When you have diarrhea, the best foods are soft, low-fiber, and easy to digest: white rice, bananas, plain chicken, eggs, toast, and cooked potatoes. These foods help firm up loose stools without irritating your gut. Just as important is knowing what to avoid, since certain foods and drinks can make diarrhea significantly worse.
Why the BRAT Diet Isn’t Enough
You’ve probably heard of the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. It’s been the go-to recommendation for decades, but most medical organizations no longer endorse it as a strict plan. The American Academy of Pediatrics says it’s too restrictive and lacks enough nutrients to help the digestive tract recover. Cleveland Clinic notes that the BRAT diet is missing calcium, vitamin B12, protein, and fiber, and following it for more than 24 hours in children may actually slow recovery.
The individual BRAT foods are still fine choices. The problem is limiting yourself to only those four. Your body needs a broader range of nutrients to heal, so think of BRAT as a starting point, not the entire menu.
Foods That Help Firm Up Stool
Soluble fiber is your best friend during a bout of diarrhea. It absorbs water in your digestive tract and turns into a gel-like substance, which slows digestion and helps solidify loose stools. Foods rich in soluble fiber include oat bran, ripe bananas, applesauce, white rice, and peeled cooked potatoes. These are gentle on an irritated gut while actively working to improve stool consistency.
For protein, stick with options that are easy to digest and prepared simply. Good choices from Memorial Sloan Kettering’s guidelines include:
- White-meat poultry with the skin removed, like chicken or turkey
- Plain baked fish
- Eggs (scrambled or boiled)
- Tofu
- Smooth nut butters like peanut, almond, or cashew
Preparation matters. Boiled, baked, or steamed foods are far easier on your system than anything fried or heavily seasoned. Plain crackers, white bread toast, and broth-based soups round out a solid recovery menu.
Replacing Lost Electrolytes
Diarrhea flushes out potassium, sodium, and other electrolytes your body needs to function. Low potassium in particular can leave you feeling weak, fatigued, and shaky. Focus on potassium-rich foods that are also gentle on your stomach: ripe bananas, potatoes (baked or boiled without the skin), plain fish, and peach or apricot nectar.
For fluids, sip water, clear broths, or an oral rehydration solution throughout the day rather than drinking large amounts at once. Small, frequent sips are easier for your body to absorb when your gut is inflamed. Avoid relying on sports drinks alone, as many contain added sugars that can pull more water into the intestines and worsen symptoms.
Foods and Drinks to Avoid
Some foods actively make diarrhea worse by drawing extra water into your intestines through an osmotic effect. Sugar alcohols are among the biggest offenders. Sorbitol, which is commonly found in sugar-free candies, gum, and diet products, acts as an osmotic laxative. As little as 10 grams of sorbitol causes bloating and gas in most people, and 20 grams triggers cramping and diarrhea. Children are even more sensitive. Check labels on anything marked “sugar-free” or “dietetic” for sorbitol, mannitol, and xylitol.
Other foods to skip until you’ve recovered:
- Fried foods and anything high in grease or oil
- High-fat deli meats like bologna, salami, sausage, and bacon
- Raw vegetables and salads, which contain insoluble fiber that speeds up digestion
- Caffeine and alcohol, both of which stimulate the intestines
- Spicy foods, which can irritate an already inflamed gut lining
- Fruit juice in large amounts, since the concentrated sugar can worsen loose stools
Why Dairy Can Be a Problem
Even if you normally digest milk and cheese without issues, diarrhea from a stomach bug or food poisoning can temporarily damage the lining of your small intestine, reducing your body’s supply of lactase, the enzyme that breaks down the sugar in dairy. This creates a temporary lactose intolerance that lasts until the gut lining heals, typically a few weeks.
During that window, drinking milk or eating ice cream can trigger more gas, bloating, and loose stools. Yogurt is generally better tolerated because the bacterial cultures have already partially broken down the lactose. Hard cheeses like cheddar also contain very little lactose. If dairy seems to make your symptoms worse, avoid it for two to three weeks and then gradually reintroduce it.
How Quickly to Return to Normal Eating
A common instinct is to stop eating entirely and “rest” your gut. This is usually counterproductive. Your intestinal lining needs nutrients to repair itself, and prolonged fasting can delay recovery. The current approach favored by gastroenterologists is early refeeding: returning to food as soon as you can tolerate it, starting with the bland, easy-to-digest options above and expanding your diet as symptoms improve.
In practical terms, this means eating small amounts within the first several hours of feeling able to keep food down. You don’t need to force yourself to eat while actively vomiting, but once nausea has settled, start with something simple like plain rice, a few crackers, or a banana. As your stools begin to firm up, gradually add back lean proteins, cooked vegetables, and eventually your normal diet over two to four days.
Probiotics and Recovery Time
Certain probiotics can shorten how long diarrhea lasts. The yeast-based probiotic Saccharomyces boulardii has the strongest evidence, with clinical trials showing it speeds recovery by roughly one day compared to placebo. That may not sound dramatic, but when you’re dealing with frequent trips to the bathroom, an extra day of recovery matters. You can find S. boulardii in supplement form at most pharmacies.
Fermented foods like plain yogurt, kefir, and miso also introduce beneficial bacteria, though the evidence for these is less specific. They’re unlikely to hurt and may help restore the balance of gut bacteria that gets disrupted during illness.
Signs of Dehydration to Watch For
The biggest risk from diarrhea isn’t the diarrhea itself but the fluid loss that comes with it. In adults, warning signs of dehydration include dark yellow urine, dizziness when standing, a dry mouth, and reduced urine output. In infants and young children, look for a dry mouth and tongue and no wet diapers for three hours or more. Young children and older adults dehydrate faster and need closer monitoring.
If you notice these signs, increase your fluid intake with an oral rehydration solution, which provides the right balance of water, salt, and sugar for your body to absorb efficiently. Persistent diarrhea lasting more than two to three days in adults, or any signs of dehydration in a young child, warrants medical attention.