Diarrhea

Ayurvedic approach to root causes of diarrhea:

• Weak agni resulting in low absorption and assimilation.
• Pitta aggravation

Other Causes:

• Indigestion
• Nervousness
• Eating wrong food combinations

Recommendations:

• Take Pitta-pacifying diet.
• To prevent dehydration, sip on 1 tsp of sugar, 1 tsp of lime juice and a pinch of salt mixed in water throughout the day.
• Take 1 tsp of psyllium husk mixed with freshly made yogurt.
• For instant relief, cook 1-2 apples till they turn mushy and add 1 tsp ghee, a pinch of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg. Eat this slowly.
• For instant relief, mash 1-2 bananas and add 1 tsp ghee, a pinch of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg. Eat this slowly.
• Eat 1 cup of cooked rice with 1 tsp ghee, 3-4 tsp of plain fresh yogurt.
• Blend ½ cup yogurt, ½ cup of water, 1/8 tsp of grated ginger and drink.
• Chew ½ tsp of ginger powder with 1 tsp of raw natural sugar twice or thrice a day for 2-3 days.
• Take a mixture of 1 tsp of ghee, ¼ tsp of nutmeg, ¼ tsp of ginger powder and 1 tsp of natural sugar twice or thrice a day for 2-3 days.
• For acute diarrhoea, take ½ tsp of fennel powder and ½ tsp of ginger powder twice or thrice a day.
• Take a cup of hot black coffee with 10 drops of lime juice and a pinch of cardamom or nutmeg.
• If you feel like diarrhea is the result of high pitta, take ½ tsp of shatavari and ½ tsp of arrowroot with warm water twice or thrice a day.

In case of diarrhea in babies:

• Mother should take a pitta-pacifying diet.
• Cook a peeled apple and add ½ tsp pf ghee, a pinch of cinnamon and a pinch of ginger. Let it cool and feed it to the baby.
• Give 4-5 tsp of homemade whey to the child every 10-15 minutes to stop the diarrhea.
• Give 1 tsp of honey with ½ tsp of ghee, a pinch of nutmeg and a pinch of saffron.
• Boil ½ cup of milk, ½ cup of water and add 1 tsp of poppy seeds. Feed the resulting porridge to the kid.
• In case babies get diarrhea when they are teething, give a calcium supplement to the baby.

References:

Primary Reference: The Complete Book of Ayurvedic Home Remedies - Vasant D Lad - Part 3