When your stomach is upset and diarrhea hits, the best foods are bland, low-fat, and easy to digest: white rice, bananas, plain toast, applesauce, boiled potatoes, and simple broth. These foods give your gut a break while helping firm up loose stools. Just as important is knowing what to avoid, since the wrong choices can make things significantly worse.
Why Bland Foods Help
The classic recommendation is the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. No clinical trials have tested it head-to-head against other approaches, but the individual foods have clear benefits. Bananas and apples both contain pectin, a soluble fiber that binds excess water in your intestines and helps firm up watery stools. Plain white rice is rich in starch that converts into soluble fiber during digestion, doing the same job. Toast and crackers are simple starches that are unlikely to irritate an already inflamed gut.
You don’t need to limit yourself to just those four foods, though. Soluble fiber in general dissolves in water and forms a gel-like material that slows digestion, which is exactly what you want when everything is moving too fast. Other good options include:
- Oatmeal (plain, no added sugar)
- Boiled or baked potatoes (no butter or cream)
- Plain chicken or turkey (baked or boiled, not fried)
- Eggs (scrambled or boiled)
- Broth-based soups (chicken broth, bone broth)
- Steamed vegetables like zucchini, carrots, or peeled cucumbers
The common thread is low fat, low fiber from raw vegetables, and minimal seasoning. Think of it as giving your digestive system the easiest possible workload while it recovers.
Foods That Make Diarrhea Worse
Fatty and fried foods are the biggest offenders. When fat isn’t absorbed properly in the upper digestive tract, it reaches the colon and gets broken down into fatty acids. Those fatty acids cause the colon to secrete fluid, which directly triggers more diarrhea. This is why greasy takeout or a cheeseburger can turn a bad situation into a miserable one.
Dairy is another common problem. Milk, ice cream, and soft cheeses contain lactose, a sugar that many people already have trouble digesting under normal conditions. When your gut is inflamed, even people who usually tolerate dairy fine can struggle with it. Hard aged cheeses like cheddar tend to be lower in lactose and are less likely to cause issues.
Spicy foods can irritate an already sensitive digestive tract, and spicy sauces often mask high fat content, especially in dishes like curries or Tex-Mex food. Beyond the stomach upset, capsaicin (the compound that makes food spicy) can cause burning during bowel movements, which is the last thing you need.
Sugar-free gum, candy, and some liquid medications contain sugar alcohols like sorbitol and mannitol. These are poorly absorbed and pull water into the intestines through osmosis, worsening watery stools. Check ingredient labels if you’re chewing gum or sucking on mints while feeling sick.
Caffeine and alcohol both stimulate the gut and can increase the speed at which food moves through your system. Coffee, energy drinks, and alcohol should all wait until you’re feeling better. Carbonated drinks can also add gas and bloating to an already uncomfortable situation.
Reducing Gas and Bloating
If your upset stomach comes with significant bloating or cramping alongside the diarrhea, certain carbohydrates can make it worse. Foods high in fermentable sugars (sometimes called FODMAPs) tend to produce gas as gut bacteria break them down. During a bout of stomach trouble, sticking to lower-fermentation options can reduce discomfort.
Good low-fermentation choices include rice, quinoa, oats, potatoes, eggs, plain meat, and fruits like oranges, strawberries, blueberries, and grapes. Foods more likely to cause gas and bloating include beans, lentils, onions, garlic, wheat-heavy foods, and stone fruits like peaches and plums. You don’t need to follow a strict elimination diet. Just leaning toward the gentler options for a few days can make a noticeable difference.
Staying Hydrated Matters Most
Diarrhea pulls water and electrolytes out of your body fast. Replacing fluids is actually more important than what you eat, especially in the first 24 hours. Water alone works, but it doesn’t replace the sodium and potassium you’re losing. Broth, diluted fruit juice, coconut water, or an oral rehydration solution all do a better job.
Sip small amounts frequently rather than drinking a large glass at once, which can trigger nausea. If you’re urinating very infrequently, your mouth feels dry and sticky, your heart is racing, or you feel dizzy when standing up, those are signs of dehydration that need attention quickly. In infants, no wet diaper for eight hours is a red flag that warrants a call to their pediatrician.
Whether Probiotics Help
Probiotics can shorten the duration of diarrhea, particularly two well-studied strains. One is a beneficial yeast (Saccharomyces boulardii), and the other is a type of Lactobacillus (LGG). In children with infectious diarrhea, Saccharomyces boulardii taken for 5 to 10 days reduced both the duration and frequency of loose stools across multiple trials involving thousands of participants.
For diarrhea caused by antibiotics, the evidence is also encouraging. In adults taking antibiotics, Saccharomyces boulardii cut the rate of diarrhea roughly in half, from about 17% down to 8%. In children, LGG reduced antibiotic-associated diarrhea risk by 71% in some analyses. If your diarrhea started after beginning a course of antibiotics, a probiotic supplement with one of these strains is worth considering. Look for products that list the specific strain on the label, and take them alongside your antibiotic rather than waiting until symptoms appear.
Getting Back to Normal Eating
Most bouts of stomach flu, food poisoning, or traveler’s diarrhea improve within one to three days. You can start reintroducing more varied foods as symptoms ease, but pay attention to how each addition makes you feel. Start with lean proteins and well-cooked vegetables before adding back raw salads, whole grains, or rich sauces.
Fatty, fried, and spicy foods should be the last things you bring back. Some people find they need to avoid these for a week or longer after the worst symptoms resolve. If vomiting or diarrhea returns after eating something, your gut isn’t ready for it yet. There’s no fixed timeline that works for everyone. The best guide is your own body: if a food sits well, you can move on to the next one. If it doesn’t, scale back to bland options for another day or two.