The most important thing you can do for diarrhea is replace the fluid and electrolytes your body is losing. Beyond that, a few over-the-counter options can slow symptoms, certain foods are easier on your gut, and some items will make things worse. Most acute diarrhea resolves on its own within a couple of days, but what you eat, drink, and avoid during that window makes a real difference in how you feel.
Fluids and Electrolytes Come First
Every loose stool pulls water, sodium, and potassium out of your body. Replacing those losses is more effective than any medication at preventing the weakness, dizziness, and fatigue that make diarrhea miserable. Plain water helps, but it doesn’t contain the electrolytes you’re losing. Oral rehydration solutions are the gold standard because they pair a precise amount of glucose with sodium and potassium, which helps your intestines absorb water far more efficiently than water alone. You can buy premixed versions at any pharmacy, or look for packets that follow the World Health Organization formula (about 245 milliosmoles per liter).
If you don’t have a rehydration solution handy, broth-based soups and diluted fruit juices can bridge the gap. Sports drinks contain some electrolytes but tend to have more sugar than is ideal, which can pull extra water into the intestine and actually loosen stools further. Sip steadily rather than gulping large amounts at once, since a suddenly full stomach can trigger cramping.
Signs you’re getting dehydrated include extreme thirst, dark urine, urinating much less than usual, dizziness, and skin that stays “tented” when you pinch and release it. In infants, watch for no wet diapers for three or more hours, no tears when crying, or a sunken soft spot on the head.
Over-the-Counter Medications That Help
Two widely available options can reduce the frequency of loose stools in adults. They work differently, so the right choice depends on your situation.
Loperamide (Imodium A-D) slows the muscle contractions in your intestinal wall, giving your gut more time to absorb water. The maximum over-the-counter dose for adults is 8 mg per day. It’s useful when you need symptom relief for a meeting, a flight, or just a decent night’s sleep. Avoid it if your diarrhea is bloody or accompanied by a high fever, because slowing the gut in those cases can trap a bacterial infection inside.
Bismuth subsalicylate (Pepto-Bismol) coats the lining of the stomach and intestines, reducing inflammation and the amount of fluid your gut secretes. It also has mild antibacterial properties. Because it contains a compound related to aspirin, it should not be given to children or teenagers recovering from flu or chickenpox due to the risk of Reye’s syndrome. Anyone with a bleeding disorder, stomach ulcers, or an aspirin allergy should also skip it. Data on its use in children under 12 is limited, so other options are preferable for younger kids.
What to Eat (and What to Skip)
You’ve probably heard of the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. It’s been a go-to recommendation for decades, but current clinical consensus no longer endorses it. The foods themselves aren’t harmful, and they’re easy on the stomach, but restricting yourself to only those four items provides too few calories and nutrients if you keep it up beyond a meal or two. A better approach is to eat a normal, balanced diet while leaning toward bland, low-fiber options until things settle down.
Foods that tend to sit well during a bout of diarrhea include white rice, plain crackers, boiled potatoes, chicken breast, eggs, and oatmeal. Bananas are genuinely helpful because they’re rich in potassium, which you’re actively losing. Cooked carrots, plain pasta, and lean fish are also usually well tolerated. The goal is to keep eating so your intestinal lining has fuel to repair itself.
Several categories of food and drink reliably make diarrhea worse:
- Sugar alcohols: Sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, maltitol, and isomalt are common in sugar-free gum, candy, and protein bars. They draw water into the intestine through osmosis. Sorbitol can trigger osmotic diarrhea at doses as low as 20 grams, and sugar alcohols in liquid form (like diet drinks) cause problems at even lower amounts. Erythritol is the one exception, since its smaller molecular structure lets it absorb before reaching the colon.
- High-fructose drinks: Fruit juices, sodas, and sweetened teas with large amounts of fructose can overwhelm your small intestine’s ability to absorb it, pulling water into the gut the same way sugar alcohols do.
- Dairy: Lactose is another sugar that can cause osmotic diarrhea when it isn’t fully digested. Even people who normally tolerate milk may struggle during a diarrheal illness because the intestinal lining temporarily produces less of the enzyme that breaks lactose down.
- Caffeine and alcohol: Both stimulate intestinal contractions and promote fluid loss, compounding the dehydration you’re already dealing with.
- Greasy or fried foods: High-fat meals speed up gut motility, which is the opposite of what you need.
- Legumes and cruciferous vegetables: Beans, lentils, broccoli, and cabbage contain complex sugars (galactooligosaccharides) that ferment in the colon, producing gas and cramping on top of loose stools.
Probiotics: Helpful but Strain-Specific
Not all probiotics do the same thing. The strain with the strongest track record for diarrhea is Saccharomyces boulardii, a beneficial yeast rather than a bacterium. It survives stomach acid well and has been studied for antibiotic-associated diarrhea, traveler’s diarrhea, and infectious diarrhea in both adults and children. Clinical trials have used doses around 250 mg to 1 gram per day, though some studies in chronic diarrhea have gone as high as 3 grams daily. Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG is the other commonly studied strain, particularly in children.
Much of an oral probiotic dose gets destroyed before reaching the colon, so stool levels end up 100 to 1,000 times lower than the amount you swallowed. Effective colonization generally requires surviving organisms to reach at least 100 million per gram of stool. That’s why higher-dose products labeled with specific CFU (colony-forming unit) counts tend to outperform generic “probiotic blend” supplements. Look for a product that names the exact strain, not just the species.
Zinc for Children
For children with diarrhea, zinc supplementation is a well-established recommendation from the WHO. The guideline is 20 mg of zinc per day for 10 to 14 days for children over six months, and 10 mg per day for infants under six months. Zinc supports the intestinal lining’s ability to absorb water and nutrients, and it shortens the duration and severity of diarrheal episodes. This is primarily relevant in settings where zinc deficiency is common, but it’s safe and inexpensive enough that pediatricians worldwide recommend it alongside oral rehydration.
When Diarrhea Needs Medical Attention
Most diarrhea clears up within a day or two without intervention beyond fluids and rest. Adults should seek care if it persists beyond two days, and children should be seen if it lasts more than one day. Bloody or black stools, a fever above 102°F (39°C), severe abdominal pain, and signs of dehydration that aren’t improving with oral fluids all warrant prompt evaluation. In infants and elderly adults, dehydration can escalate quickly, so a lower threshold for getting help is reasonable.