What to Eat When You Have Diarrhea

Eating bland foods can help diarrhea go away faster and prevent stomach upset and irritation. Refraining from certain foods, such as milk or citrus fruits, is essential to avoiding worsened symptoms.
Diet and diarrhea are intricately linked. This is true whether your diarrhea is caused by allergies, food poisoning, or a chronic condition like irritable bowel syndrome.
Even if you have long-term conditions that affect the digestive system, your food can affect your comfort levels.
When you’re experiencing an episode of diarrhea, certain foods you eat can help your digestive system get back on track. Other foods might prolong or worsen your symptoms.

Foods to eat when you have diarrhea
When you have diarrhea, the foods you eat and avoid can be critical to a quicker recovery. This is where BRAT foods come in.
The BRAT diet includes:
• bananas
• white rice
• applesauce
• toast made from white bread

These foods are bland and low in fiber, so they won’t aggravate the digestive system. They’re also binding, so they help firm up stool. While following a BRAT diet, you can combine these ingredients, such as putting applesauce or bananas on toast.
You can eat additional foods as part of a bland diet. These can include:
• cooked cereal, like oatmeal, Cream of Wheat
• apple juice that’s low in added sugar
• baked or boiled potatoes

Drinking plenty of liquids can help you stay hydrated and replace the lost fluids. Options to try include:
• water
• clear broths, like vegetable, chicken, or beef broth, with any grease removed
• electrolyte-enhanced water or coconut water with vitamins or electrolytes (try to avoid ones high in sugar)
• solutions like Pedialyte
• weak, decaffeinated tea

After you’ve started to recover, you can try adding foods like scrambled eggs and cooked vegetables.
Foods to avoid when you have diarrhea
Certain foods can trigger the digestive system and worsen or prolong diarrhea when you’re experiencing it or recovering from it.

Foods to avoid while experiencing diarrhea include:
• milk and dairy products (including milk-based protein drinks)
• fried, fatty, greasy foods
• spicy foods
• processed foods, especially those with additives
• pork and veal
• sardines
• raw vegetables
• onions
• corn
• all citrus fruits
• other fruits, like pineapples, cherries, seeded berries, figs, currants, and grapes
• coffee, soda, and other caffeinated or carbonated drinks
• artificial sweeteners, including sorbitol

Treatments and remedies for diarrhea
Many cases of diarrhea are short-lived and respond well to home treatments such as:
• rest
• modified diet
• increased fluid intake
• over-the-counter (OTC) medications, such as anti-diarrheal medications

However, you may also develop diarrhea due to a bacterial infection. In these cases, a doctor may recommend antibiotics.
Taking probiotics after taking antibiotics can help prevent adverse reactions to antibiotics by introducing healthy bacteria back into the digestive system. This can also help prevent future cases of diarrhea.
If your diarrhea is severe, you may need to be admitted to the hospital to receive intravenous fluids to prevent dehydration.