When you have diarrhea, the best foods are bland, easy to digest, and rich in soluble fiber: think rice, bananas, oatmeal, plain chicken, eggs, and toast. But you’re not limited to just a handful of boring options. The old advice to stick strictly to the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) is outdated. Current guidance is simpler: eat as tolerated, choose gentle foods, and focus on replacing lost fluids.
Why the BRAT Diet Is No Longer Recommended
For decades, the BRAT diet was the standard advice for anyone with an upset stomach. It’s not harmful for a day or two at your sickest, but it lacks calcium, vitamin B12, protein, and fiber. Sticking to just four foods slows your recovery because your gut needs adequate nutrition to repair itself.
For children, the American Academy of Pediatrics specifically advises against a strict BRAT diet, noting it’s too restrictive and may actually delay recovery if followed for more than 24 hours. The better approach for both adults and kids is to eat a wider range of mild, well-tolerated foods as soon as you feel able.
The Best Foods to Eat
The common thread among diarrhea-friendly foods is that they’re low in fat, low in strong spices, and easy for an irritated gut to process. Many of the best choices are high in soluble fiber, which absorbs water in your digestive tract and forms a gel-like material that slows digestion and helps firm up loose stools.
Good options include:
- White rice and oatmeal: Both are starchy and binding. Oats are particularly high in soluble fiber.
- Bananas: Rich in potassium (which you lose through diarrhea) and packed with pectin, a type of soluble fiber that absorbs excess water in the bowel.
- Applesauce and cooked carrots: Another good source of pectin. Raw apples can be harder to digest, so cooked or pureed forms work better.
- Plain toast or crackers: Simple starches that are unlikely to irritate your stomach.
- Eggs: A nutrient-dense, low-carbohydrate protein source that helps bind up bowel movements. Scrambled or boiled are gentle preparations.
- Chicken or turkey breast: Lean, easy to digest, and an excellent way to get protein without added fat. Baked or boiled is better than fried.
- Plain potatoes: Peeled and boiled or baked, without butter or heavy toppings.
- Broth-based soups: Chicken soup with rice or noodles provides fluids, salt, and easy calories in one bowl.
You don’t need to force yourself to eat large meals. Small, frequent portions are easier on your system than three full plates. As your symptoms improve, gradually add back more variety.
Foods and Drinks That Make Diarrhea Worse
Some foods actively pull water into your intestines or speed up gut contractions, which is the opposite of what you want. Knowing what to avoid matters just as much as knowing what to eat.
Caffeine is a gut stimulant. It increases the contractions that push contents through your digestive tract, which can make loose stools worse. Coffee, tea, energy drinks, and chocolate all contain enough caffeine to be a problem during a bout of diarrhea.
Sugary drinks and foods can trigger what’s called an osmotic effect: when too much sugar hits your intestines at once and isn’t absorbed well, your body draws water into the bowel to dilute and flush it out. This leads to more watery stools. Fruit juice, soda, candy, and sweetened coffee drinks are common culprits.
Sugar-free products can be even worse. Artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose, along with sugar alcohols (sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol) found in sugar-free gum, mints, and diet drinks, are known to cause bloating, gas, and diarrhea in many people.
Dairy deserves special attention. A stomach bug or any infection that irritates the lining of your small intestine can temporarily damage the cells that produce lactase, the enzyme you need to digest milk sugar. This means you may develop a temporary lactose intolerance even if dairy never bothered you before. It typically resolves within three to four weeks as the intestinal lining heals. During that window, milk, ice cream, and soft cheeses can make diarrhea significantly worse. Yogurt is sometimes tolerated better because fermentation breaks down some of the lactose.
Other foods to skip while your gut is recovering: fried or greasy foods, raw vegetables, whole nuts and seeds, spicy dishes, and high-fiber cereals or bran. These are all harder to digest and can increase bowel irritation.
Hydration Is the Top Priority
Diarrhea pulls water and electrolytes out of your body fast. Dehydration is the most immediate risk, especially for young children and older adults. Replacing fluids matters more than any food choice.
Water alone isn’t ideal because it doesn’t replace the sodium and potassium you’re losing. A simple oral rehydration solution you can make at home: mix 4 cups of water with half a teaspoon of table salt and 2 tablespoons of sugar. The sugar helps your intestines absorb the water and salt more efficiently. Sip it steadily throughout the day rather than gulping large amounts at once.
Store-bought electrolyte drinks work too, but check the sugar content. Sports drinks often contain more sugar than you need, which can worsen symptoms. Diluting them with water helps. Clear broths are another excellent option since they provide sodium naturally.
Do Probiotics Help?
The evidence is mixed. Some studies have found that certain probiotic strains can shorten a bout of acute diarrhea by about one day, while other studies show no benefit. Probiotics are unlikely to cause harm, but they’re not a guaranteed fix. If you want to try them, yogurt with live active cultures or a probiotic supplement are common options. They’re more likely to help with diarrhea caused by infections or antibiotics than with other causes.
Signs Your Diarrhea Needs Medical Attention
Most diarrhea clears up on its own within a few days. But certain symptoms signal something more serious. Adults should seek medical care if diarrhea lasts longer than two days, if stools are bloody or black, if abdominal or rectal pain is severe, or if fever rises above 101°F (38°C).
For children, the timeline is shorter. Contact a doctor if a child’s diarrhea doesn’t improve within 24 hours, if there’s blood in the stool, if fever exceeds 101°F, or if there are any signs of dehydration: dry mouth, no tears when crying, sunken eyes, or significantly fewer wet diapers than usual.