After food poisoning, the best foods to eat are bland, low-fat, and easy to digest: think broth, plain crackers, bananas, rice, and toast. Your gut needs time to recover, and what you eat in the first few days can either speed that process up or set it back.
Start With Liquids Before Solid Food
The priority after food poisoning isn’t eating. It’s rehydrating. Vomiting and diarrhea drain your body of water and electrolytes fast, and replacing those losses matters more than getting calories in. Sip small amounts of water, clear broth, or an oral rehydration solution throughout the day rather than gulping large amounts at once, which can trigger more nausea.
Once you can keep liquids down for several hours without vomiting, you’re ready to try solid food. For most people, that window is somewhere between 12 and 24 hours after symptoms peak, but there’s no set timeline. Let your stomach guide you.
Best Foods for the First 1 to 2 Days
You’ve probably heard of the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. It’s a fine starting point, but there’s no clinical evidence that those four foods are uniquely healing. Harvard Health notes that brothy soups, oatmeal, boiled potatoes, crackers, and unsweetened dry cereals are equally easy to digest and worth adding from the start.
The broader principle is to choose foods that are low in fat, low in fiber, and gently flavored. Good options include:
- Starches: white rice, plain crackers, white bread or toast, refined pasta, boiled potatoes
- Fruits: bananas, applesauce, canned fruit, melon
- Proteins: plain scrambled eggs, steamed or baked chicken breast, whitefish, tofu, creamy peanut butter
- Soups: chicken broth, vegetable broth, simple noodle soup
- Other: gelatin, popsicles, weak tea, graham crackers
Small, frequent meals are easier on your stomach than three large ones. Eat slowly and stop if nausea returns.
Foods to Avoid While Recovering
Some foods are likely to make diarrhea, cramping, or nausea worse while your digestive system is still irritated. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases specifically flags four categories:
- High-fat foods: fried foods, pizza, fast food, and greasy dishes. Fat slows digestion and can worsen cramping.
- Caffeine: coffee, energy drinks, and caffeinated sodas can stimulate your intestines and make diarrhea worse.
- High-sugar foods and drinks: sweetened beverages, fruit juices with added sugar, and candy. Large amounts of simple sugars can pull water into the intestines, worsening loose stools.
- Dairy products: milk, ice cream, soft cheeses. Food poisoning can temporarily damage the lining of your small intestine, reducing your ability to digest lactose. Some people have trouble with dairy for a month or more after an episode, even if they weren’t lactose intolerant before.
Alcohol, spicy foods, and raw vegetables are also worth skipping for the first few days. They’re all harder for an inflamed gut to process.
Transitioning Back to Normal Eating
You don’t need to stay on bland food for a week. Once your stomach has settled and your stools are firming up, typically after a day or two, start adding more nutritious foods back in. Cooked vegetables like carrots, butternut squash, and sweet potatoes (without the skin) are good next steps. Skinless chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, and avocado all provide protein and healthy fats your body needs to recover without being hard to digest.
The key is to reintroduce foods gradually rather than jumping straight to a heavy meal. If something triggers discomfort, back off and try again in a day. Most people are eating normally within three to five days of their symptoms resolving.
Rebuilding Your Gut After Infection
Food poisoning disrupts the balance of bacteria in your digestive tract. Probiotic-rich foods can help restore that balance once you’re tolerating solids well. Yogurt is one of the most accessible options since it contains lactobacillus, a beneficial bacterial strain. If you’re still sensitive to dairy, fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi are alternatives. Onions, garlic, and cabbage also support healthy gut bacteria, though they can cause gas, so introduce them slowly.
It’s worth noting that your digestive system may feel slightly “off” for a week or two after the acute illness is gone. Mild bloating, occasional loose stools, or reduced appetite are normal during this window. Continuing to eat a balanced, not overly processed diet helps your gut lining heal and your microbiome rebalance.
Signs Your Recovery Isn’t on Track
Most food poisoning resolves on its own within one to three days. But the CDC recommends seeking medical attention if you experience bloody diarrhea, diarrhea lasting more than three days, a fever above 102°F, vomiting so severe you can’t keep any liquids down, or signs of dehydration like dizziness when standing, very dark urine, or a dry mouth and throat. Young children, older adults, pregnant people, and anyone with a weakened immune system face higher risks of complications and should have a lower threshold for getting help.