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The fact that a hangover can occur the next morning after drinking a significant amount of beer is regarded by many lovers of an intoxicating drink as a funny inconvenience. But there is a worse nuisance – diarrhea after beer, a phenomenon that is hushed up by many patients because of the “shamefulness” of the symptoms.
Causes
People rarely drink beer without a snack, and often snack on specific foods: salted nuts, dried fish and squid chips from bags, fatty and spicy dishes. Thus, during the use of a foamy drink, the body gets:
- dyes and preservatives contained in beer;
- snack chemicals;
- alcohol.
The body perceives these substances as poisons, throws all resources to neutralize them and seeks to get rid of them as soon as possible. If in live beer the presence of a small amount of alcohol is balanced by a high content of vitamins and nutrients, then when drinking a canned drink, ethanol only increases the general intoxication caused by various preservatives, coloring and flavoring additives.
Alcohol burns the gastric mucosa, causes vasospasm, and prevents the production of pepsin, an enzyme, without which normal protein breakdown is impossible. An organism experiencing chronic protein starvation is not able to absorb nutrients from food. It is poorly digested, and due to the fact that beer stimulates the intestines, its contents are excreted at an accelerated pace.
Ethanol is a powerful antiseptic. Once in the body, it destroys bacteria, including the beneficial intestinal microflora, which in itself causes dysbacteriosis and indigestion. In addition, alcohol prevents the absorption of liquid (and a lot of it comes with beer) into the blood. As a result, the liquid simply mixes with the contents of the intestines – which is why beer diarrhea is always liquid.
Diseases that may be symptomatic of “beer” diarrhea
Of course, the above processes occur only if a person consumes beer regularly and in large quantities. Due to the fact that the gastric mucosa is constantly irritated, sooner or later alcoholic gastritis develops. If treatment is not started in time, everything can end with a duodenal ulcer.
Also, diarrhea after beer often indicates:
- stomach ulcer;
- pancreatitis;
- enterocolitis;
- acute hepatitis.
In most of these cases, diarrhea is accompanied by nausea, dizziness, stomach cramps, heartburn, persistent bad taste in the mouth, fever, and sometimes bloody discharge during bowel movements. If you notice such symptoms, you should immediately consult a doctor. The doctor will make a diagnosis, prescribe treatment (for gastritis, a course of antibiotics) and a diet.
How to find out the cause of diarrhea
If beer interferes with enjoying life, the easiest way is to refuse it. However, for some lovers, giving up a foamy drink is just as impossible as going to the doctor with a trifling (in their opinion) problem. If there are no symptoms more serious than diarrhea, it remains to find out what still causes diarrhea:
- beer;
- the amount drunk;
- snacks.
For the purity of the experiment, you need to drink a glass of live quality beer. You don’t need to have a snack; in extreme cases, you can eat a self-dried cracker from brewed rye bread. Yeast (especially wheat) bakery products must be discarded: they can also provoke diarrhea.
If nothing happened, then the problem really was in the supplements. It is better to forget about purchased crackers, nuts, fish chips, chips and other products of the chemical industry. Rye croutons and walnuts are quite a decent snack for live beer.
If you don’t feel sorry for yourself, you can experiment with homemade dried fish, fried potatoes, sausages, although the liver is unlikely to like such experiments. And, most importantly, continue to comply with the measure. One – three glasses of high-quality beer a week will bring pleasure, regular excess of the norm can provoke beer alcoholism and all related diseases.
What to do with mild diarrhea
If diarrhea from beer lasts no more than two days and there is no bleeding, you can cope with the disease on your own:
- until digestion returns to normal – completely exclude all types of alcoholic beverages, including non-alcoholic beer (it contains no less preservatives than regular beer);
- do not consume dairy products, sweets and pastries, yeast bread;
- avoid fatty, fried and salty;
- exclude fruits (especially citrus fruits), fresh and canned vegetables, juices;
- stick to a diet for a week, giving preference to cereals: oatmeal, buckwheat and rice. From drinks – strong black tea without sugar. It is allowed to eat dried choux bread, baked or boiled potatoes without salt, one or two boiled eggs a day, a little boiled lean meat or fish;
- to speed up the cleansing of the body, it is recommended to put an enema of 2 liters of boiled water mixed with a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (lemon juice).
When digestion returns to normal, you should give up alcohol for at least two weeks. At the slightest deterioration in health, consult a doctor: they do not joke with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.