A bland diet cuts out certain choices such as spices, fried foods, alcohol, and caffeine and favors easy-to-digest options that are high in simple carbohydrates and low in fiber. Adopting a bland diet can have some major health benefits if you have chronic gastrointestinal (GI) issues or an upset stomach.
Read on to learn how foods for a bland diet help your digestive system, with expert-driven tips on how best to follow a bland diet.
Why Would You Want to Eat Bland Foods?
“I recommend eating a bland diet when you’re experiencing gastrointestinal distress,” says Caroline Young, RD, a registered dietitian in Atlanta. Eating bland foods can help ease symptoms like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, gas, bloating, and heartburn.
Doctors typically recommend following a bland diet to reduce digestive irritation and promote GI healing, says Ana Reisdorf, RD, a registered dietitian based in Franklin, Tennessee. Your healthcare team may suggest that you follow a bland diet temporarily until your GI symptoms improve.
Benefits of a Bland Diet
Bland foods provide rest and relief to your GI tract, says Lena Bakovic, RD, a registered dietitian based in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, who specializes in chronic disease, weight management, gut health, oncology, and general health and wellness.
Following a bland diet offers a variety of benefits.
Eases an Upset Stomach From Overeating or Pregnancy
When you overdo it at dinner, indigestion can bring on stomach pain and leave you feeling bloated. “A bland diet may help alleviate uncomfortable symptoms associated with the ingestion of particularly flavorful, spicy, or otherwise difficult to digest foods,” says Sarah Herrington, a nutritionist at Brio-Medical in Phoenix, Arizona. After one bland meal or snack, you should be able to return to normal eating.
Bland foods may also help you through the first trimester of pregnancy. “If you’re struggling with morning sickness, I recommend sticking to a bland diet with as much variety as you can tolerate,” Young says.
Promotes Healing After Gastrointestinal Surgery or Illness
Reducing stress on your system can help your body heal after GI surgery or illness. “If you’re recovering from a stomach bug, a bland diet can help get your gastrointestinal tract back on track without causing too much discomfort,” Young says. Doctors often recommend a bland diet after GI surgery.
Bland Diet Foods to Eat
Young explains, “Bland diets typically include simple carbohydrates, found in foods like some fruit and white bread or rice,” which break down and absorb more quickly and easily into the bloodstream than other foods. A bland diet also avoids fatty foods like whole dairy, poultry with skin, and fried foods.
“The main premise of a bland diet is that it is low in fiber content and the foods included are soft in texture. Also, the diet avoids strong and spicy seasonings, which can irritate the gastrointestinal tract,” Bakovic says.
Below, we’ve detailed some foods you can choose to follow a bland diet while including as many food groups as possible for maximum nutrition.
Foods to Eat on a Bland Diet
Foods to Avoid on a Bland Diet
Refined grains like white bread, white rice, and pretzels
Whole grains like whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, and whole-grain crackers
Low-fat or fat-free dairy products such as milk, mild cheese, and yogurt
Spicy foods such as garlic, hot sauce, and jalapeños
Protein sources such as eggs, creamy peanut butter, and chicken
Fried foods such as french fries and chicken fingers
Vegetables that are cooked and soft such as spinach, carrots, and squash
Vegetables that are raw or cruciferous such as broccoli, cabbage, and onions
Fruits that are soft such as bananas and applesauce
Fruits that are acidic such as oranges, lemons, and grapefruit
Grains
Grains come from plants like wheat, rye, and oats, and they are in foods like bread, pretzels, and crackers.
Generally, nutritional guidelines advise choosing whole grains for better digestion and health. But that’s not the case when following a bland diet. “Whole grains are typically higher in fiber and harder to digest,” says Reisdorf, who recommends choosing refined grains for gentler digestion with a bland diet.
The best refined grains recommended by our experts for a bland diet include:
White bread
White rice
White crackers
Pretzels
Quick-cook oatmeal
Low-Fat or Fat-Free Dairy
Foods in the dairy group can work well in a bland diet and provide vital nutrients like calcium, potassium, and vitamin D — just be sure to choose low-fat or fat-free options for easiest digestion.
The best low-fat or fat-free dairy options recommended by our experts for a bland diet include:
Milk
Cottage cheese
Mild cheeses
Yogurt
Pudding
Soy milk
Protein
Foods that contain protein do a lot for your body: They help build muscle, fight infection, and give you energy. While plenty of proteins fit well into a bland diet, keeping your choices lean — and scaling back on seasoning — helps keep them more easily digestible.
The best sources of protein recommended by our experts for a bland diet include:
Eggs
Chicken
Fish
Shellfish
Tofu
Creamy peanut butter
Unsalted bone broth
To keep your protein easy to digest, try not to overcook meat — baking is a good option. And skip any spices beyond salt and pepper, Young advises.
Vegetables
Whether you love vegetables or avoid them, they’re a great source of various vitamins and minerals. They can also contain a ton of fiber, so you have to choose them wisely when following a bland diet.
