The BRAT diet was often recommended for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but is no longer because of how restrictive it is. Below are lists of foods to focus on and avoid when experiencing nausea, vomiting or diarrhea, but there are many more foods that can be included.
Alternatives to the BRAT Diet
8 Natural yogurt, kefir, miso soup, and fermented vegetables (e.g., sauerkraut) are great options. While recovering from stomach symptoms and re-introducing solid foods into your diet, it is essential to keep yourself well-hydrated.
As children recover from their illness, it is fine to let them eat as much or as little of their usual diet as they want. Q: What about the BRAT diet? A: The bananas, rice, applesauce, toast (BRAT) diet, once recommended while recovering from diarrhea, is no longer considered useful.
Bananas, rice, applesauce and toast are easy to digest, and eating these foods will help you hold down food. The fiber found in these foods will also help solidify your stool if you have diarrhea.
The bland diet is sometimes called the BRAT or BRATT diet. BRAT is an acronym that stands for bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. If you're following a bland diet, you can incorporate these four foods into your meals, but there are many other options to choose from.
There's often no specific medical treatment for viral gastroenteritis. Antibiotics aren't effective against viruses. Treatment first involves self-care measures, such as staying hydrated.
Clear broth: Chicken or vegetable broth provides hydration and electrolytes. Toast: Skip the jam and butter, keep it plain. Cereal: Plain rice cereal or oat-based cereals are gentle on the stomach. Pedialyte or similar rehydration fluids: Important for replenishing electrolytes lost through vomiting or diarrhea.
Low-fiber starches: white bread/toast, white rice, saltine crackers, cream of wheat, instant oatmeal, noodles. Proteins: unseasoned skinless chicken/turkey, scrambled eggs, yogurt. Liquids: clear broth soups (chicken or vegetable), apple juice, water, Gatorade/Powerade, gelatin, weak and decaffeinated tea.
Bananas are also a low residue food that helps deal with the weakness and dehydration. You can either have it as a fruit or add it to your yoghurt or smoothie. Add 1-2 bananas for 2 times a day to ease the stomach issue.
Both children and adults need to drink plenty of fluids while they're sick to prevent dehydration. Water is good, but adding broth, a sports drink, or a rehydration solution such as Pedialyte can help replace lost electrolytes. Broth or broth-based soups (chicken noodle, vegetable, etc.)
For Nausea, Vomiting and Diarrhea:
Avoid eating and drinking for two hours after the last episode of vomiting. Start with small amounts of clear liquids, such as water, ice, popsicles, sports drinks, clear broth or Jell-O for the first 24 hours.
“The paleo diet is based on foods that humans ate during that Paleolithic era, which was about 2.5 million to 10,000 years ago,” says Zumpano. The paleo diet may also be known as the Stone Age diet, the caveman diet or the hunter-gatherer diet.
Eat BRAT diet foods
Soups: clear broth, such as chicken, vegetable or beef. Liquids: cranberry, apple and grape juice, tea (without caffeine), water. Snacks: canned peaches, pears, sweet potatoes, crackers, cream of wheat, eggs, gelatin, oatmeal, creamy peanut butter.
Depending on the cause, some foods, such as ginger, bananas, or applesauce, may help relieve an upset stomach. Most people will benefit from drinking plenty of fluids, and broths can provide both fluid and nutrients. Short-term, or acute, causes of an upset stomach include food poisoning and viral gastroenteritis.
Eggs. Boiled, poached, or scrambled eggs are easy to prepare, eat, and digest. They are suitable for people who are recovering from a stomach virus or nausea. The white contains less fat and is easier to digest, but many people with digestive problems can also tolerate the yolk.
Toast is another easily digested, low fiber food that will help to firm up your stool. For added nutrition, you should feel free to spread jam on your toast if you can stomach it. You will probably want to avoid butter and peanut butter, as they are high in fat, which is hard on your stomach.
No one can say for sure why norovirus is spiking even higher now. But there are many subtypes of the virus, and one possible reason could be that a strain called GII.17—which was once uncommon here, so fewer people have a strong immunity to it—has become increasingly dominant in the U.S.
Introduce probiotic-rich foods
Fermented foods like plain yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, and kimchi are rich in probiotics, which are live, beneficial bacteria and yeast. These gut-friendly microbes help restore optimal gut health, aid in digestion, and boost your immune system.
A lack of protein can make nausea feel even worse, so look to protein-packed foods, such as nuts — even peanut butter, as long as you're not allergic — that are easy to digest. They'll quickly replenish your depleted energy and help keep your nausea at bay.
Norovirus is a stomach bug that causes vomiting and diarrhoea and while it can be very unpleasant, it usually gets better in about 2 days. If someone has norovirus, they can usually treat it at home by drinking lots of fluids, getting plenty of rest, and taking paracetamol if they are in discomfort.