When you have diarrhea, the best foods are bland, low-fiber, and easy to digest: bananas, white rice, applesauce, toast, brothy soups, boiled potatoes, oatmeal, and plain crackers. These foods are gentle on an irritated gut and help firm up loose stools. What you avoid matters just as much as what you eat, since several common foods and drinks actively make diarrhea worse.
The BRAT Diet and Beyond
You’ve probably heard of the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. It’s been recommended for decades, though there are no studies comparing it to other approaches. Harvard Health notes it’s reasonable to follow for a day or two during a bout of stomach flu, food poisoning, or traveler’s diarrhea, but there’s no need to limit yourself to just those four foods.
A less restrictive approach works just as well and gives your body more nutrition to recover. Good options during the first day or two include:
- Brothy soups like chicken noodle, which replace fluids and sodium
- Oatmeal made with water rather than milk
- Boiled or baked potatoes without butter or heavy toppings
- Saltine crackers or pretzels for a quick sodium boost
- Unsweetened dry cereals
- White rice or plain pasta
Once your stomach settles, start adding more nutritious foods: cooked carrots, butternut or pumpkin squash, sweet potatoes without skin, avocado, skinless chicken or turkey, fish, and eggs. These give your body the protein and vitamins it needs to recover without overwhelming your digestive system.
Why Bananas and Oats Help Firm Stools
Soluble fiber is your friend during diarrhea. Unlike insoluble fiber (the rough, scratchy kind in raw vegetables and whole grains), soluble fiber absorbs water in your intestines and adds bulk to stool, helping it solidify. Foods rich in soluble fiber include bananas, oats, applesauce, carrots, avocados, and barley.
Bananas deserve special mention. The starch in bananas helps absorb water in your colon, which firms up loose stool. They’re also packed with potassium, one of the key electrolytes your body loses rapidly during diarrhea. A banana is one of the easiest things to eat when nothing else sounds appealing.
Replacing Lost Electrolytes Through Food
Diarrhea drains your body of water, sodium, and potassium. If you’re not replacing those, you’ll feel progressively worse: tired, dizzy, lightheaded, and extremely thirsty. Dark-colored urine and dry mouth are early signs you’re getting dehydrated.
You don’t necessarily need a sports drink to replace electrolytes. Chicken noodle soup delivers sodium and fluid in one bowl. Saltine crackers and pretzels provide quick sodium. Bananas and boiled potatoes are excellent potassium sources. Sipping water, diluted fruit juice, or an oral rehydration solution between meals keeps fluid levels up. The goal is small, frequent amounts rather than chugging a large volume at once, which can trigger more cramping.
Foods That Make Diarrhea Worse
Several common foods actively pull water into your intestines or speed up digestion, both of which worsen loose stools. Avoiding these matters as much as choosing the right foods to eat.
Dairy products contain lactose, a milk sugar that many people have trouble digesting even under normal circumstances. During a bout of diarrhea, your gut’s ability to break down lactose drops further. Milk, ice cream, and soft cheeses are best avoided until you’ve recovered.
Sugary foods and drinks are a major trigger. Sugar stimulates your gut to release water and electrolytes, loosening bowel movements. Fructose (found in fruit juice, honey, and many processed foods) is one of the biggest offenders. Artificial sweeteners like sorbitol, mannitol, and xylitol, commonly found in sugar-free gum, candy, and some medications, are even worse. They’re poorly absorbed and pull water into the intestines.
Fried and fatty foods cause problems because when fat isn’t absorbed properly in the upper digestive tract, it reaches the colon and gets broken down into fatty acids. Those fatty acids trigger the colon to secrete fluid, producing more diarrhea. Skip greasy takeout, fried chicken, and heavy sauces until your gut has recovered.
Caffeine speeds up your entire digestive system, which is the last thing you want when stool is already moving too fast. It’s not just coffee. Tea, chocolate, many sodas, and foods flavored with coffee or chocolate all contain enough caffeine to make a difference.
Spicy foods can mask high fat content and irritate an already sensitive digestive tract. They can also cause burning during bowel movements, adding discomfort on top of an already unpleasant situation.
Probiotics for Faster Recovery
Certain probiotic strains can shorten the duration of diarrhea and reduce how often you’re running to the bathroom. The two with the most research behind them are Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (often labeled LGG) and Saccharomyces boulardii, a beneficial yeast.
For antibiotic-associated diarrhea, the evidence is particularly strong. In a large review of 21 trials involving nearly 4,800 people, Saccharomyces boulardii cut the risk of antibiotic-related diarrhea roughly in half for both adults and children. LGG showed similar benefits: in a review of 12 trials, it reduced the risk of antibiotic-associated diarrhea from about 22% to 12%. For children with infectious diarrhea, Saccharomyces boulardii reduced both the duration of symptoms and stool frequency across 22 trials.
You can find these strains in supplement form at most pharmacies. Yogurt contains some probiotics, but during active diarrhea, the lactose in yogurt may do more harm than good. A supplement lets you get the beneficial bacteria without the dairy.
How Long to Eat This Way
Most bouts of acute diarrhea resolve within two to three days. During the first day or two, stick with the bland, easy-to-digest options. As symptoms improve, gradually reintroduce normal foods over the next few days rather than jumping straight back to your regular diet. Your gut lining needs time to heal, and reintroducing heavy, fatty, or spicy foods too quickly can trigger a relapse.
If diarrhea lasts more than two days in an adult, or more than one day in a child, that warrants a call to your doctor. The same goes for a high fever, six or more loose stools per day, blood or pus in your stool, severe abdominal pain, or signs of dehydration like extreme thirst, very dark urine, dizziness, or skin that stays tented when you pinch and release it. In infants, watch for no wet diapers for three hours or more, no tears when crying, or unusual drowsiness.