Bland, low-fiber foods that absorb water in your gut are the fastest way to firm up loose stools. Bananas, white rice, applesauce, and plain toast (the classic BRAT diet) work because they’re easy to digest and contain soluble fiber or starch that binds excess water in your intestines. But you don’t have to limit yourself to just those four foods, and staying hydrated matters just as much as what you eat.
Why the BRAT Diet Works
BRAT stands for bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. These foods have been recommended for decades because they share a few useful properties: they’re low in fat, gentle on an irritated gut, and they help solidify watery stool. Bananas and applesauce both contain pectin, a type of soluble fiber that absorbs water in the intestines and adds bulk to your stool. Plain white rice is rich in starch that converts into soluble fiber during digestion, doing much of the same work. Toast made from white bread is similarly easy to break down without stimulating more bowel activity.
Some versions expand this to the BRATT diet, adding plain tea. The warm liquid helps with hydration, and unsweetened tea is unlikely to irritate your stomach further.
Other Foods That Help
You can eat more than just bananas and rice. The goal is sticking to foods that are low in fat, low in insoluble fiber, and easy to digest. Good options include:
- Lean proteins: baked or broiled chicken, turkey, fish, or eggs
- Starches: plain white pasta, saltine crackers, oatmeal, white flour tortillas, or baked potatoes without the skin
- Cooked vegetables: carrots, green beans, peeled zucchini, asparagus tips, and acorn squash (cooked until soft, with skins and seeds removed)
- Soft fruits: cantaloupe, honeydew, canned peaches, and baked peeled apples
The key distinction is soluble fiber versus insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber dissolves in water to form a gel that thickens your stool. It’s found in oats, bananas, rice, peaches, and peeled apples. Insoluble fiber, on the other hand, adds bulk by absorbing water and speeding transit through your gut, which is the opposite of what you want right now. Whole wheat bread, raw vegetables with skins and seeds, bran, and leafy greens all contain significant insoluble fiber. Psyllium husk is one soluble fiber supplement that has been shown to improve stool consistency during diarrhea, while wheat bran did not help in the same studies.
Hydration Is Just as Important as Food
Diarrhea pulls water and electrolytes out of your body fast. Replacing that fluid is critical because even moderate dehydration can make you feel significantly worse, causing dizziness, fatigue, and a rapid heartbeat. Dark-colored urine is a straightforward signal that you need more fluids. Your urine should be pale and clear.
Water alone doesn’t replace the sodium and potassium you’re losing. You can make a simple oral rehydration solution at home using the World Health Organization’s formula: about 4 cups of water mixed with half a teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Sip it throughout the day rather than drinking large amounts at once. Broth-based soups and salty foods like pretzels and crackers also help replace sodium naturally.
Coconut water and diluted fruit juices (except prune juice) can contribute to rehydration, but avoid full-strength fruit juice. The concentrated sugar can actually pull more water into your intestines and make things worse.
Foods and Drinks to Avoid
Several common foods and beverages actively worsen diarrhea, and cutting them out can be just as effective as eating the right things.
Caffeine speeds up your digestive system, pushing food through before your intestines can absorb enough water. Coffee, energy drinks, and caffeinated sodas should all be off the table until your symptoms resolve. Carbonated drinks can also increase gas and bloating.
Dairy products contain lactose, a natural sugar that many people struggle to digest even under normal circumstances. When your gut is already inflamed, that difficulty increases. If milk, cheese, or ice cream seem to make your symptoms worse, switch to lactose-free alternatives, plain yogurt (which contains less lactose due to fermentation), or plant-based milks like oat or almond milk.
Sugar alcohols, found in many sugar-free gums, candies, and diet products, are notorious for causing diarrhea. Sorbitol, mannitol, and xylitol are all poorly absorbed in the gut. They ferment in your intestines, drawing in water and producing gas. Check labels on anything marked “sugar-free.”
Greasy, fried, and high-fat foods are harder to digest and can stimulate additional contractions in your intestines. Skip fast food, pastries, sausage, and anything deep-fried. Gas-producing vegetables like broccoli, peppers, beans, corn, and Brussels sprouts are also best avoided until you’ve recovered.
Eating for Recovery: How to Add Foods Back
You don’t need to stay on the BRAT diet for more than a day or two. Eating only bananas and rice for an extended period leaves you short on protein, fat, and important nutrients. Once your stool starts firming up, begin reintroducing other gentle foods gradually.
Start with the lean proteins and well-cooked vegetables listed above. Eat small meals throughout the day rather than three large ones, which gives your digestive system less work to do at any given time. After a day or two of tolerating those foods without a flare-up, you can begin adding back small amounts of dairy (starting with yogurt or lactose-free options), whole grains, and raw fruits and vegetables with skins.
Fats should be one of the last things you reintroduce. Stick with small portions of healthy fats like olive oil or avocado before returning to richer foods.
What About Probiotics?
Certain probiotic strains may shorten a bout of diarrhea, particularly when it’s caused by an infection or antibiotics. The strains with the most evidence behind them are Lactobacillus GG (commonly sold as LGG), Lactobacillus reuteri, and Saccharomyces boulardii, a beneficial yeast. You can find these in supplement form or in some fermented foods like yogurt and kefir.
The evidence is promising but not definitive for every situation. Probiotics are most likely to help with acute infectious diarrhea and antibiotic-associated diarrhea. For a single episode of loose stools from eating something that disagreed with you, dietary changes alone are usually enough.
Children and Diarrhea: A Slightly Different Approach
For children over one year old, the general advice is similar but slightly more flexible. Most kids can continue eating their normal diet with some modifications. Small, frequent meals work better than three large ones, and salty foods like pretzels and soup help replace lost electrolytes. The same foods to avoid apply: skip fried foods, full-strength fruit juices (apple juice is a common culprit), carbonated drinks, caffeine, and gas-producing vegetables like broccoli and beans. Removing seeds and skins from fruits and vegetables makes them easier to digest. If dairy seems to worsen symptoms, pull it back for a few days and reintroduce it once stools improve.