Diarrhea after eating
Diarrhea after eating is initially a very unspecific symptom, which can indicate various diseases.
Often, spoiled food or food intolerance are the cause of the symptoms. However, the diarrhea can happen randomly after eating, without there being any connection between the food and the diarrhea. In order to find out these differences, the course of the diarrheal illness is particularly important, as this can provide information about the origin of the symptoms.
Causes of Diarrhea After Eating
The causes of diarrhea after eating are many. However, they can be divided into different categories.
On the one hand, there are the infectious causes in which the diarrhea occurs due to spoiled food. Bacteria are often found in the spoiled food. If these cannot be effectively combated in the digestive process of the stomach and intestines, severe abdominal cramps occur shortly after eating, followed by nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Other causes of post-meal diarrhea include problems digesting certain food items. A malfunction of important salivary glands (e.g. the pancreas) as well as other organs that produce digestive enzymes (e.g. the bile) can mean that large parts of the ingested food cannot be digested.
In the case of gallbladder disorders, for example, fatty components cannot be broken down and accumulate in the intestine, which can typically lead to diarrhea that is shiny with fat.
Food intolerances are also based on the body's inability to digest certain food components. Often, however, not all sugar molecules or all proteins are affected; rather, it is an intolerance of a certain protein or sugar.
In the case of lactose intolerance, for example, only the milk sugar cannot be digested; in the case of gluten intolerance, the body cannot digest a certain protein from many types of grain. As a result, water is washed into the food pulp in the intestine and the intestinal wall becomes inflamed, which can lead to diarrhea, which often occurs immediately after eating the affected food.
They suffer Diarrhea after consuming milk? Find out if there is a lactose intolerance behind it.
Diseases of the pancreas
The pancreas (also called pancreas) is an organ that is located in the upper abdomen. The pancreas has different functions, but most importantly it secretes various substances that are important for the digestion of food in the intestines. These so-called pancreatic enzymes are formed in the pancreas and pass through the pancreatic duct into the duodenum. There they meet the chyme, which was transported from the mouth through the stomach to the duodenum. In the duodenum, the pancreatic enzymes have the task of breaking down proteins and fats from food so that they can be absorbed into the blood in the following intestinal sections.
If there is a disease of the pancreas, this digestive step is no longer fully guaranteed, so the composition of the food pulp in the intestine is different. This unbalances the entire digestive system, so that stool irregularities such as diarrhea can develop.
Read our articles about this:
- Pancreatic insufficiency
- Underactive pancreas
Typical diseases that lead to a deterioration in this pancreatic function are, for example, cystic fibrosis (cystic fibrosis) and pancreatitis (acute or chronic inflammation of the pancreas). Due to the insufficient amount of enzymes from the pancreas, diarrhea usually occurs some time after eating.
For the treatment of the diseases, drugs must be taken in advanced stages that can fulfill the function of the pancreatic enzymes. These enzyme capsules are taken with meals and break down the nutrients in the chyme.
Biliary diseases
Bile acids are those substances in bile that play an important role in the digestion, especially of fats from food. The bile is formed in the liver cells, from there it reaches the gallbladder. During and shortly after eating - especially if you eat a lot of fatty foods - the gall bladder empties. The bile acids reach the duodenum through the bile duct. There they mix with the chyme that comes out of the stomach already pre-digested. In addition, the enzymes from the pancreas are also passed into the digestive tract at this point.
The bile now has two different functions: it neutralizes the acidic stomach contents and at the same time forms small globules in which the fat from the food can collect so that it can be absorbed by the intestine into the body. The bile then reaches other parts of the intestine, where it is responsible for excreting non-water-soluble (and therefore fat-binding) products.
In the case of biliary diseases, the bile can no longer enter the digestive tract. This means that the fatty food components are no longer digested well, so-called acholic bowel movements occur. These are often yellowish or grayish and shiny with fat. But it can also manifest itself in the form of diarrhea.
Read more about the causes of yellow diarrhea.
Typically, biliary diseases such as blockage of the small bile ducts in the liver or the large bile duct outside the liver by gallstones lead to such diarrhea.
Learn more about the Symptoms of gallstones.
Intolerances
Food intolerances are very diverse and manifest themselves in very different ways.
In contrast to a real food allergy, however, there is no sudden allergic reaction with burning in the mouth or even swelling of the airways. Instead, intolerances often only become noticeable in the intestines. Since the mechanisms are triggered by special food components, the diarrhea usually occurs after eating.
The cause is usually a lack of enzymes, which means that certain foods cannot be processed in the intestine.
In the case of lactose intolerance, for example, the milk sugar, lactose, remains in the intestine because the body cannot break it down into small, digestible pieces. The lactose then draws a lot of water into the intestine and can lead to diarrhea as well as stomach pain.
Find out more about the Symptoms of lactose intolerance.
Gluten intolerance, on the other hand, leads to inflammation of the intestinal mucosa, which damages it. This also leads to a greater accumulation of water inside the intestine, which also causes particularly liquid stool and thus diarrhea.
Colon cancer
Colon cancer is a disease that typically only occurs in old age. This creates cancer cells that grow in the intestinal mucosa. Over time, they narrow the lumen (the interior) of the intestine as they grow.
If the colon cancer is located in relatively high parts of the intestine, this usually does not cause any changes in the stool, but small tumor bleeding can occur, so that there is blood deposits or occult (hidden, invisible to the naked eye) blood in the stool.
