Should You Eat Oatmeal When You Have Diarrhea?
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When You Have Diarrhea, Can a Bowl of Oatmeal Help?

When You Have Diarrhea, Can a Bowl of Oatmeal Help?
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Updated on August 6, 2025
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Developing diarrhea can leave you feeling uncomfortable and shaky for a couple of days. Don’t worry — we’ve all been there. Although your appetite might all but disappear between your frequent trips to the bathroom, natural remedies for diarrhea and eating the right foods can reduce your symptoms and help put you on the road to recovery. And oatmeal just might be the thing you need to feel better. Here’s why, plus other ways to keep your symptoms in check.

Focus on Liquids First

While oatmeal can help improve your symptoms (more on this later), don’t be in a rush to prepare a bowl of oatmeal as soon as your diarrhea strikes. When you first develop diarrhea, the first thing you may want to focus on is staying hydrated. That’s because diarrhea causes you lose a lot of water, which can raise your risk of dehydration.

To help rehydrate, it’s important to consume liquids like water, tea, broth, apple juice, or electrolyte drinks to replenish lost electrolytes. These fluids can help calm your system and improve hydration. If your body is able to handle drinks like this well, then it’s a good idea to start reintroducing foods.

Gradually Add Oatmeal

If you’re able to manage liquids for 24 hours, you may be ready to start adding bland foods back to your diet. A common eating plan that experts recommend for diarrhea is the BRAT diet, which stands for bananas, rice, apples, and toast. However, other bland foods like oatmeal, farina, and cream of wheat are also suitable options to help improve your symptoms.

Ready to give oatmeal a try? Here’s what to do: Sweeten the oatmeal only slightly, and avoid adding milk if you have trouble digesting lactose. Oatmeal is ideal not only due to its bland taste, but also for its fiber content. The soluble fiber in oatmeal absorbs water in your gastrointestinal tract to help add firmness to your stools and keep your bowels functioning regularly.

Then Return to a Normal Diet

Provided you’re able to consume oatmeal without any adverse effects, you can continue to eat this type of food as you begin to transition back to your usual diet. A standard approach is to add foods like chicken or turkey, cooked vegetables, and eggs to your diet while avoiding foods that are excessively spicy or high in fat until you’re completely over your symptoms. Limit your intake of high-fiber foods like raw fruits and vegetables because they can cause your stools to be loose.

The Takeaway

  • Because diarrhea can cause your body to lose a lot of water, staying hydrated is key, so include drinks with electrolytes.
  • Once you’re able to handle liquids, adding bland foods to your diet can help.
  • The soluble fiber content in oatmeal helps absorb water and firm your stools, which can offer diarrhea relief.
EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
  1. Diarrhea. Cleveland Clinic. September 20, 2023.
  2. What to Eat When You Have Diarrhea. Cleveland Clinic. June 16, 2023.
  3. When You Have Diarrhea. MedlinePlus. November 6, 2023.
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Yuying Luo, MD

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Yuying Luo, MD, is an assistant professor of medicine at Mount Sinai West and Morningside in New York City. She aims to deliver evidence-based, patient-centered, and holistic care for her patients.

Her clinical and research focus includes patients with disorders of gut-brain interaction such as irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia; patients with lower gastrointestinal motility (constipation) disorders and defecatory and anorectal disorders (such as dyssynergic defecation); and women’s gastrointestinal health.

She graduated from Harvard with a bachelor's degree in molecular and cellular biology and received her MD from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. She completed her residency in internal medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she was also chief resident. She completed her gastroenterology fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital and was also chief fellow.

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