Читать книгу The Healthy Gut Cookbook: How to Keep in Excellent Digestive Health with 60 Recipes and Nutrition Advice - Marguerite Patten - Страница 21

A bad case of diarrhoea and vomiting can lead to the body becoming dehydrated. These symptoms of bacterial infection rob the body of fluid and minerals needed to survive. It is essential that the fluid loss is reversed (rehydration) as quickly as possible. Only a few decades ago, people, especially the very young, died from dehydration caused by gastric illness. This changed when a cheap, fast and easy means of reversing fluid and mineral loss was discovered: a simple mix of table salt and sugar in clean water.

It is just as likely that you will experience fluid and mineral loss due to stomach illness at home as in some remote part of the world. Rehydration mixes will help (see here), but that is only part of the answer. You will also want to get your gut back to normal. A few years ago, a research team at Harvard University devised a simple diet that gently restores the body’s fluid balance and digestive processes. Based on bananas, rice, apples and toast, it is called the BRAT diet, and is highly recommended for all those who want a safe way to restore normal function to an ailing gut.

Remember: you may feel better soon after a bout of ‘stomach flu’, but it takes time for the delicate tissues of the intestine to regenerate.