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Good day to all. I just turned 60 and I'm new to this forum. Been on a plant-based diet for two months and very, very happy about it. A friend introduced me to McDougall and Fuhrman because of my diverticulitis and nearly constant abdominal pain problems. The diet has "cleared" up my symptoms and in the process I have become much more educated about the high fat low fiber diet that is slowly killing the American and European populations. THANK YOU DR. MCDOUGALL. Anyway, I'm posting this for a friend who has somewhat similar symptoms that I had but his are worse. He has chronic diarrhea including some bloody stools. He has lost a lot of weight the last three months. I got him on the McDougall diet for about 10 days but he says he has gotten worse. He's looking for a good local doctor (good luck) but I don't have one for here in central Florida. The gastro guy I went to recommended I look at partial colon removal after two visits with him. I like the McDougall diet a lot better as a treatment! I'm thinking my friend maybe has some sort of parasite or Chrohn's disease, etc. Any recommendations for him in the state of Florida for a gastro doctor. Anybody had any similar symptoms and how did you get relief?? Thanks.

Try Dr Guthrie in Orlando. Google it.
He follows a low fat vegan diet and may be able to help.

Also has he eliminated gluten from his diet... not as easy as just stopping eating bread.
And he also might be reacting to fruit jusces too.

And as you mentioned chrones and possibly a parasite.

Also I know for me once my tummy is irritated it seems to take weeks to get it calmed down and settled down

and if heis allergic to gluten he is probably getting constant irritation from an unknown source.. something he doesn't suspect.. for me it was abag of rice that was doing me in.

Lunberg rice is certified gluten free... in a gluten free facility and the fields they get their rice from are not allowed to have grown any wheat for a set amount of time.

He will also need to watch out for sauces and sald dressings.. and any heb mix. many of these things have glutne in them and it is not listed as gluten but as natural flavors.

I hope he finds whatt is bothering him.. as being in pain is never a good thing.

Thanks for the reply, Kitty. I was concerned when he told me his diarrhea had gotten worse after he went to the vegan diet. My friend told me that he does have a problem with gluten, and has been trying to remove it from his diet..........hard since it's in a lot of foods. So maybe that is the core of his problem. In Dr. McDougall's Digestive Tune-up book it looks like the only treatment for that is staying away from gluten and maintaining a low fat/high fiber diet. It makes sense that if he's still getting some gluten in his diet but now is on a high fiber regimen that his diarrhea would be worse since we know that the high fiber facilitates a good working digestive system. So.........hopefully if he eliminates the gluten he can regain his health. In the book, it also states a blood test is required to diagnose a gluten intolerance. I hope he can find a good doctor that can help him with this.

He should get checked for Crohn's. Those symptoms you listed are classic Crohn's symptoms and higher fiber during a "flare" will make things worse.

Good luck.

Thank you all for your posts. He had a colonoscopy done a few days ago and it was abnormal. I'm going to end this thread as he is now undergoing treatment and is confident with his physicians. Certainly, a low fat, high fiber diet will be part of his full recovery and return to normal health.

I had those symptoms and ended up being diagnosed with Celiac and Crohn's Disease. I had been dealing with the diarrhea for almost two years. People told me I had irritable bowel. I just learned to live with it - until I was diagnosed with renal failure. Then the tests began. There was about a six month period between my diagnosis of renal failure and my Celiac. I switched to McDougall in the beginning and saw no change in my digestive issues. But then I began eating lots of barley soups.

However, when I found out about the Celiac Disease ~ taking gluten out of my diet cleared up my symptoms within just a couple of days.

Now... I have been completely gluten free since Jan or Feb of this year and it is like a switch... if I eat gluten (by accident) ~ I get stomach pain and diarrhea (even on a plant based diet).

Not to scare you but if he's having chronic bloody diarrhea and losing weight, he should also get checked for colon cancer. My mom had it and her symptoms were similar. She's fine now btw, and that was 12 years ago.

Also, I have IBS and I found that this way of eating triggered flareups (made it worse) so I had diarrhea every day, several times a day, but no blood. I have started to cut back on the amount of raw vegetables I eat (I eat more cooked), and I'm careful to chew my food VERY well, and not overeat... this seems to be taking care of the problem. I also have to watch the spices I eat because that will trigger an IBS attack too. Good thing I don't mind bland food as long as it has a little salt.