The best vegetables recommended by our experts for a bland diet include:
Spinach
Carrots
Acorn squash
Pumpkin
Vegetable juice (not tomato based)
Avoid raw vegetables, which are harder to digest. Instead, cook vegetables until they’re soft — but stay away from any that are fried. Canned or frozen varieties can also be good options for a bland diet.
Fruits
Fruits are packed with nutrients like potassium, vitamin C, and folate, but like vegetables, they can contain a lot of fiber. However, unlike vegetables, you can eat raw fruit on a bland diet, especially softer varieties.
The best fruits recommended by our experts for a bland diet include:
Bananas
Applesauce
Melons
Canned fruit
Non-citrus fruit juices
Foods to Avoid on a Bland Diet
“When you’re following a bland diet, you should avoid anything with heavy or spicy seasonings, as well as any deep-fried or processed foods,” Herrington says.
Keep reading for a list of bland diet foods to avoid, curated by our nutritional experts.
Whole Grains
Whole grains are a big part of a healthy diet, but due to their high-fiber content, they can be harder to digest. So it’s best to skip whole grains when following a bland diet.
Whole grains to avoid on a bland diet include:
Whole-grain bread, bagels, or crackers
Whole-wheat pasta or cereal
Whole oats
Brown rice
Quinoa
Spicy Foods
Spicy meals do more than make you sweat and burn your mouth. Spicy foods also relax the gateway from your esophagus into your stomach, which allows that spice to slosh up, leading to acid reflux or heartburn.
Spicy foods to avoid on a bland diet include:
Chili powder
Jalapeño
Cayenne pepper
Paprika
Hot sauce
Garlic
Fried Foods
Deep-frying involves submerging foods in hot oil until thoroughly cooked. While fried foods may taste good, they can cause constipation, too.
Fried foods to avoid on a bland diet include:
Chicken fingers
French fries
Tater Tots
Funnel cake
Fried potato chips or tortilla chips
Certain Vegetables
Vegetables offer various health benefits, but when you need to stick to bland foods, certain options can make GI symptoms worse. Cruciferous vegetables in particular are thought to cause digestive discomfort.
Vegetables to avoid when following a bland diet include:
Cruciferous vegetables, including broccoli, cauliflower, and collard greens
Any raw vegetables
Acidic Fruits
Some fruits have lower pH levels than others, which means they are very acidic. For many people, citrus fruits aren’t bothersome in moderation, but if you’re following a bland diet, they can disrupt GI healing and recovery.
Acidic fruits to avoid on a bland diet include:
Lemons
Limes
Grapefruit
Pineapple
Oranges
Peaches
Blueberries
Grapes
Plums
Other Foods and Drinks to Avoid
Various other foods can worsen digestive symptoms and should be avoided when following a bland diet, including:
In most cases, a bland diet is a temporary measure to support healing from specific GI symptoms, Young says. However, if your doctor recommends following a bland diet for a longer period, you may fall short on a few essential nutrients like calcium, vitamin B12, and fiber.
“If a bland diet is not balanced or diverse enough and is followed for an extended period of time, nutrient deficiencies can arise, along with other symptoms like lethargy and brain fog,” says Young.
That said, nutritional deficiencies from a bland diet are quite rare. But you can discuss your bland diet time line with your provider, who can recommend work-arounds to help you with any long-term effects.
The Takeaway
Following a bland diet can help ease an upset stomach and reduce GI irritation. Focusing on bland foods like white bread, applesauce, and cooked vegetables can promote gut healing. Work closely with your doctor or dietitian to ensure you’re still getting enough essential nutrients while following a bland diet.
Reyna Franco, RDN, is a New York City–based dietitian-nutritionist, certified specialist in sports dietetics, and certified personal trainer. She is a diplomate of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and has a master's degree in nutrition and exercise physiology from Columbia University.
In her private practice, she provides medical nutrition therapy for weight management, sports nutrition, diabetes, cardiac disease, renal disease, gastrointestinal disorders, cancer, food allergies, eating disorders, and childhood nutrition. To serve her diverse patients, she demonstrates cultural sensitivity and knowledge of customary food practices. She applies the tenets of lifestyle medicine to reduce the risk of chronic disease and improve health outcomes for her patients.
Franco is also a corporate wellness consultant who conducts wellness counseling and seminars for organizations of every size. She taught sports nutrition to medical students at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, taught life cycle nutrition and nutrition counseling to undergraduate students at LaGuardia Community College, and precepts nutrition students and interns. She created the sports nutrition rotation for the New York Distance Dietetic Internship program.
She is the chair of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine's Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist Member Interest Group. She is also the treasurer and secretary of the New York State Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, having previously served in many other leadership roles for the organization, including as past president, awards committee chair, and grant committee chair, among others. She is active in the local Greater New York Dietetic Association and Long Island Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, too.
Abby McCoy is an experienced registered nurse who has worked with adults and pediatric patients encompassing trauma, orthopedics, home care, transplant, and case management. She is a married mother of four and loves the circus — that is her home! She has family all over the world, and loves to travel as much as possible.
McCoy has written for publications like Remedy Health Media, Sleepopolis, and Expectful. She is passionate about health education and loves using her experience and knowledge in her writing.
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