if you eat something dodgy, why do you get cramping and diarrhoea soon after consuming it, even though that food couldn’t have been digested yet? And why do the symptoms stop before your body has expelled the bad food?

Question

if you eat something dodgy, why do you get cramping and diarrhoea soon after consuming it, even though that food couldn’t have been digested yet? And why do the symptoms stop before your body has expelled the bad food?

In: 4

Answer 1

You can get infected in two ways:

1. Food poisoning: Bacteria proliferate in food and produce toxins -> you eat this toxin laden food -> you usually get sick within 1-6 hours of eating the food, because the food contains premade toxin AND to make you sick, the toxin doesnt have to be digested or absorbed. It makes you sick by acting locally in your digestive system, from inside its lumen. Since no new toxin is being produced, food poisoning is self limited, and symptoms may resolve before the contaminated food actually makes its way out of you.
2. Gastroenteritis: You ingest food contaminated with bacteria -> bacteria proliferate in your gut lumen -> they synthesize and release toxins. This usually has a later onset, due to the requirement for bacteria to proliferate and synthesize toxin before symptoms can occur. You may need to take antibiotics as well. These illnesses are generally longer lasting and more severe, and some can lead to severe complications (eg due to bacteria spreading into the bloodstream and causing sepsis).