Can Calcium Help Lessen Diarrhea?
No one likes to poop their pants. But did you know that calcium can help with stopping frequent and loose bowel movements like diarrhea?
What Causes Diarrhea?
First, let’s understand what causes diarrhea.
Diarrhea happens when something goes wrong in the way the intestines work, causing loose or watery stools to come out often. This problem is usually caused by different things.
One common cause is getting a virus like norovirus or rotavirus. These viruses make the lining of the intestines swell up. This stops the body from soaking up water as it should. Some people get diarrhea from bacteria, such as Escherichia coli or Salmonella, which can come from eating or drinking things that are dirty. These germs can make the body release toxins, which make the stomach feel bad.
Other causes include parasites, for example Giardia lamblia, which can lead to diarrhea that goes on for a long time. This often happens in places where it is hard to stay clean. Sometimes, certain medicines, such as antibiotics, may change the way good and bad bacteria live in the gut, and this can bring about diarrhea.
People with food problems, like being unable to handle milk (lactose intolerance), or those who have stomach troubles such as IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) or other diseases like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, may have diarrhea often. Stress and worry can also make the gut work faster, which may lead to diarrhea too.
The main things to look out for are infections, certain foods, medicines, and health conditions. Even feeling stressed out or worried may be what is causing the trouble.
How Does Calcium Help Control Bowel Movements?
Most people think about bones and teeth when they hear the word calcium. Some also think it helps you grow tall. The truth is that calcium does much more. This mineral is important for your muscles to work because it helps them contract. Calcium is also an electrolyte. It gives support to your nervous system. This means it can help slow down how often you have bowel movements. Calcium is needed by the body in more ways than most people know.
Calcium can help lower diarrhea in the body in several ways, mostly by helping to keep things moving right in your gut and by holding on to things that can upset your stomach. One big thing that calcium does is help muscles work as they should. This includes the smooth muscles in the intestines. These muscles be in charge of pushing food and waste along your digestive system. When you have enough calcium, these muscles tighten and work together in a better way. This makes the wave-like motion that moves food in the gut slow down a bit. So, more water and salts stay in the body, and your stool comes out more solid and formed. If things move too fast in the gut, water does not get pulled out, and you get diarrhea. By slowing things just a little, calcium helps to fight off runny stool, especially when food races through the gut too quickly.
What Is the Role of Calcium Carbonate in Reducing Diarrhea?
Calcium can also help with mild constipation, which is good for people who have ongoing or treatment-related diarrhea. Calcium carbonate, which you often find in antacids, is a base. It can stick to bile acids and fatty acids in the intestine. This helps people who have trouble with bile acid being taken up the right way in the small intestine. When this doesn't happen, the bile acids move into the colon and make the person have watery stools. Studies show that taking calcium can lower how many times you go to the bathroom and can make your stools better in people with this problem. Calcium may also change the gut microbes and work with digestive enzymes. However, more studies are needed to know more about this.
Can Too Much Calcium Be Harmful?
Just remember, you need to be careful when you use calcium supplements. Taking too much, usually more than 2,500 mg each day for adults, can cause problems. It can make you feel constipated or give you kidney stones. It can also make it hard for your body to take in other minerals like iron and magnesium. While calcium is needed by the body, getting too much can hurt you instead of help you.
Should You Supplement With Calcium If You Have Diarrhea?
If you have diarrhea a lot and want some relief, you might not have enough calcium in your body. We think it's a good idea to get a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) with us to check the levels of minerals that you have. But if you want to start adding more calcium now, you can try our Upgraded Calcium!