posted 11 months ago
I've spent a few yeas in the tropics, and I lived in a rural community where our water system was compromised. So- in the tropics it was protozoans, and in the community it was probably microbes but also, unknown at the time, there was arsenic in a bad well where the geology was predominately volcanic. So- it can really be
"the shits"
In the tropics gingers were available fresh and with species diversity, and they and coconuts got me thru diarrhea w/o starving. (consulting with locals with some reputation) I also used some fermented fruit juice/herb combinations (low alcohol) AKA "tepache" to nutrify, add flora, and not end up too weak from fasting. In Oregon, I eventually resorted to a consultation with a Chinese Doctor at the College of Oriental Medicine in Portland. I don't remember the details of the prescription which was a Chinese herbal mix. It was quite effective. I also depended heavily on green drinks from the garden, (edible flowers, dandelion, etc. chickweed, etc,) but having a regime change in the community I was pushed out, and that, which meant leaving the well water (unknowingly at the time) probably was the eventual key to health. The general pattern I discern is to flood the digestive track with friendly fluids and keep it up, with high-fiber foods and ferments intermittently. Occasionally, when protozoans are found by a clinic or whatever, I resort to prescription meds as the final solution, (you'll readily make a deal with the devil!) followed by restoring digestive flora.
Rick Valley at Julie's Farm