Should you follow the "BRAT" diet?
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1. Counselling Conundrum: a real question from a patient
2. Concise Conclusion: a straight-forward patient-friendly answer
3. Quick Wrap-up
Clearly, there are nuances that may not be captured in this format. The goal here is to provide you with helpful counselling tips which often draw from multiple sources or those which are not commonly accessed by busy healthcare providers serving the community.
Counselling Conundrum: "I caught a stomach bug, and have had diarrhea since last night. What should I be eating to improve my stools?"
Concise Conclusion: Unfortunately there isn't much research suggesting that changing your diet can make a difference, other than making sure you stay hydrated (some products can help replace your electrolytes). Ensuring you stay fed in general can help heal the gut. Of course, if you notice any particular food item worsens your diarrhea (for example, fatty foods and non-yogurt dairy are commonly known to do this), then you should avoid those foods. If you want to try eating easily digestible foods, stick to things like bananas, rice, applesauce, toast (BRAT diet), and even noodles, crackers, soup, or boiled vegetables.
Quick Wrap-up: After we eliminate the likelihood of a lactose or gluten intolerance (i.e. acute illness), or a recent rapid increase in dietary fibre, we usually recommend oral rehydration solution (e.g. Hydralyte) and sleeping 7-9 hours to promote recovery. Switching the diet to complex carbohydrates as above can be tried, but is not evidence-based (except for avoiding fatty foods and non-yogurt dairy, which can cause diarrhea even with normal bowel function). Avoid restricting diet in children. Loperamide may help as a short term (i.e. 48 h) temporary fix, but avoid it if fever, dehydration, malnourishment, or bloody stools are present, as it may prolong or worsen the illness.
Dive Deeper
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