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While no single food can instantly cure diarrhea, certain dietary choices can significantly alleviate symptoms and help your digestive system recover. When diarrhea strikes, focusing on easily digestible, bland foods is key to managing discomfort and promoting healing. The BRAT diet—bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast—is a well-known starting point, but a wider range of foods can be beneficial.

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Best Foods to Eat When Experiencing Diarrhea

Adopting a temporary, modified diet can make managing diarrhea symptoms more manageable. The right foods can help bind loose stools and ease the strain on your digestive tract. For optimal results, consider eating smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day rather than large, heavy ones. This approach reduces digestive workload.

Here’s a list of foods generally well-tolerated and recommended when you have diarrhea:

Grains:

• White bread and toast: Easily digestible and provide simple carbohydrates for energy.
• Plain pasta: Opt for white pasta, cooked until soft.
• White rice: A cornerstone of bland diets, white rice is gentle on the stomach and helps to firm stools.
• Farina (milled wheat): A hot cereal that’s easy to digest and often fortified with vitamins.
• Saltine crackers: Simple and bland, saltines can help settle the stomach.
• Pretzels: Plain pretzels offer salt and are easily digestible.

Fruits:

• Bananas: Part of the BRAT diet, bananas are easily digested, provide potassium (an electrolyte lost during diarrhea), and are binding.
• Applesauce: Cooked apples are easier to digest than raw apples. Applesauce contains pectin, which can help to solidify stools. Canned pears are also a good option.

Vegetables:

• White potato (peeled): Boiled or mashed potatoes without skin are gentle on the system.
• Peeled and boiled carrots and squash: These cooked vegetables are easier to digest than raw ones.

Proteins:

• Eggs (soft-cooked): Scrambled or poached eggs are a good source of protein that’s easy to digest.
• Chicken breast (skinless): Lean, skinless chicken, boiled or baked, is a good protein source. Lean cuts of turkey, beef, pork, and fish are also acceptable.

Dairy:

• Low-fat yogurt: Yogurt with live cultures (probiotics) can be beneficial as probiotics help restore healthy gut bacteria.

Liquids:

• Clear broth: Chicken or vegetable broth provides hydration and electrolytes.
• Coconut water: Naturally hydrating and rich in electrolytes.
• Decaffeinated tea (weakly brewed): Herbal teas or weak black tea can be soothing.

Foods to Avoid When You Have Diarrhea

Certain foods can aggravate diarrhea symptoms and should be avoided until your condition improves. These foods are generally harder to digest, can stimulate bowel movements, or contribute to dehydration.

Here’s a list of foods to avoid:

Dairy:

• Milk, cheese, ice cream (except yogurt): Lactose in dairy can be difficult to digest and worsen diarrhea.

Fats and Fried Foods:

• Fried, fatty, or greasy foods: These are hard to digest and can stimulate bowel movements.
• Fatty red meat, processed meats: High in saturated fat, which can be difficult to digest.
• Nut butters: High in fat and fiber, potentially irritating to the digestive system.

Fiber-Rich Foods:

• Whole grains: Whole wheat bread, brown rice, etc., are high in insoluble fiber, which can worsen diarrhea.
• Nuts and seeds: High in fiber and fat, can be difficult to digest.
• Beans and legumes: Can cause gas and bloating, and high in fiber.
• Raw vegetables: Hard to digest and high in insoluble fiber.
• Corn: Difficult to digest for some.
• Cabbage and broccoli: Cruciferous vegetables can cause gas and bloating.
• Dried fruit: High in fiber and concentrated sugars, can worsen diarrhea.

Sugary and Processed Foods:

• Sugar-free candy and drinks: Artificial sweeteners like sorbitol, xylitol, and erythritol can have a laxative effect.
• Potato chips: High in fat and salt, generally unhealthy for digestive upset.
• Carbonated drinks: Can cause gas and bloating.
• Fruit juices (especially citrus): High in sugar and acidity, can irritate the stomach.
• Coffee and caffeinated tea: Caffeine stimulates bowel movements and can worsen dehydration.
• Alcohol: Irritates the digestive system and can lead to dehydration.
• Onion and garlic: Can be irritants for some people with digestive issues.
• Spicy foods: Can irritate the digestive tract.

Staying Hydrated During Diarrhea

Maintaining hydration is crucial when you have diarrhea due to fluid loss. Beyond water, certain beverages can help replenish electrolytes lost during bouts of diarrhea.

Recommended Drinks:

• Plain water: Essential for hydration.
• Coconut water: A natural source of electrolytes.
• Electrolyte-rich sports drinks: Help replenish sodium, potassium, and other electrolytes.
• Bone broth: Provides fluids, electrolytes, and some nutrients.
• Weakly brewed tea (decaffeinated): Herbal teas can be soothing.
• Kefir: A probiotic-rich drink that can be beneficial for gut health.

