Tomato sauce and citrus fruits, such as lemons, limes, oranges, and grapefruit, are acidic and can irritate the stomach lining, causing digestive problems. When you have an upset stomach , avoid acidic foods, says Krevsky. Fatty foods stimulate contractions in the digestive tract, which can either slow down the emptying of the stomach and worsen constipation , or speed up movement, leading to or worsening diarrhea.
The effect can depend on the type of fat and your tendency toward constipation or diarrhea. Avoid high-fat culprits, like butter, ice cream, red meat, and cheese, at least for a while. The problem with fried foods is the same as with fatty foods — they can move, undigested, through the body too quickly, leading to diarrhea, or stay in your digestive tract too long, causing you to feel full and bloated.
Many fried foods are low in fiber and take longer to digest. The conventional wisdom, according to Krevsky, is that when you have indigestion, you should avoid fried foods because they tend to slow down the emptying of the stomach. Processed foods also often contain preservatives and artificial coloring, Kim says, and people with allergies or sensitivities to these additives will feel their effects during bouts of digestive trouble.
The artificial sweetener perhaps most associated with digestive problems is sorbitol. It's a hard-to-digest sugar found naturally in some fruits, including prunes, apples, and peaches, and is also used to sweeten gum and diet foods.
Once sorbitol reaches the large intestine, it often creates gas, bloating, and diarrhea. If you have diarrhea, read food labels so that you can avoid sorbitol, Krevsky says. Other risk factors include a high level of psychological stress and smoking. Treatment for IBS focuses on reducing symptoms, which primarily involves individualized diet and lifestyle modifications. Gastroparesis refers to delayed emptying of food from the stomach into the small intestine caused by reduced or absent stomach contractions.
Common symptoms include feeling full, nausea, heartburn, and upper abdominal bloating and pain. Greasy foods can trigger or worsen gastroparesis symptoms, as high-fat foods remain in the stomach longer and further delay gastric emptying. People with diabetes-related nerve damage and those undergoing abdominal or chest radiation treatment can develop gastroparesis. Medications, such as tricyclic antidepressants and narcotic pain relievers, can also cause the condition.
Greasy foods might also contribute to relaxation of the muscular band that closes off the stomach from the esophagus. This can lead to reflux of stomach contents into the esophagus, with heartburn pain in the upper abdomen. Although occasional heartburn is common, frequent or troublesome heartburn may indicate gastroesophageal reflux disease GERD , which requires treatment. Inflammatory bowel disease IBD includes Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis, conditions characterized by chronic or recurring inflammation of the digestive tract -- especially the intestines.
With IBD, the immune system reacts abnormally to bacteria, food and other intestinal contents, leading to inflammation. Medical researchers believe diet might affect IBD and the occurrence of flareups, perhaps by influencing the bacteria in the bowel. Greasy foods can lead to diarrhea, gas and abdominal pain in some people with IBD. Lower abdominal pain is a major symptom of IBD, which may be accompanied by weight loss, bloody diarrhea and vomiting.
The digestive system breaks down dietary fats into smaller molecules that can be absorbed into the bloodstream. Various conditions can interfere with this process, leading to fat malabsorption. When people with this condition eat high-fat foods, undigested fat in the bowel frequently leads to abdominal cramps, bloating, excess gas, and greasy stools or diarrhea. Several medial disorders can cause fat malabsorption.
For example, pancreatic inflammation, or pancreatitis, can lead to fat malabsorption due to decreased production of fat-digesting enzymes. Lactose intolerance causes diarrhea by increasing the volume of water in the colon, which increases the volume and liquid content of the stool.
It is more common in babies and young children than in adults 1 , 7. In the colon, microflora ferment lactose to short-chain fatty acids and gases. Most, but not all, of these acids are absorbed back into the colon. The leftover acids and lactose increase the amount of water that the body releases into the colon 1 , 2. Generally, more than 1.
For lactose, this is the equivalent of drinking 3—4 cups about ml to 1 liter of milk, assuming none of the lactose is digested before reaching the colon 2. However, not all carbohydrates that cause diarrhea come from lactose. Finally, there are many other causes of diarrhea apart from lactose intolerance. These include diet, other kinds of malabsorption, medications, infections and inflammatory bowel diseases 6. The fermentation of lactose in the colon increases the production of the gases hydrogen, methane and carbon dioxide 1 , 8.
In fact, in people with lactose intolerance, the colon microflora become very good at fermenting lactose into acids and gases. This results in more lactose being fermented in the colon, which further increases flatulence 2. The amount of gas produced can differ enormously from person to person due to differences in the efficiency of the microflora, as well as the rate of gas reabsorption by the colon 2.
Interestingly, gases produced from lactose fermentation have no odor. In fact, the odor of flatulence comes from the breakdown of proteins in the gut, not carbohydrates 2. The fermentation of lactose in the colon can lead to increased flatulence, and the extent to which this occurs can vary significantly from person to person. The gas produced from the fermentation of lactose is odorless.
Constipation is characterized by hard, infrequent stools, feelings of incomplete bowel movements, stomach discomfort, bloating and excessive straining 9. As bacteria in the colon ferment undigested lactose, they produce methane gas. Methane is thought to slow down the time it takes food to move through the gut, leading to constipation in some people 1. Thus far, the constipating effects of methane have only been studied in people with irritable bowel syndrome and bacterial overgrowth.
Therefore, constipation is not commonly associated with lactose intolerance, though it has been reported as a symptom 1 , 10 , 11 , While the primary recognized symptoms of lactose intolerance are gastrointestinal in nature, some case studies have reported other symptoms, including 4 , 13 , 14 :.
However, these symptoms have not been established as true symptoms of lactose intolerance and may have other causes 8 , Additionally, some people with a milk allergy may mistakenly attribute their symptoms to lactose intolerance.
However, they do commonly occur together, which can make it harder to identify the causes of symptoms Symptoms of a milk allergy include 16 :. Unlike lactose intolerance, a milk allergy can be life threatening, so it is important to get an accurate diagnosis of symptoms, particularly in children.
Because the symptoms of lactose intolerance are rather general, it is important to get an accurate diagnosis before removing dairy from your diet Health care providers often diagnose lactose intolerance using the hydrogen breath test.
This involves ingesting 1. Lactose intolerance is defined by the presence of reported symptoms, and that depends on how sensitive a person is to the effects of malabsorption, as well as the amount of lactose in their diet 2. Treatment of lactose intolerance usually involves restriction or avoidance of high-lactose foods such as milk, cheese spread, cream and ice cream 8. This is equivalent to 0.
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