The day after a stomach bug, you can return to your normal diet as soon as your appetite comes back. Most experts do not recommend fasting or following a restricted diet during or after viral gastroenteritis. Research shows that restricted diets don’t help treat stomach flu, and getting back to regular food sooner actually supports recovery by restoring lost calories and helping your gut heal faster.
That said, your stomach may not be ready for everything at once. Here’s how to approach it practically.
Skip the BRAT Diet
You’ve probably heard that bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast (the BRAT diet) are the gold standard after a stomach bug. They’re not. The CDC calls the BRAT diet “unnecessarily restrictive,” noting it provides suboptimal nutrition for both nourishment and gut recovery. The idea made intuitive sense for decades, but the evidence doesn’t back it up. Your recovering gut needs calories, protein, and a range of nutrients, not just starch.
This doesn’t mean you need to force down a steak dinner. It means you shouldn’t limit yourself to bland carbs out of a sense of obligation. If toast sounds good, eat toast. But if scrambled eggs or chicken soup sounds good, eat that instead. Your appetite is a reasonable guide here.
Rehydration Comes First
Before worrying about food, focus on fluids. After a day or more of vomiting and diarrhea, you’ve lost significant water and electrolytes. The best approach is small, frequent sips rather than gulping large amounts, which can trigger nausea again.
Oral rehydration solutions work better than plain water because they contain a specific balance of sodium and glucose that your gut absorbs more efficiently. The World Health Organization formula uses a 1:1 ratio of sodium to glucose, which takes advantage of a transport mechanism in your intestinal lining that pulls fluid into your body faster. You can buy premade solutions at any pharmacy, or use broths and diluted sports drinks as alternatives. Avoid drinks high in simple sugars like juice, soda, and gelatin desserts. The sugar concentration can actually pull water into your intestines and worsen diarrhea.
What to Eat When You’re Ready
Once your appetite returns, even partially, start eating. Early feeding decreases changes in intestinal permeability caused by infection, shortens illness duration, and improves nutritional outcomes. Withholding food for more than 24 hours is considered inappropriate by clinical guidelines because severe malnutrition can develop if you stick with clear liquids too long.
Good options for the day after include:
- Complex carbohydrates: white rice, bread, pasta, crackers, or cereal made from refined grains. These are easy on the stomach while providing energy.
- Lean proteins: eggs, chicken, fish, or yogurt. Your body needs protein to repair the intestinal lining, and yogurt has the added benefit of containing live cultures.
- Cooked fruits and vegetables: softer, peeled, and cooked versions tend to sit better than raw ones initially.
The goal is to compensate for the calories you lost during the worst of the illness. Eat what appeals to you and what your body tolerates. If you manage a few bites and feel queasy, wait an hour and try again. Small, frequent meals tend to work better than three large ones when your stomach is still sensitive.
Foods That May Not Sit Well Yet
While there’s no strict “avoid” list backed by evidence, some foods are more likely to cause discomfort while your gut is still inflamed. Raw vegetables, whole grains, seeds, and high-fiber cereals can be harder to digest and may aggravate lingering diarrhea. Gradually resume higher-fiber foods once your stools start to normalize.
Very fatty or greasy foods can also feel heavy, though fat itself isn’t harmful and actually helps slow intestinal motility. If a moderate amount of butter on toast or oil in soup sounds fine, go for it. A deep-fried meal is a different story.
Dairy is worth mentioning separately. Some people develop temporary difficulty digesting lactose after a gut infection because the cells that produce the enzyme for breaking down milk sugar get damaged. If milk or ice cream causes bloating or worsens diarrhea, switch to yogurt (which is partially pre-digested by bacteria) or skip dairy for a few days until your gut lining recovers.
Feeding Kids After a Stomach Bug
The same principles apply to children, with a couple of important additions. Give children what they normally eat as soon as their appetite returns. The CDC recommends an “age-appropriate unrestricted diet including complex carbohydrates, meats, yogurt, fruits, and vegetables.” If your child is breastfeeding, continue at all times, even during the rehydration phase. Breast milk provides both fluid and nutrition in an easily absorbed form.
Children are more vulnerable to calorie deficits than adults, so the priority is getting them eating again quickly. Don’t push large portions, but offer food frequently. After the illness passes, provide extra nutrition for a few days to make up for what was lost. Watch sugary drinks closely with kids. Juice, soda, and sports drinks formulated for adults can worsen diarrhea because of their high sugar content.
Probiotics and Recovery Speed
There’s reasonable evidence that one specific probiotic strain, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, can shorten diarrhea from acute gastroenteritis by about 24 hours and reduce the risk of diarrhea lasting beyond a week. A meta-analysis confirmed this effect, and the American Academy of Pediatrics recognizes it as a valid addition to oral rehydration therapy. Look for products that specifically list this strain and contain at least 10 billion colony-forming units per dose. Other probiotic strains have less evidence behind them for this specific use.
Signs You’re Not Recovering Normally
Most stomach bugs resolve within one to three days. By the day after, you should be trending better, even if you’re not 100%. Dehydration is the main risk, especially for young children and older adults.
Moderate dehydration (roughly 4% to 6% of body weight lost as fluid) shows up as a faster heart rate, feeling lightheaded when you stand, and skin that’s slow to bounce back when pinched. If you notice dark urine, very little urine output, dry mouth, or dizziness, you need to be more aggressive with fluid intake. Severe dehydration causes confusion, lethargy, cool or clammy skin, and a rapid weak pulse. That’s a medical emergency.
If you can’t keep any fluids down after 24 hours, if diarrhea persists beyond a few days, or if you notice blood in your stool, those are signs that something beyond a typical stomach bug may be going on.