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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    Is watery stool a bad sign?

    Related Topics
    Digestive Health Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
    I always have watery stool especially when I move my bowels in the morning. Is this something that I should be alarmed of?
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    Jon Gamble

    Naturopath

    Jon is author of ‘Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome’ and “Obstacles to Cure: Toxicity, Deficiency & Infection” - two books for CAM practitioners. He specialises … View Profile

    Think of your bowel as a juice extractor. The juice contains all of the nutrients you need for health. If all the juice is being continually  flushed down the toilet, then you are in trouble: in time you will have malnutrition. The main causes of chronic watery stools are chronic parasitic infection; undiagnosed coeliac disease; or inflammatory bowel disease. That means chronic watery stools need to be investigated properly with the appropriate tests. Usually we do a special functional stool test which can detect each of the markers for the above three.

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    Chris Fonda

    Dietitian, Nutritionist, Sports Dietitian

    As an Accredited Sports Dietitian, APD and athlete (springboard diver), Chris has both professional and personal experience in sport at the sub-elite and elite level.Chris … View Profile

    Hi there,

    It certainly isn't normal if you constantly have watery stools or diarrhoea. I am wondering what medication you are having (if any) as some medications such as antibiotics can cause diarrhoea. How long have you had these watery stools for? It's hard to diagnose without performing a full dietary and lifestyle assessment taking into account your family and medical history.

    Diarrhoea can have many causes including:

    • an increase in intestinal secretions usually caused by infectious organisms
    • malabsorption of highly concentrated substances such as lactose, fructose which pull water from the intestinal wall into the stool
    • damage to the intestinal walls in diseases such as coeliac, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
    • abnormally fast intestinal transit time (often as a result of surgery), and
    • as mentioned before medications such as antibiotics

    The main concern I have with chronic diarrhoea is excess fluid loss (dehydration), electrolyte losses and malabsorption of important vitamins and minerals (leading to nutrient deficiencies). To help treat this condition I would suggest you seek the advice from an Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) who can advise you on a low residue/low fibre diet (< 20g) initially until your diarrhoea resolves and then slowly increase your fibre intake over time. To find an APD near you head to the Dietitians Association of Australia's website (www.daa.asn.au)


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