The best foods to eat during diarrhea are bland, low-fiber starches and foods rich in soluble fiber that absorb excess water in your intestines. White rice, bananas, oatmeal, boiled potatoes, and plain toast are reliable starting points, but you don’t need to limit yourself to just those. A broader bland diet that includes protein will help you recover faster.
How Soluble Fiber Firms Up Loose Stools
Soluble fiber dissolves in water and forms a gel-like material in your stomach, which slows digestion and absorbs excess fluid in your intestines. That’s the mechanism that turns watery stools into something more solid. Good sources of soluble fiber include oats, bananas, carrots, and barley.
Not all high-fiber foods are helpful right now, though. Raw vegetables, whole grains with tough husks, and beans can speed things up rather than slow them down. During active diarrhea, stick to cooked, peeled, or processed versions of these foods. Oatmeal is a better choice than a raw salad. A ripe banana works better than a fibrous apple with the skin on.
Beyond the BRAT Diet
You’ve probably heard of the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. It’s fine for the first day or two, but there’s no clinical evidence that it works better than a broader bland diet. Harvard Health notes that restricting yourself to just those four foods doesn’t make much sense beyond the initial phase, since they lack the protein and nutrients your body needs to recover.
A more complete list of foods that are easy on your gut during diarrhea:
- Starches: white rice, boiled potatoes (no skin), plain crackers, unsweetened dry cereal
- Cooked vegetables: carrots, butternut squash, pumpkin, sweet potatoes (peeled)
- Proteins: skinless chicken or turkey, fish, eggs
- Soups: brothy soups (not cream-based)
- Fruits: bananas, applesauce
- Other: oatmeal, avocado
Once your stomach starts to settle, adding those protein sources is important. Diarrhea depletes energy and nutrients quickly, and plain toast alone won’t replenish them.
Foods That Make Diarrhea Worse
What you avoid matters just as much as what you eat. Several categories of food actively pull water into your intestines or speed up digestion, which is exactly what you don’t want.
Fatty and fried foods are a common trigger. When fat isn’t absorbed properly in the upper digestive tract, it reaches the colon and gets broken down into fatty acids, which cause the colon to secrete fluid. Creamy sauces, fried chicken, and rich curries can all make things worse. Spicy sauces often mask high fat content, so Tex-Mex and heavy curries are double offenders.
Caffeine speeds up your entire digestive system. That means coffee, tea, chocolate, many sodas, and anything flavored with coffee or chocolate.
Dairy products containing lactose, including milk, soft cheese, and ice cream, can worsen diarrhea even in people who normally tolerate them fine. Your gut’s ability to process lactose temporarily drops when the intestinal lining is irritated.
Certain sugars are poorly absorbed and draw water into the intestines. Fructose is one of the biggest offenders. It’s found naturally in peaches, pears, cherries, and apples, and it’s added to sodas and juice drinks. Artificial sweeteners like sorbitol, mannitol, and xylitol (common in sugar-free gum and candy) do the same thing. These all belong to a group of poorly digested sugars called FODMAPs. Other FODMAP sources include onions, garlic, wheat, rye, honey, and cashews.
Staying Hydrated Is the Priority
Diarrhea pulls water and electrolytes out of your body fast. Replacing that fluid is more urgent than any food choice. Water alone helps, but it doesn’t replace the sodium and potassium you’re losing. That’s why oral rehydration solutions exist.
You can make a simple version at home: mix 4 cups of water with half a teaspoon of table salt and 2 tablespoons of sugar. The sugar isn’t just for taste. It helps your intestines absorb the sodium and water more efficiently. Sip it throughout the day rather than gulping large amounts at once.
Signs that dehydration is becoming a problem include urinating less than usual, dark-colored urine, and skin that doesn’t flatten back right away after you pinch and release it. If you notice any of these, increase your fluid intake immediately.
What About Probiotics?
Probiotic supplements and fermented foods like yogurt are often recommended for diarrhea, but the evidence is weaker than most people assume. A large Cochrane review, the gold standard for evaluating medical evidence, found that probiotics probably make little or no difference in reducing diarrhea lasting 48 hours or longer. The review looked specifically at popular strains often marketed for gut health and found no clear benefit when only high-quality studies were considered.
That doesn’t mean yogurt is a bad choice. Plain, low-sugar yogurt is easy to digest and provides protein. Just don’t expect a probiotic supplement to shorten your illness in a meaningful way.
A Practical Eating Plan
For the first 12 to 24 hours, focus on fluids. Sip your rehydration solution, broth, or water frequently. If you feel hungry, start with small portions of white rice, plain toast, or a banana.
On day two, expand to oatmeal, boiled potatoes, crackers, brothy soup, and cooked carrots or squash. Keep portions small and eat more frequently rather than sitting down to large meals, which can overwhelm an irritated gut.
By day three or when stools start firming up, add lean proteins like eggs, baked chicken without skin, or fish. Avocado is a good addition here too, since it provides healthy fats and soluble fiber without being harsh on your stomach. Gradually reintroduce your normal diet over the following few days, saving dairy, caffeine, and high-fat foods for last.
If diarrhea persists beyond 24 hours, is accompanied by a fever of 102°F or higher, or you notice blood or black coloring in your stool, those are signs that something more than diet adjustment is needed.