First, a disclaimer, I am not a doctor. Any advice I give should not replace professional help.
When any child has chronic diarrhea, the doctor and the parent have to do some detective work to find out the cause. This natural remedy only relieves the symptoms, but ultimately, the root problem must be discovered.
That said, if your child has a run -in-the-mill flu and is having so much diarrhea that dehydration is imminent, this centuries-old Korean remedy that my Korean pediatrician often prescribes is for you. The beauty of sweet rice flour is its nature of being a thickener just like corn starch. Asians use sweet rice flour for their sticky rice cakes and as a binder to hold food together for a meat patty, for instance. So when you digest this, it slows the G.I. tract and causes the stool to thicken so the explosive diarrhea is halted for at least a time. In addition to this sweet rice water, my doctor also prescribed probiotics to restore the good bacteria in the system. Since my previous post on probiotics, I talked to another pediatrician and though she assured me the safety of Nature's Bounty, she recommend Culturelle and for mild cases, yogurt.
The recipe is simple: 2 T of Sweet Rice Flour * (See note below)
6-7 cups of water
1. Stir the flour into water and boil until it is a thin gruel. It should be slightly thicker than water, but not thick as Farina.
2. Cool the liquid. Combine a little of the rice water with formula or milk. If your child can tolerate it, give the rice water straight for maximum results. Refrigerate the rest of the rice water. It should be good for three days.
Notes: * For sweet rice flour, try Koda Farms' Mochiko Blue Star Brand. You should be able to find it in the Asian aisle in the Supermarket or in any Asian store
2 comments:
So have you got any recommendations or warnings about other acidophilus brands besides Nature's Bounty and Culturelle? Any thoughts on Nature Made's version? I was thinking of picking some up but wanted to hear what you had to say before doing so.
Also, make sure to take advantage of Nature's Bounty's reward program on their web site if you regularly buy their products. Nature Made is good for rewards points on their products as well, and they give $7 coupons up to every 30 days if you've built up a point balance with them. Each program apparently gives you an initial coupon when you sign up.
The only thing that bothers me about certain brands, including Nature's Bounty is the filler ingredients. Can silica be completely safe to ingest?
I know that respirable crystalline silica can be hazardous, but I am not too certain about the silica as a flow agent added to powdered foods. According to Wikipedia, it is safe, though Amorphous silica was found to cause some minor issues. I am not convinced.
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