Drinks to Avoid:

• Caffeinated coffee and tea: Can worsen dehydration and stimulate bowel movements.
• Sodas: Often high in sugar and can cause gas.
• Alcohol: Dehydrating and irritates the digestive system.
• Carbonated drinks: Can cause gas and bloating.
• Extremely hot or cold drinks: Can potentially upset the stomach further.

Benefits of Following a Diarrhea Diet

A temporary dietary adjustment when you have diarrhea offers several benefits. It helps to solidify loose stools, allowing your bowels to rest and recover. Furthermore, it aids in restoring lost fluids and balancing electrolytes, which are vital for bodily functions. The aim is to consume foods that promote firmer stools and limit those that exacerbate watery stools.

Foods that help with diarrhea are typically rich in soluble fiber. Soluble fiber, found in foods like potatoes, bananas, and refined wheat products, absorbs excess fluid in the gut, slowing down digestion and helping to firm up stools. In contrast, insoluble fiber, found in whole grains, bran, and many raw fruits and vegetables, does not absorb fluid and can speed up digestion, which is why it’s generally best to avoid these during diarrhea.

This dietary approach is intended for short-term management of occasional diarrhea. It can also provide relief during acute flare-ups of diarrhea associated with chronic conditions like Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), and celiac disease.

Diarrhea Diets for Children

For infants and young children experiencing diarrhea, close attention to hydration is paramount as they are more susceptible to dehydration than adults. If your child exhibits additional symptoms like fever, vomiting, or if the diarrhea persists for more than a couple of days, or if your child is an infant, it’s important to consult a healthcare professional.

In cases of mild diarrhea in children, often the recommendation is to continue their regular diet while potentially reducing or temporarily eliminating dairy milk. For children also experiencing vomiting or more significant diarrhea, electrolyte solutions are recommended to help maintain hydration. Breastfed babies or those exclusively on formula should generally continue their usual feeding routine.

It is always best to seek guidance from your pediatrician or a healthcare provider for specific instructions on managing your child’s diarrhea at home and to determine when medical attention is necessary. Severe diarrhea or the inability to keep fluids down in a child requires medical evaluation. For infants under 3 months old who develop a fever, immediate medical assessment is crucial. Contact your healthcare provider or seek emergency care if necessary.

It’s worth noting that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) no longer recommends the strict BRAT diet for children with diarrhea due to concerns about potential nutritional deficiencies and lack of sufficient evidence supporting its necessity in children.

Modifications and Potential Side Effects

While a diarrhea diet is generally safe for older children and adults in the short term, prolonged adherence can lead to nutritional deficiencies. Symptoms of nutritional deficiency can include fatigue, paleness, weakness, shortness of breath with exertion, increased sensitivity to cold, depression, and high blood pressure.

A diarrhea diet is not intended for long-term use. If symptoms do not improve within a couple of days, additional treatments, such as anti-diarrheal medications like loperamide (Imodium A-D), may be necessary. Consult your healthcare provider before using anti-diarrheal medications, as they may be contraindicated in certain conditions, such as some bacterial infections and colitis.

Once diarrhea symptoms begin to subside (typically within three days), you can gradually reintroduce a wider variety of foods back into your diet over the course of a week or two.

Related Bowel Diets

The dietary principles for managing short-term diarrhea share similarities with diets used for chronic bowel conditions or for pre- and post-surgical bowel management.

Low-Fiber Diet: A low-fiber diet restricts fiber intake to around 10-15 grams per day, significantly less than the recommended daily intake of at least 28 grams for adults consuming 2,000 calories daily. When limiting fiber for diarrhea, focus on soluble fiber sources.

Low-Residue Diet: A low-residue diet is even more restrictive than a diarrhea diet, often prescribed temporarily before or after procedures like colonoscopies. It limits dairy intake to 2 cups per day and further restricts fiber to minimize undigested material in the colon. Dairy can sometimes worsen digestive symptoms, so individuals on a diarrhea diet may also choose to limit or avoid dairy.

Low-FODMAP Diet: The low-FODMAP diet focuses on reducing fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols (FODMAPs), short-chain carbohydrates found in many foods, particularly grains, beans, and legumes. This diet is less restrictive than low-residue or BRAT diets but still limits high-fiber foods. It can be helpful for transitioning back to a normal diet after diarrhea, especially for those with sensitivities to FODMAPs.

In Summary

Managing occasional diarrhea often involves making temporary adjustments to your diet for a few days. The diarrhea diet emphasizes bland, binding foods that are gentle on your digestive system, along with adequate hydration. For infants and toddlers with diarrhea, dietary changes should always be supervised by a healthcare provider. Remember that restrictive diets can be potentially harmful for young children. If diarrhea persists or worsens, seeking medical advice is essential.