Diagnosis

To determine whether diarrhea is beer diarrhea, it is important to weigh up what was eaten and drunk the previous day. If you can already confirm an extensive consumption of beer and no other causes can be found, it is probably beer diarrhoea. After about 24 hours, the diarrhea should have improved on its own.

Another cause of the diarrhoea could be a bacterial infection, which often occurs after eating raw meat, fish or unchilled food. If the diarrhea does not only manifest itself after the consumption of beer, but also after the consumption of other foods, this could rather be an indication of food intolerance, e.g. gluten intolerance. This should be examined more closely by a doctor.

Associated symptoms

Diarrhea after beer is usually accompanied by flatulence and painful gastrointestinal cramps. These complaints can be attributed to the digestion of the individual components of beer and the harmful effects of alcohol on the body. The gastrointestinal tract is “irritated” and reacts with altered intestinal movement (peristalsis) and diarrhoea.

Frequent bowel movements and excessive pressing on the toilet can further aggravate these complaints. In addition, headaches, nausea, heartburn or general indisposition are relatively common accompanying symptoms. During digestion, fermentation processes are a natural process for the metabolism of food components.

Certain factors, however, can trigger an imbalance in the gastrointestinal tract and thus lead to flatulence or flatulence. These complaints are caused by excessive gas formation in the intestines, which can cause a painful feeling of pressure in the whole abdomen. The digestion of beer favors the formation of gas and usually leads to these typical complaints for a few hours or the next day.

Responsible for this are the barley, yeast and alcohol contained in beer. During digestion, these components are broken down into sugars, which serve as nutrients for the natural intestinal flora. Thus, additional gases are released, which inflate the intestine.

One of the most common causes of abdominal pain after drinking beer or alcohol are stomach or intestinal complaints. The stomach reacts when consuming drinks containing less than 10% vol. alcohol, with an excess production of gastric acid. This acid also attacks the stomach and can also cause problems in the esophagus during acidic belching. The intestine, on the other hand, is often over-inflated and therefore causes complaints.If regular and heavy consumption of alcohol occurs, other organs such as the liver, gallbladder or pancreas can also be affected and cause abdominal pain.