When you have diarrhea, the most important thing you can put in your body is fluid with electrolytes, followed by bland, low-fiber foods that help firm up your stool. Most bouts of acute diarrhea resolve within a few days, and what you eat and drink during that window makes a real difference in how quickly you recover and how miserable you feel along the way.
Fluids Come First
Diarrhea pulls water and essential minerals out of your body fast. Dark urine, dizziness, extreme thirst, and skin that stays pinched up instead of flattening back are all signs you’re already dehydrated. Your first priority is replacing lost fluid and electrolytes like sodium and potassium.
Water alone isn’t enough because it doesn’t replace the minerals you’re losing. Good options include clear fat-free broth or bouillon, sports drinks, coconut water, and oral rehydration solutions (sold at most pharmacies as packets you mix into a liter of water). Plain or flavored water, herbal tea, and diluted fruit juice also count toward your fluid intake. Sip steadily throughout the day rather than drinking large amounts at once, which can trigger nausea. If you’re vomiting, start with very small sips, even a teaspoon at a time, and gradually increase.
The Best Foods for Firming Up Stool
You’ve probably heard of the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. It’s a fine starting point for the first day or two, but there’s no clinical evidence that restricting yourself to only those four foods speeds recovery. A broader range of bland, easy-to-digest foods works just as well and gives your body more nutrition to recover with.
Bananas and apples both contain pectin, a type of soluble fiber that binds excess water in the intestines and helps solidify loose stool. Bananas also replenish potassium, one of the key minerals diarrhea drains. Plain white rice is rich in starch that converts into soluble fiber during digestion, doing the same water-absorbing work. Toast made from white bread is gentle on the stomach and unlikely to trigger nausea.
Beyond the classic four, these foods are equally safe and easy to digest:
- Brothy soups (chicken, vegetable, or bone broth)
- Oatmeal made with water
- Boiled or baked potatoes (without butter or cream)
- Plain crackers or unsweetened dry cereal
- Cooked carrots
Oats, carrots, and barley are all good sources of soluble fiber, which dissolves in water and forms a gel-like material that slows digestion and adds bulk to stool. This is the opposite of insoluble fiber (think raw vegetables, bran, and whole grains), which can speed things up and make diarrhea worse.
When to Start Adding More Foods
Once your stomach settles and stools start to firm, you can expand your diet. Cooked squash like butternut or pumpkin, sweet potatoes without the skin, avocado, skinless chicken or turkey, fish, and eggs are all good next steps. These foods offer more protein, healthy fats, and micronutrients without being hard on your gut. You don’t need to wait for diarrhea to stop completely before reintroducing them. Just pay attention to how your body responds.
Foods and Drinks That Make Diarrhea Worse
Some foods actively pull more water into the intestines or speed up digestion, which is the last thing you need. Avoiding these can shorten the duration and severity of your symptoms.
Greasy and fried foods. When fat isn’t absorbed properly in the upper digestive tract, it reaches the colon, where it breaks down into fatty acids. Those fatty acids cause the colon to secrete fluid, triggering more diarrhea.
Dairy products. Milk, soft cheese, and ice cream contain lactose, a natural sugar that many people have trouble digesting even under normal circumstances. During a bout of diarrhea, your ability to process lactose drops further. Yogurt is usually an exception because the bacteria in it have already partially broken down the lactose.
Caffeine. Coffee, black tea, chocolate, and most sodas contain caffeine, which speeds up the entire digestive system. This pushes food through faster and gives your colon less time to absorb water.
Sugar alcohols. Sorbitol, xylitol, mannitol, and isomalt are commonly found in sugar-free gum, mints, candies, and protein bars. They act as osmotic laxatives, pulling water into the intestines. If you’re chewing sugar-free gum out of habit, stop until you’ve recovered.
High-sugar foods and drinks. Sodas, undiluted apple juice, sweetened gelatin, and presweetened cereals can worsen diarrhea through osmotic effects, meaning the concentrated sugar draws extra water into the gut.
Probiotics Can Shorten Recovery
Certain probiotic strains help restore the balance of bacteria in your gut and can measurably reduce how long diarrhea lasts. The yeast-based probiotic Saccharomyces boulardii is the most studied for acute diarrhea. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found it shortened the duration of diarrhea by about 1.6 days compared to no probiotic. You can find it in capsule form at most pharmacies, often sold under brand names like Florastor. Yogurt with live active cultures is another accessible source of beneficial bacteria, though the strains and amounts vary by product.
What to Feed Children With Diarrhea
Kids dehydrate faster than adults, so fluid replacement is even more critical. Breastfed infants should continue nursing on demand. Formula-fed babies should receive full-strength, lactose-free, or lactose-reduced formula as soon as rehydration begins. If a child is vomiting, offer small amounts of fluid frequently, as little as 5 mL (one teaspoon) per minute by spoon or syringe, and gradually increase.
Older children eating solid foods can continue their usual diet, focusing on starches, cereals, yogurt, fruits, and cooked vegetables. Avoid giving them sodas, undiluted juice, sweetened gelatin, or presweetened cereals, all of which can make diarrhea worse. Watch for warning signs of dehydration: no wet diapers for three hours, no tears when crying, a dry mouth, sunken eyes, or unusual irritability or sleepiness.
Signs of Dehydration to Watch For
In adults, the clearest signals are dark-colored urine, urinating much less than usual, extreme thirst, dizziness, confusion, and fatigue. A quick check: pinch the skin on the back of your hand. If it stays tented instead of snapping back flat, you’re likely dehydrated. Diarrhea lasting more than 24 hours, a fever above 102°F, or bloody or black stool all warrant a call to your doctor. If you can’t keep any fluids down, that’s also a reason to seek help, since oral rehydration only works if your body can hold onto what you drink.