The best foods to eat during diarrhea are bland, low-fiber, and easy to digest: white rice, bananas, plain toast, boiled potatoes, and broth-based soups. These foods help firm up your stool without irritating your gut. Just as important as what you eat is what you drink, since diarrhea pulls water and electrolytes out of your body fast.
The BRAT Diet and Beyond
You’ve probably heard of the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. It’s a reasonable starting point for the first day or two, but most experts now consider it too restrictive on its own. There are no studies comparing the BRAT diet to other approaches, and sticking to just those four foods doesn’t give your body enough protein or nutrients to recover well.
A better approach is to use BRAT as a foundation and add other gentle foods as you tolerate them. Good options include:
- White rice or plain oatmeal (choose white rice over brown, which is harder to digest)
- Bananas (the starch absorbs water in your colon, firming up stool, and they replace lost potassium)
- Unsweetened applesauce (contains pectin, a soluble fiber that absorbs water and adds bulk)
- White toast or saltine crackers (easy to digest and provide a quick sodium boost)
- Boiled or baked potatoes (peeled, with no butter or cream)
- Skinless baked chicken or turkey
- Chicken noodle soup (replaces sodium and fluids at the same time)
- Dry cereal (unsweetened varieties)
Once your stomach starts to settle, you can expand to cooked carrots, cooked squash like butternut or pumpkin, sweet potatoes without skin, avocado, fish, and eggs. These are still bland and easy on your gut but provide the protein and micronutrients your body needs to bounce back.
Why Soluble Fiber Helps
Not all fiber is created equal when you have diarrhea. Soluble fiber, found in oats, bananas, applesauce, and carrots, dissolves in water and forms a gel-like material in your stomach. This slows digestion and absorbs excess water in your intestines, which helps firm up loose stools. Insoluble fiber (the kind in raw vegetables, whole grains, and bran) does the opposite. It speeds things along and can make watery stools worse.
This is why white bread and white rice are better choices than their whole-grain versions during an active bout of diarrhea. You can return to high-fiber foods once things have normalized.
Foods and Drinks to Avoid
Several common foods and drinks actively make diarrhea worse. Fatty and fried foods are a major trigger. When your body can’t absorb fats normally in the upper digestive tract, they pass into the colon, where they’re broken down into fatty acids that cause the colon to secrete extra fluid.
Caffeine speeds up your entire digestive system, which is the last thing you need. That means coffee, tea, chocolate, and most sodas are off the table until you recover. Dairy is another common problem because diarrhea can temporarily reduce your ability to digest lactose, even if you normally handle milk fine. Skip milk, ice cream, and soft cheeses for now.
Highly sugared foods and drinks also worsen diarrhea. The sugar creates an osmotic load in your intestines, pulling in more water rather than letting your body absorb it. That includes fruit juice, regular soda, and gelatin desserts. Alcohol is similarly dehydrating and irritating to the gut lining.
Hydration Matters More Than Food
Replacing lost fluids is the single most important thing you can do. Every loose stool pulls water and electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride) out of your body, and dehydration is what makes diarrhea dangerous rather than just uncomfortable.
Water alone isn’t ideal because it doesn’t replace lost salts and sugars. Electrolyte drinks are a better choice. If you don’t have a commercial option on hand, you can make a simple oral rehydration solution at home: 4 cups of water, half a teaspoon of table salt, and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Sip it steadily rather than gulping large amounts at once.
Signs that dehydration is becoming serious include no tears when crying (especially in children), a dry mouth and lips, dark urine or very little urine output, dizziness when standing, and skin that stays “tented” when you pinch it rather than snapping back immediately.
The Role of Probiotics
Probiotics can meaningfully shorten a bout of diarrhea. A large Cochrane review of clinical trials found that probiotics reduced the average duration of diarrhea by about 30 hours and cut the risk of diarrhea lasting three or more days by roughly a third. Two strains have the strongest evidence behind them: Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (found in many yogurt brands and supplements) and Saccharomyces boulardii (a yeast-based probiotic sold as a supplement).
The easiest food-based source is low-sugar yogurt or kefir, a fermented milk drink. If dairy is bothering you, a probiotic supplement with one of those two strains is a reasonable alternative. Start early in the illness for the most benefit.
What to Feed Children
The approach for kids is slightly different from the conventional wisdom many parents follow. The CDC recommends against withholding food for more than 24 hours, because early feeding actually shortens the illness and protects nutrition. Restrictive diets like BRAT alone can leave a sick child underfed during recovery.
Breastfed infants should continue nursing on demand throughout the illness, even during the worst of it. Formula-fed babies should continue their usual formula as soon as rehydration is underway. Switching to lactose-free formula is usually unnecessary. Children who eat solid foods should continue their normal diet as much as possible, with an emphasis on complex carbohydrates, lean meats, yogurt, fruits, and vegetables. The main things to limit are sugary drinks, juice, and soda, which can make the diarrhea worse.
A Rough Recovery Timeline
Most uncomplicated diarrhea from a stomach bug or food poisoning follows a predictable pattern. In the first six hours, when nausea and vomiting are often at their worst, focus on small sips of clear liquids or ice chips. After about six hours, you can start sipping electrolyte drinks and broth more steadily.
After 24 hours, most people can tolerate bland solid foods like rice, toast, and bananas. Over the next several days, gradually reintroduce more variety: cooked vegetables, lean proteins, eggs. Within about a week, you should be back to your normal diet. If diarrhea persists beyond a few days, or if you notice blood in your stool, a high fever, or signs of dehydration that aren’t improving with fluids, that warrants medical attention.