The BRAT diet is a short-term eating plan built around four bland, easy-to-digest foods: bananas, white rice, applesauce, and white toast. It was long recommended by pediatricians and parents alike for settling an upset stomach, especially during bouts of diarrhea or vomiting. While it can still offer temporary relief, medical guidelines have shifted, and the diet is no longer considered the best approach for recovery.
What the Four Foods Have in Common
Bananas, white rice, applesauce, and white toast share a few key traits. They’re all low in fiber, low in fat, and gentle on an irritated digestive system. When your gut is inflamed from a stomach bug or food poisoning, high-fiber foods can make things worse. Fiber adds bulk to stool and, depending on the type, draws water into the colon or feeds gut bacteria that increase fecal output. Cutting fiber temporarily can reduce both the frequency and volume of loose stools, which is why these four foods became the go-to recommendation.
Bananas also supply potassium, an electrolyte you lose quickly during diarrhea and vomiting. White rice is one of the most easily absorbed starches. Applesauce provides simple carbohydrates and a small amount of pectin. White toast gives you calories without the roughage of whole grain bread. Together, they form a diet that’s unlikely to trigger nausea or further irritate the gut.
Why Doctors No Longer Recommend It for Kids
For decades, the BRAT diet was a staple of pediatric advice. That changed when research showed it simply doesn’t provide enough nutrition for a recovering child. A review from the University of Virginia School of Medicine found that the BRAT diet supplies roughly 300 fewer calories per day than what a healthy toddler normally eats. Carbohydrate intake is high, but fat and protein are extremely low. The diet also falls short on vitamin A, vitamin B12, and calcium.
No clinical trials have ever been conducted to prove the BRAT diet actually works better than normal eating during illness. The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends that children resume a normal, age-appropriate, well-balanced diet within 24 hours of getting sick. The concern is that sticking to such a restrictive diet during illness can delay nutritional recovery and, in prolonged cases, contribute to malnutrition. For kids especially, getting adequate protein and fat matters for healing.
How Adults Can Use It Safely
For adults, the BRAT diet can still serve a practical purpose during the first day or so of a stomach illness, when nothing else sounds appealing. If you’re struggling to keep food down, starting with a few bites of plain toast or a small portion of white rice is a reasonable way to ease back into eating. The goal is comfort, not a multi-day meal plan.
The key is to treat it as a starting point rather than a full diet. Once your symptoms begin to improve, start reintroducing other bland, nutritious foods: plain chicken, eggs, cooked vegetables, oatmeal, or broth-based soups. You don’t need to follow a rigid schedule. Just listen to your body and add variety as your appetite returns. Staying on the BRAT diet for more than a day or two leaves you short on the protein, fat, and micronutrients your body needs to actually recover.
Foods to Avoid While Recovering
What you skip matters as much as what you eat. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases identifies several categories of food and drink that can worsen diarrhea during recovery:
- Caffeinated drinks like coffee, tea, and certain soft drinks, which can stimulate the gut and worsen loose stools
- High-fat foods like fried foods, pizza, and fast food, which are harder to digest when the gut is inflamed
- Sugary drinks and fruit juices, as large amounts of simple sugar can pull water into the intestines and make diarrhea worse
- Dairy products, because some people temporarily lose the ability to digest lactose during and after a stomach illness, sometimes for a month or longer
Hydration Matters More Than the Food
The single most important thing during a diarrheal illness isn’t which solid foods you eat. It’s replacing the fluids and electrolytes you’re losing. The World Health Organization emphasizes that preventing dehydration should be the top priority, and that oral rehydration should begin as soon as diarrhea starts.
For adults, this means drinking as much fluid as you want throughout the illness. Water is fine, but broth, diluted juice, or an oral rehydration solution will also replace lost sodium and potassium. Avoid sweetened tea, soft drinks, and coffee as rehydration fluids. For young children, small amounts of fluid after each loose stool (roughly a quarter to a half cup for toddlers, more for older kids) help prevent dehydration from sneaking up.
If you or your child can’t keep fluids down for more than several hours, or if you notice signs of dehydration like dark urine, dizziness, or a dry mouth, that’s a signal the illness has moved beyond what diet alone can manage.
Cancer Treatment and Other Uses
The BRAT diet also comes up in cancer care. Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea are common side effects of chemotherapy, and the same bland, low-fiber foods that settle a stomach bug can help ease treatment-related symptoms. MD Anderson Cancer Center notes that the diet can provide short-term relief for cancer patients, though the same caution applies: it’s a temporary strategy, not a long-term nutrition plan. Patients dealing with ongoing digestive side effects typically work with a dietitian to find a broader range of tolerable foods that still meet their calorie and protein needs.