Do you have blood in your stool? Others could do that possible causes of bloody stool be.
In the case of colon cancer located very distally (at the end of the intestine), the relatively hard stool can often no longer easily pass through the constriction. This leads to so-called paradoxical diarrhea. The normal stool builds up from the constriction, this draws more water into the intestines, the liquid stool can migrate through the constriction and become noticeable in the form of diarrhea.
Diagnosis
Diarrhea after eating can be due to many different factors, so the anamnesis, i.e. questioning the person concerned, is of particular importance.
For example, the color of the bowel movements plays an important role in differentiating whether the diarrhea after eating is due to a lack of fat or sugar breakdown. If the stool is gray, colorless and shiny, this can indicate biliary congestion or a defect in the pancreas.
However, if the diarrhea occurs after eating only in connection with certain foods and if this leads to cramp-like abdominal pain, an intolerance can be assumed.
Depending on the suspected cause lead
- subsequent attempts to omit certain foods,
- Blood tests,
- Imaging (ultrasound of the gallbladder and pancreas) or
- a gastric and colonoscopy for a firm diagnosis.
Concomitant symptoms
Depending on the cause of the post-meal diarrhea, the accompanying circumstances also differ.
Intolerance often leads to severe abdominal pain, stomach and intestinal cramps. These occur some time after eating and last until the body has excreted most of the food that it cannot tolerate.
Find out about the causes and treatment of Abdominal pain after eating.
On the other hand, symptoms that are based on a poor function of digestive enzymes show up quite differently. In addition to diarrhea, there are no sudden symptoms after eating, rather deficiency symptoms (for example a deficiency in the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K) can occur over time.
Learn more about the causes and consequences of one Vitamin deficiency.
In the case of an acute congestion of the bile or in the pancreas, however, a characteristic upper abdominal pain (colic-like with gallbladder disease or belt-shaped with pancreatitis) can occur.
Let us help you find your Upper abdominal pain better differentiate.
Stomach cramps
Stomach cramps are a typical sign that the food you have recently consumed is not doing the digestive tract well. There is a particularly acidic environment in the stomach. On the one hand, this serves to break down the food for the first time and, on the other hand, it is intended to kill pathogens.
If stomach cramps and diarrhea occur repeatedly after eating certain foods, this may indicate an intolerance.
On the other hand, stomach cramps after eating can also be the result of spoiled food. In this case, the body tries to fight the pathogens, which can lead to stomach cramps as well as intestinal cramps. A short time later, nausea, possibly vomiting and diarrhea also occur. Usually the symptoms subside within a few days after spoiled food.
stomach pain
Abdominal pain is a very non-specific symptom. In very few cases, diarrhea occurs without abdominal pain also being one of the symptoms. The reason for this is that the high proportion of water in the stool leads to increased peristalsis (directed movement of the muscles) in the intestine. This can cause discomfort, abdominal cramps, or normal abdominal pain.
Depending on where the abdominal pain is, however, different causes of the symptoms can be concluded. If stomach pain in the epigastric region occurs immediately after eating and diarrhea occurs a little later, this is a strong sign that spoiled food has been eaten. On the other hand, food intolerance more often leads to unspecifically distributed pain in the stomach, but it always occurs after eating a specific food.
Course of disease
The course of the disease with diarrhea after eating also varies depending on the cause.
In the case of spoiled food, the symptoms appear suddenly a short time after eating, they get worse at first and then subside within a few days.
Food intolerances also lead to sudden diarrhea and often abdominal pain. They last for a few hours and then disappear until the food is eaten again.
In diseases of the bile and the pancreas, the bowel movements change over the course of several weeks or even a few months.
In the case of an acute blockage of the biliary tract, on the other hand, there is more likely to be sudden pain without diarrhea after eating.
Treating diarrhea after eating
Treatment for post-meal diarrhea varies depending on the underlying cause.
Food intolerances can often best be treated by completely avoiding the food in question.
For example, those who are gluten intolerant should avoid products containing gluten.
If you are lactose intolerant, avoiding dairy products also helps, but you can also take lactase tablets from the pharmacy. These contain the enzyme lactase, which can break down the milk sugar lactose and which is not produced by the body in people with lactose intolerance. Depending on the amount of dairy products you consume, a certain dose of lactase tablets can alleviate the symptoms and help with the digestion of dairy products.
Find out about the right one Diet for lactose intolerance.
If, on the other hand, the diarrhea is due to an enzyme deficiency due to diseases of the pancreas or bile, the underlying disease should be treated first.
In both organs, stones that get stuck in the ducts are a common cause of acute complaints. In this case, the stones can be removed with a small wire during a gastroscopy; this can improve the symptoms within a short time.
Read something about Therapy of gallstones.
In the case of chronic diseases of these organs, however, the missing enzymes must be supplied with medication. The enzymes of the pancreas should, for example, always be taken at the same time as eating if the person is underactive.
Learn more about Treatment of pancreatitis.
Duration / forecast
The duration of diarrhea after eating depends heavily on the cause.
For example, spoiled food leads to diarrhea that lasts for a few days and then disappears on its own.
Food intolerance, on the other hand, lasts a lifetime, but the symptoms can be completely prevented by avoiding the food in question.
With chronic diseases in the digestive tract such as the pancreas, the function of the organ usually deteriorates over time,
