[13378]

Hi All,I get diarrhea when i skip a meal.For e.g saturdays being holiday for me, i wake up quite late 10:00 AM and sometimes dont have anything to eat till 2-3 pm(usually a burger) in the afternoon. The next day i notice some diarrhea during D.If i also have a carbonated drink, then the diarrhea is more pronounced.So my question is, how does skipping a scheduled meal for a day result in diarrhea.Thanks

 

[Kathleen M.]

I don't think it would be a universal cause; however, if it is consistant for you it might be something to it.There are a couple of things that might be going on although you are more the next day.Large meals after a period of starvation does seem to cause a larger gastrocolic reflex so it might make you more prone to diarrhea in the hour or two after breaking the fast. You do not have that, but it may be getting you off-schedule enough to set you up for problems later. Physical stressors can sometimes set off the IBS, so it might be stressing the system just enough with the irregular meals to cause a problem. Quite a few people find small frequent meals (so 1/2 the amount of a normal meal 5-6 times a day) is easier on the system than skipping meals then making up for it by eating more at the next meal.Some people find carbonation a problem, but it may be the high fructose corn syrup more than the carbonation as most soft drinks have that.