When you have diarrhea, you can eat more than you might think. The old advice to stick strictly to bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast (the BRAT diet) is outdated. That combination lacks protein, calcium, vitamin B12, and enough fiber to actually help your gut recover. The current guidance is simpler: eat soft, bland foods as tolerated, and expand your diet as soon as you feel able. Your body needs real nutrition to heal.
Why the BRAT Diet Fell Out of Favor
The BRAT diet was once the default recommendation for upset stomachs, but it’s no longer endorsed as a treatment plan. The American Academy of Pediatrics says it’s too restrictive for children and may actually slow recovery if followed for more than 24 hours. For adults, a day or two at your sickest is fine, but moving to a broader range of foods as quickly as possible gives your body the building blocks it needs to bounce back.
Foods That Help Firm Up Stool
Soluble fiber is your best friend during a bout of diarrhea. It dissolves in water and forms a gel-like material in your stomach, slowing digestion and absorbing excess liquid in your intestines. The result is bulkier, firmer stool. Good sources include oats, bananas, applesauce, carrots, and white rice. Barley and peeled potatoes work well too.
A practical framework is what Stanford Health Care calls the “modified white diet”: bananas, rice, applesauce, white toast, noodles, chicken breast, white fish, eggs, soft tofu, cottage cheese, and smooth yogurt. These foods are easy to digest, low in fat, and unlikely to irritate an already sensitive gut. Think of this as a starting menu, not a rigid prescription. If something on the list doesn’t sit well, skip it and try something else.
Protein Helps You Recover Faster
Skipping protein is one of the biggest mistakes people make when they’re sick. Your intestinal lining repairs itself quickly, but it needs amino acids to do it. Stick to tender, well-cooked lean options: baked or poached chicken breast, white fish, scrambled eggs, soft tofu, or smooth yogurt. The key is cooking without added fat. Baking, steaming, and boiling are all gentler on your stomach than frying.
Avoid fatty, heavily processed meats like bacon, sausage, hot dogs, and deli meats like bologna or salami. Fried chicken and fried fish are also off the list. These foods are harder to break down and can speed up intestinal contractions, making diarrhea worse.
Be Careful With Dairy
During a bout of diarrhea, especially one caused by a stomach bug, the lining of your small intestine can become temporarily damaged. That lining is where your body produces the enzyme that breaks down lactose, the sugar in milk. When those cells are inflamed or stripped away, you can develop a short-term lactose intolerance even if you normally handle dairy just fine. Undigested lactose pulls water into your intestines and feeds gut bacteria, which produces gas and worsens diarrhea.
This doesn’t mean all dairy is off limits. Yogurt, especially smooth varieties, contains bacteria that have already partially broken down lactose. Cottage cheese and aged hard cheeses are also lower in lactose. But large glasses of milk, ice cream, and soft cheeses are worth avoiding until you’re feeling better.
Foods and Drinks to Avoid
Some foods and drinks actively make diarrhea worse through a process called osmotic pull. When poorly absorbed sugars accumulate in your colon, they increase the pressure that draws water in, essentially preventing your intestines from reabsorbing fluid. The biggest offenders are sugar alcohols: sorbitol, mannitol, and xylitol. These are found naturally in some fruits but are most concentrated in “sugar-free” candy, chewing gum, and diet beverages. If you’re chewing sugar-free gum or snacking on sugar-free mints while sick, stop.
Other foods to skip while your gut is recovering:
- Greasy or fried foods, which speed up intestinal contractions
- Spicy foods, which can irritate an already inflamed gut lining
- Very sugary foods and drinks, including fruit juice and soda, which can worsen osmotic diarrhea
- Raw vegetables and salads, which are harder to digest than cooked versions
- Caffeine and alcohol, both of which stimulate the gut and increase fluid loss
- Beans and lentils, which are high in insoluble fiber and can increase gas and cramping
Hydration Matters More Than Food
The most dangerous thing about diarrhea isn’t the diarrhea itself. It’s the water and electrolytes you lose with every trip to the bathroom. Replacing fluids is more important than eating solid food, especially in the first 24 hours.
Water alone isn’t enough because it doesn’t replace the sodium and potassium you’re losing. Oral rehydration solutions, available premixed at most pharmacies and grocery stores, are specifically designed to match the way your gut absorbs fluid. They work because sodium and glucose are absorbed together through your intestinal wall, and that absorption pulls water along with it. The World Health Organization’s formula uses equal parts sodium and glucose to optimize this process, though commercial products with slightly more sugar still work well.
If you don’t have a rehydration solution on hand, clear broth is a reasonable alternative because it contains sodium. Coconut water provides potassium. Sip small amounts frequently rather than drinking large volumes at once, which can trigger nausea.
Probiotics Can Shorten Recovery
Two specific probiotics have the strongest evidence for reducing how long diarrhea lasts. Saccharomyces boulardii (a beneficial yeast) and Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (often labeled LGG on supplements and yogurt) have both been shown to shorten acute infectious diarrhea by roughly one day and reduce stool frequency. These findings come from large reviews covering thousands of participants.
You can get LGG from certain yogurt brands that list it on the label, or from supplements. Saccharomyces boulardii is available as an over-the-counter supplement at most pharmacies. Starting either one early in your illness, rather than waiting a few days, appears to offer the most benefit.
Signs Your Diarrhea Needs Attention
Most cases of diarrhea resolve on their own within a few days. But certain symptoms signal that something more serious is going on and your body isn’t coping well. Watch for diarrhea lasting more than 24 hours with no improvement, inability to keep fluids down, bloody or black stool, a fever of 102°F or higher, or unusual confusion and sleepiness. Any of these warrants a call to your doctor, particularly in young children and older adults who dehydrate faster.