Does diarrhoea prevent you from absorbing calories from food?

[Greensleeves]

Just a daft petty difference of opinion between dh and I - well does it, or not?

No I don't think it does totally. It just dehydrates you and prevents some from being absorbed (so you lose weight) but obviously some are absorbed as your body needs them to fight its way to health?

It depends on the cause and severity of the diarrhea: If a person overdoses on laxatives or has irritable bowel syndrome, then it will not assist weight loss because it only affects the absorption of water from the colon. When food reaches the colon, the nutrient part of digestion has already been done so no losses there.

If someone has malabsorption such as pancreatic insuffiency or coeliac disease, then they would lose weight as diarrhea is from fat and other nutrients not being absorbed and raising the osmotic pressure of the contents of the bowel.

If you has a bad infection or virus in there then it might make food pass through so quickly that you didn't absorb many nutrients, or a milder one would probably just make less water be absorbed.

But it wouldn't be a good way of losing weight for anyone! Never heard of the diarrhea diet...