The best things to drink when you have diarrhea are water, oral rehydration solutions, clear broths, and certain herbal teas. Your top priority is replacing the fluid and electrolytes your body is losing, because diarrhea can pull several liters of water out of your system in a single day. What you choose to drink matters just as much as how much you drink, since some common beverages can actually make things worse.
Why Rehydration Comes First
Every time your intestines push out a watery stool, you lose water along with sodium, potassium, and other electrolytes that keep your muscles, heart, and brain functioning normally. Plain water replaces the fluid but not those dissolved minerals. That’s why the most effective approach combines water with small amounts of salt and sugar.
The sugar piece isn’t just about energy. In your small intestine, glucose and sodium are absorbed together through the same molecular gateway, and each cycle of that process pulls roughly 260 water molecules along with it. This mechanism is so powerful that it accounts for about 5 liters of water absorption per day in a healthy gut, and it keeps working even when your intestines are inflamed or infected. It’s the entire basis of oral rehydration therapy, which has saved millions of lives from severe dehydration worldwide.
Oral Rehydration Solutions
Oral rehydration solutions (ORS) are the gold standard for replacing what diarrhea takes from you. Products like Pedialyte, DripDrop, and generic pharmacy versions are specifically formulated with the right ratio of sodium, potassium, and glucose to maximize that absorption pathway. A typical ORS contains about 60 milliequivalents of sodium per liter and around 3.4% carbohydrate, a concentration low enough to pull water into your cells rather than keeping it stuck in your gut.
If you can’t get to a store, you can make a basic version at home using the World Health Organization’s recipe: mix half a teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of sugar into just over 4 cups (about 1 liter) of clean water. Measure carefully. Too much sugar creates the same osmotic problem that makes soda harmful (more on that below), and too much salt tastes terrible and can cause nausea. This homemade version lacks potassium, so eating a banana or drinking coconut water alongside it helps fill that gap.
Clear Broths and Soups
Chicken broth, beef broth, and vegetable broth are excellent choices because they deliver sodium in a form that’s easy on a sensitive stomach. A single cup of commercial broth typically contains 700 to 900 milligrams of sodium, which directly replaces what you’re losing. Sip it warm throughout the day rather than drinking large amounts at once, since smaller volumes are less likely to trigger another round of cramping.
Stick with clear, simple broths. Creamy soups, heavily spiced varieties, and anything with a high fat content can irritate your already inflamed intestinal lining and speed up gut contractions.
Herbal Teas That Help
Ginger tea and peppermint tea both have properties that can ease the discomfort that comes with diarrhea. Ginger contains a compound called gingerol that reduces intestinal inflammation by dialing down the signaling molecules your gut produces during infection or irritation. In animal studies of diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome, ginger extract significantly reduced intestinal hypersensitivity. Peppermint has a mild antispasmodic effect, which can help calm the cramping that often accompanies loose stools.
Brew these teas weak and drink them without added sweetener, or with just a small amount of honey. Avoid any herbal blends that contain senna or other natural laxatives, which will make your situation worse.
Sports Drinks: A Partial Solution
Sports drinks like Gatorade are better than soda or juice, but they’re not ideal. They contain roughly 18 milliequivalents of sodium per liter, about a third of what a proper oral rehydration solution provides. They also pack nearly 6% carbohydrate, almost double the ORS concentration. That extra sugar means less efficient absorption.
If a sports drink is all you have access to, diluting it with an equal part of water brings the sugar concentration closer to the therapeutic range. It won’t perfectly match an ORS, but it’s a reasonable stopgap, especially for mild cases.
What to Avoid Drinking
Some of the beverages people instinctively reach for are among the worst choices during a bout of diarrhea.
- Soda and fruit juice. Both are loaded with sugar, often 10% to 12% carbohydrate. When that much poorly absorbed sugar hits your intestines, it creates osmotic pressure that pulls even more water into your gut, making diarrhea worse. Apple juice is a particularly common offender because it’s high in sorbitol, a sugar alcohol that many people can’t absorb well even on a good day.
- Coffee and energy drinks. Caffeine is a stimulant that increases gut motility, meaning it speeds up the contractions that push contents through your digestive tract. When your intestines are already moving too fast, caffeine accelerates the problem and can trigger more loose stools.
- Milk and dairy-based drinks. A stomach bug or intestinal infection often temporarily damages the cells that produce lactase, the enzyme you need to digest the sugar in milk. Without enough lactase, undigested lactose sits in your gut, gets fermented by bacteria, and produces gas, bloating, and more diarrhea. This temporary lactose intolerance is common after viral gastroenteritis and usually resolves on its own once your gut lining heals, but drinking milk while you’re still symptomatic can drag out your recovery.
- Alcohol. Alcohol irritates your intestinal lining, impairs water absorption, and acts as a diuretic, pushing fluid out through your kidneys at the same time you’re losing it through your gut. It’s one of the fastest ways to become seriously dehydrated.
How Much and How Often to Drink
Small, frequent sips work better than gulping down a full glass. Your irritated stomach and intestines are more likely to tolerate a few ounces every 10 to 15 minutes than a large volume all at once. If you’re vomiting along with the diarrhea, start with just a tablespoon of fluid at a time and gradually increase as your stomach settles.
A reasonable target for adults is to drink at least one cup of fluid after every loose stool, on top of your normal daily intake. For children, the amounts are smaller, but the frequency is the same. If your child has had no wet diapers for three hours, that’s a sign they need more aggressive rehydration.
Signs You’re Getting Dehydrated
Knowing what to drink only helps if you can tell whether it’s working. In adults, the early warning signs of dehydration include urinating less often than usual, dark yellow or amber-colored urine, dry mouth, and feeling lightheaded when you stand up. A quick test: pinch the skin on the back of your hand and let go. If it doesn’t snap back flat immediately, you’re likely dehydrated.
In babies and young children, watch for a dry mouth, no tears when crying, sunken eyes or cheeks, and a sunken soft spot on top of the skull. These signs mean the child needs oral rehydration solution right away, and if they can’t keep fluids down, they may need IV fluids in a medical setting.