When you have the stomach flu, eating feels like the last thing you want to do. The good news is that you don’t need to force it. Start with small sips of fluid to stay hydrated, and when your appetite naturally returns, ease back in with bland, easy-to-digest foods like plain rice, toast, bananas, and clear broth.
Hydration Comes First
Replacing lost fluids matters more than eating during the first day or two. Vomiting and diarrhea pull water and electrolytes out of your body fast, and dehydration is the main reason stomach flu becomes dangerous rather than just miserable. Focus on small, frequent sips rather than gulping large amounts at once, which can trigger more vomiting.
Good options include water, clear broth, diluted juice, flat ginger ale, and oral rehydration solutions (available at any pharmacy). These solutions contain the right balance of salt and sugar to help your intestines absorb fluid more efficiently. Ice chips work well if even small sips feel like too much. Avoid caffeinated drinks and alcohol, both of which pull more water out of your system.
What to Eat When Your Appetite Returns
There’s no strict countdown to follow. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases recommends eating when your appetite comes back, even if you still have diarrhea. For most people, that’s somewhere between 12 and 48 hours after symptoms start. Your body will signal when it’s ready.
Start with small portions of bland, low-fat foods:
- Plain white rice or rice porridge
- Dry toast or plain crackers
- Bananas (easy to digest and replace lost potassium)
- Clear soups and broth
- Boiled or baked potatoes without butter
- Plain applesauce
- Steamed chicken breast (once you can tolerate solids comfortably)
These foods are gentle on an irritated stomach lining and provide the calories your body needs to recover. Eat slowly, and if something doesn’t sit well, wait a bit and try again later.
The BRAT Diet: Helpful but Limited
You’ve probably heard of the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast). It used to be the standard recommendation for stomach flu recovery, but most medical organizations no longer endorse it as a strict protocol. Cleveland Clinic notes that while these foods are fine for a day or two at your sickest, following BRAT exclusively for longer than that deprives you of calcium, vitamin B12, protein, and fiber.
For children, the restriction is even more important. The American Academy of Pediatrics considers a strict BRAT diet too limited in nutrients for kids and says it may actually slow gut recovery if followed for more than 24 hours. The better approach for both adults and children is to use BRAT foods as a starting point, then broaden your diet as soon as you can tolerate it. Add lean proteins, cooked vegetables, and other simple starches within a day or two.
Foods to Avoid During Recovery
Some foods will make your symptoms noticeably worse, even after the worst has passed.
Dairy products are the biggest one to watch. Stomach flu can temporarily damage the lining of your intestines, reducing the amount of lactase your gut produces. Lactase is the enzyme that breaks down the sugar in milk. Without enough of it, dairy sits in your bowel and ferments, causing gas, cramping, and loose stools on top of what you’re already dealing with. This temporary lactose intolerance can last for a few weeks after the infection clears, so ease dairy back in gradually.
Fatty and fried foods are harder to digest because they require more bile and take longer to move through your system, which can worsen nausea. Spicy foods irritate an already inflamed gut lining. Sugary drinks like full-strength juice or regular soda can pull water into your intestines through osmosis, making diarrhea worse. Caffeine stimulates gut motility and can increase cramping.
Do Probiotics Help?
There’s reasonable evidence that certain probiotics can shorten the duration of diarrhea, particularly in children. A large review by the Cochrane Collaboration found that one well-studied strain, Lactobacillus GG, reduced diarrhea duration by roughly 38 hours compared to placebo in children with rotavirus (the most common cause of stomach flu in kids). Children receiving this probiotic also had significantly fewer watery stools by day three.
The catch is that the benefits were strongest for viral causes of diarrhea. When researchers looked specifically at bacterial infections, the same probiotic didn’t outperform placebo. Since most stomach flu is viral, probiotics are worth considering, but they’re not a cure. You can find Lactobacillus GG in certain yogurt-based drinks and supplements. If you’re avoiding dairy during recovery, capsule forms are a practical alternative.
A Sample Recovery Timeline
Everyone recovers at a different pace, but here’s a general pattern that works for most adults:
Hours 0 to 12: Focus entirely on fluids. Small sips of water, broth, or an oral rehydration solution every few minutes. Don’t worry about food.
Hours 12 to 24: If vomiting has slowed or stopped and you feel even slightly hungry, try a few bites of something bland. Plain crackers, a small bowl of white rice, or a few spoonfuls of broth. Keep portions small.
Days 2 to 3: Gradually expand to include lean protein like plain chicken, cooked carrots or squash, and simple starches. Continue avoiding dairy, fried foods, and anything spicy.
Days 4 to 7: Most people can return to a normal diet. Reintroduce dairy slowly and pay attention to how your stomach responds. If milk or cheese causes bloating or loose stools, give your gut another week.
Recognizing Dehydration
The real danger with stomach flu isn’t the virus itself. It’s fluid loss. In adults, signs of dehydration include dark-colored urine, dizziness, dry mouth, and skin that doesn’t flatten back right away after being pinched. In infants and young children, watch for fewer wet diapers, no tears when crying, and skin that stays “tented” when pinched.
Seek medical attention if diarrhea lasts more than 24 hours, you can’t keep any fluids down, you notice blood or black color in your stool, or you develop a fever above 102°F. In children, unusual sleepiness or irritability alongside these symptoms warrants a call to your pediatrician.