When you have diarrhea, the right foods can slow things down, replace lost minerals, and give your gut a chance to recover. The general strategy is simple: eat bland, low-fiber, easy-to-digest foods while avoiding anything that pulls extra water into your intestines. Here’s what works and why.
The BRAT Diet Still Makes Sense
The classic recommendation is the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. These foods are gentle on an irritated gut, and each one has specific properties that help. Bananas are rich in a type of starch that resists digestion in the small intestine. When it reaches the colon, bacteria ferment it into short-chain fatty acids, which fuel the cells lining your colon and help them absorb water and electrolytes more effectively. Rice has mild anti-secretory properties, meaning it may reduce the amount of fluid your intestines dump into the stool. White rice also provides glucose that helps your body absorb sodium and water together, supporting rehydration. Applesauce and white toast round things out as soft, low-fiber options that won’t tax your system.
The BRAT diet is a starting point, not a complete nutrition plan. If diarrhea lasts more than a day or two, you’ll need to expand beyond these four foods to get enough calories and protein.
Other Foods That Help
Beyond the BRAT diet, a low-residue approach works well during active symptoms. This means choosing foods that leave minimal undigested material in your intestines. Good options include:
- Lean proteins: plain chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, and tofu
- Refined grains: white bread, saltine crackers, plain pasta, and low-fiber cereals (under 2 grams of fiber per serving)
- Cooked vegetables: peeled potatoes, carrots, and other soft, well-cooked options with skins removed
- Creamy peanut butter: a calorie-dense option that’s easy on the gut
Soluble fiber deserves special attention. Unlike insoluble fiber (think bran and raw vegetable skins), soluble fiber absorbs water in your colon and adds bulk to loose stool. Oats, peeled apples, bananas, and carrots are all good sources. The key is cooking them well so they’re soft and easy to digest. A bowl of plain oatmeal can do more for watery stool than you’d expect.
Replacing Lost Minerals
Diarrhea flushes potassium and sodium out of your body quickly. Low potassium can leave you feeling weak, shaky, and fatigued. Bananas are the go-to, with a medium banana providing roughly 400 milligrams of potassium. Coconut water is another efficient option, packing about 600 milligrams of potassium per cup in only 46 calories. It also contains around 252 milligrams of sodium, which bananas almost entirely lack, making it a better all-around replacement fluid.
Broth-based soups pull double duty. They deliver sodium and fluid while being easy to tolerate. Plain chicken broth or miso soup can help you stay hydrated without needing to eat a full meal when your appetite is low.
Foods That Make Diarrhea Worse
Some foods actively pull water into your intestines through osmosis, which is the opposite of what you want. The main culprits are poorly absorbed sugars and fats.
Dairy is often the biggest offender. Even if you normally digest milk fine, a bout of diarrhea can temporarily damage the cells that produce lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose. Without enough lactase, undigested lactose sits in your colon, where bacteria ferment it into gas while the sugar itself draws water into the bowel. This temporary lactose intolerance typically lasts three to four weeks after an infection clears. During that window, avoid milk, ice cream, soft cheeses, and cream-based sauces. Yogurt is sometimes better tolerated because the bacteria in it pre-digest some of the lactose, but results vary.
Other foods to skip during active diarrhea:
- Greasy or fried foods: unabsorbed fat in the stool directly increases stool volume
- Sugary drinks and fruit juice: the concentrated sugar acts as an osmotic agent, pulling water into the gut
- Caffeine and alcohol: both stimulate intestinal contractions and can worsen fluid loss
- Raw vegetables, seeds, and whole grains: the insoluble fiber can irritate an already inflamed gut lining
- Sugar-free candy and gum: sugar alcohols like sorbitol and mannitol are notorious for causing osmotic diarrhea
What About Probiotics?
Probiotic foods like yogurt, kefir, and fermented vegetables are widely recommended for diarrhea, but the evidence is weaker than most people assume. A large Cochrane review of clinical trials found no meaningful difference between probiotics and placebo for reducing how long acute diarrhea lasts when only the most rigorous studies were analyzed. Even trials focusing specifically on Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, one of the most studied strains, showed results similar to the overall analysis. A well-conducted U.S. trial in children found no probiotic effect at all.
That said, fermented foods are unlikely to make things worse, and they do provide nutrients. If you enjoy yogurt or kefir and tolerate the small amount of lactose, there’s no reason to avoid them. Just don’t count on them as a primary treatment.
How to Eat During Recovery
Start with small, frequent meals rather than three large ones. Your gut is inflamed and processing large volumes of food at once can trigger another wave of cramping. Sip fluids steadily throughout the day rather than drinking large amounts at once, which can also overwhelm an irritated stomach.
A practical first-day menu might look like this: plain oatmeal or white toast in the morning, chicken broth with saltines at midday, plain white rice with baked chicken in the evening, and a banana whenever you need something between meals. As your stool firms up, gradually reintroduce normal foods over two to three days. Add cooked vegetables before raw ones, and wait at least a few weeks before testing dairy if you had an infectious cause.
Watch for signs that food alone isn’t enough. Diarrhea lasting more than 24 hours, inability to keep fluids down, blood or black color in the stool, or a fever above 102°F all warrant a call to your doctor. Dark urine, dizziness when standing, and unusual confusion or sleepiness are signs of dehydration that need prompt attention.