in the form of diarrhea!

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