I don’t use the word hate lightly.
But I really do HATE the BRAT diet!
In case you never heard about it, the BRAT diet stands for:
- B – banana
- R – rice
- A – applesauce
- T – toast
This diet is supposed to be easy to digest and therefore ideal for people having just suffered from diarrhea or vomiting.
But in reality, this diet includes some of the most nutrient-devoid foods that will do nothing to contribute to gut healing. The gluten-containing toasts might even cause more damage, inflammation and intestinal permeability (leaky gut) in sensitive people.
Fortunately, the American Academy of Pediatrics and other organizations are realizing that this is not the best recommendation and that the usual ”normal” foods, which might include some of the BRAT staples, should be eaten as tolerated instead.
Yet, the BRAT diet is what has been and continues to be recommended by many doctors and registered dietitians for decades until TODAY…
I think we can do better.
Way better!
I was recently glutened and followed the exact OPPOSITE of the BRAT diet
The BRAT diet was on my mind lately as I was recovering myself from being glutened over the past Holidays, which resulted in many unpleasant symptoms (vomiting, muscle pain, headaches, abdominal pain, feeling abnormally cold, etc.) and many others that might be TMI for my blog here. I know I should know better but I swear I really have no idea where this damn gluten came from!
This is what made me try coming up with my own diet to promote quicker recovery from these acute digestive issues.
Here’s what I came up with!
Please don’t laugh, coming up with a catchy acronym is not my forte and I welcome any better suggestions! 🙂
Here it is [drum roll]: noBS-ProRCT.
Ok, I know that it is pretty lame but hopefully it will help us all remember everything we can and should be doing after a bout of diarrhea, vomiting, food poisoning, traveler’s diarrhea or any other digestive misadventures so we can recover as quickly as possible. In other words, this is perfect for recovering from ACUTE digestive issues.
noBS-ProRCT is the new BRAT diet
- no: no stands for no raw food, especially no raw vegetables
- B: bone broth, one of the best gut-healing superfoods out there (my recipe here)
[quality collagen or L-glutamine powders can also do if you don’t have bone broth on hand] - S: soups & stews, which constitute easy-to-digest and complete meals to nourish your body
(only if you are hungry and feel like eating of course) - Pro: probiotics, from fermented foods or supplements, to rebuild/strengthen your gut flora
- R: rest is not a food but can make it easier for your body to be in digest-and-repair mode
- C: vitamin C is super important to act as an antioxidant and keep your immune system strong
[I like taking a few pinches of camu camu powder if eating vitamin C-rich foods is difficult] - T: teas can be really helpful to reduce inflammation and support your digestion
[chamomile, ginger and peppermint are my favorites!]
This is exactly what I did a couple of weeks ago and was able to recover pretty quickly.
What do you think?
Am I missing anything? Or can you think of a better acronym?
Please let me know in the comments below!
I thought the “t” in the BRAT stood for tea not toast
It really is toast, believe it or not!
Love this! Seriously, so good. I make the same recommendations but I find I’m always typing out the list in an email. Now I’ll just send clients to this page 🙂
Yay! Glad this will be helping your save time and help spread the word out to more people! 🙂
Thank you so much for this! It’s so great to see alternatives that the body can easily digest.
Thanks Monica!
How would you recommend getting calories in while doing this? The BRAT diet provides some and this doesn’t really. I totally agree with your thoughts but bone broth and tea are minimal calorically.
Hi Candice! The soups & stews can and should include calories, providing a balance of quality pastured meat, organic veggies and healthy fats. Bone broth also supplies some calories. 😉 Vitamin C-rich foods can also be included as tolerated.
I think soups are covered in “broth” and “cooked”.
The trouble with making an acronym out of these is that there aren’t enough vowels. I can’t think of synonyms for any of the list items that would start with a vowel, either.
B: broth
C: cooked, not raw
C: vitamin C
P: probiotics
R: rest
T: teas
Candice: if you’re not hungry, you don’t need food. Often after serious gastric distress, you don’t want food. Broth and tea, probiotics and rest are pretty much where it’s at. If only I could find a word for probiotic that started with a vowel, we’d have a BR-T acronym!
I just wrote a whole big comment and it’s not showing up. Did you get it?