The People's Pharmacy® with Joe and Terry Graedon

Is it the coconut in the macaroons that helps the diarrhea? I'd rather not have the sugar; however, I've suffered from diarrhea for years, supposedly from just hereditary causes, because there is no other 'disease' related to it, and I'm game for trying anything.

P Maple:
Have you been tested for Celiac Sprue? Diarrhea is one of the many and varied symptoms of this
inherited intolerance to gluten.

READ YOUR LISTINGS ON DIARRHEA AND COCONUT. USED
COCONUT MILK IN MY 19 -MONTH-OLD GRANDDAUGHTER WHO HAD BEEN SUFFERING FOR OVER A WEEK WITH DIARRHEA--INSTANT GOOD RESULTS.

I have had personal experience for my daughter who has IBS, and gets diarrhea regularly. We found Slippery Elm has been the only thing that seems to work for her.

Coconut oil is a medium chain triglyceride (MCT). Most fats in our diets are long chain triglycerides. MCT is absorbed through portal venous channels rather than through lymphatics. Perhaps this is why the macaroons are a successful treatment for diarrhea?

While vacationing in Hawaii several years ago I attended a luau. One of the desserts was a coconut custard, and the staff discretely warned that eating too much of it might cause constipation. As far as I could tell, it was almost pure coconut milk/cream/solids with a little sugar and something to make it gel. So I suspect it is something about coconut that has the effect--desired or not depending on circumstances.

I suffered from violent, sporadic diarrhea for years, often after eating greasy foods. When Olestra (fat substitute) came on the market, I mentioned to my doctor that the side effect warnings were the exact symptoms I suffered from. She suggested that I might have an inability to absorb fats properly (hard to believe because I have a weight problem) and that this condition was the cause of my problem. I started drastically reducing my fat intake, and, voila, the problem disappeared. (Okay, once in awhile I'll have an attack after eating out... I figure the restaurant is using more fat than is easily evident to me.) Perhaps this fat reduction will work for others suffering from the same problem.

My wife has had upset stomach and severe diarrhea for years. It got worse and finally the doctors had to start looking for the cause. Nothing found and she was on all kinds of meds for this problem. A doctor at OHSU told her to try coconut macaroons. 2 in the morn. and 2 in the evening.

All her stomach problems and diarrhea have cleared up. She can't believe it. If she misses the macaroons for 3 days the diarrhea and stomach problems come back. I have since told several of my friends about this. They have tried them and without exception the macaroons have vastly helped or eliminated the diarrhea.

Diarrhea is not my problem, but frequency and urgency are definite problems. So I've been trying the coconut macaroons and they seem to be working! There's still a lot of frequency, but the urgency, which had been the very inconvenient problem, has seemed to disappear. I'm still working on dosage. Am up to about ten a day now. Thank you!

I shared this information with my brother-in-law who'd had diarrhea since radiation treatment on his prostate burned his colon and caused demoralizing daily diarrhea. The macaroons worked for him, and he is elated and actually planning on taking some extended driving trips. He takes two a day. He IS diabetic so my sister makes him a s/f batch.

I have suffered for over 30 yrs with IBS. I get it even when I don't eat anything at all. It is a stress-induced disease and is the no 1 disease in the workplace today. I have never heard of this therapy before, but am willing to try it. Thank you for the info.

I have had ulcerative colitis for 30 years. I have been on all standard meds, and nothing helps. I'm going to try the coconut macaroons. Do you have any other thoughts on ulcerative colitis? It is a life-stopping problem. If anyone has some thoughts I'd be glad to hear them.

My doctor mentioned this as an anecdotal remedy. So I tried two Archway coconut macaroons a day and in two days the urgency stopped and in four days the diarrhea stopped.

Might have been coincidence, but I think not.

I have always blamed my food allergies for my serious diarrhea problem. My allergies are whenever I accidentily eat unclabbered dairy products; all substitute sugars and/or butters and recently mayonnaise; hot spicy foods; preservatives; sulfites; and all lettuce. Within a half hour of ingesting one of these I have severe cramps and diarrhea follows. I use to love ice cream but it does a serious number on me. My other allergies like nsaids cause shortness of breath along with the diarrhea. The only help that I have found so far is Advanced Imodium. I would be grateful for any suggestions that you might have for me to use. Thank you.

I tried the macaroons for the last 2 days; seems to make matters worse rather than stopping diarrhea?

My mother has been suffering from IBS all her life. She is now 86. She also has undergone a partial gastrectomy for peptic ulcers. She saw some improvement on the cookies but became so sick of them she can't eat them often now. She now uses Activa yogurt daily and has cut down the daily 5-7 watery stools to 3-5 pudding-like stools only every few days.

Persimmon fruit is also a great stopper-upper. Fresh or dried, either way. And it doesn't take much, a single piece of fruit (fresh, ~1/3 cup, dried, ~1/4 cup).

If you can't find any in your regular grocery store, try looking in an Asian grocery store. Persimmon is very common in East Asia. And I know larger Korean grocery stores in the US will often sell dried persimmons (called "kahm").

I am so happy with the macaroons. It has stopped my diarrhea, but when I stop them will the diarrhea come back?

About eight years ago, for medical reasons (not weight) nearly 98% of my stomach was removed. Needless to say, chronic diarrhea has been a big, life-changing problem. I never heard about these cookies doing the trick, but I will give them a try. One thing I can say for sure: try and NOT DRINK ANY LIQUIDS right before, during, or right after, eating a meal. I promise this will make a big, big, improvment in your problem. JSW

Diarrhea is an adaptive physiological response to an underlying cause -- your body wants to eliminate something from your GI tract that it is not eliminating through the 3 other major routes of elimination -- lungs, kidneys and skin. Although chronic diarrhea is a problematic symptom, figuring out the cause of your symptom is vital to not suppressing the body's natural mechanisms to bring it back into balance.

Try 100% pure Caoco powder, highly nutrious and stops the watery stools.

My husband had a severe flare of ulcerative colitis three years ago, causing the doctor to discuss surgery. Desperate, we tried the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. It is extremely restrictive and requires a lot of cooking and planning. But it beat the alternative - I think that the thing that put him into total remission was the homemade yogurt, incubated 24 hours (to fully break down the lactose). He ate loads of it. Studies are now starting to show the value of probiotics.

I have suffered from diarrhea since I had a radiation implant. I do have good luck with Imodium DM but don't like to take too many chemicals so I only use it sparingly. Tried the cookies and they seem to help quite a bit.