Dr. Prabhat AryaMBBS, MD (Internal Medicine) · DMC Reg. No. DMC-83759drprabhatarya.com

Reviewed by Dr. Prabhat Arya, MD (Internal Medicine) on 29 September 2026

Diet chart for jaundice

Jaundice from hepatitis A or E usually heals by itself in a few weeks. The liver needs enough food to heal: ordinary, fresh, home-cooked meals, not a starvation diet.

½ Well-cooked vegetables ¼ Dal, curd, milk, paneer, egg ¼ Roti, rice, khichdi, daliya
  1. Eat normal home food in small amounts, five or six times a day while appetite is poor. Include dal, milk or egg every day.
  2. No alcohol at all until your doctor says the liver has fully recovered. This usually takes months.
  3. Drink only boiled or filtered water. Wash hands with soap after the toilet and before eating: hepatitis A and E spread through dirty water and food.

Eat more

  • Roti, rice, khichdi, daliya, poha, idli, suji upma
  • Dal, curd, milk, paneer, eggs: the liver needs protein to heal
  • Fruit washed at home: banana, papaya, apple, orange, mosambi
  • Well-cooked vegetables: lauki, tori, carrot, beans, peas, pumpkin
  • Fluids: boiled water, nimbu pani, chaas, dal water, coconut water
  • Fresh fruit juice made at home with clean water, if you like it

Eat less, and measure

  • Cooking oil and ghee together: 3 to 4 teaspoons a day. No need to stop them
  • Fried and very spicy food: rarely, while nausea lasts
  • Big heavy meals: eat small amounts often instead
  • Sugar, glucose and sweets: a little is fine; they do not cure jaundice
  • Tea and coffee: one or two cups a day
  • Chicken and fish: only fresh and well cooked, at home

Avoid

  • Alcohol of every kind
  • Herbal, ayurvedic or desi medicines and "jaundice churan": they can injure the liver
  • Any medicine, including painkillers, not given by your doctor
  • Street food, pani puri, cut fruit, roadside juice and ice
  • Unboiled or unfiltered water
  • Starving yourself: the liver needs food to heal

A sample day

Vegetarian first; the swap is for those who eat eggs, fish or chicken.

On waking
A glass of boiled water. Tea with milk
Breakfast
A bowl of vegetable poha, daliya or two idlis, with a glass of milkSwap: Two boiled eggs with one roti
Mid-morning
One banana or a bowl of papaya, and a glass of nimbu pani
Lunch
Two soft rotis or a plate of rice, a katori of dal, a katori of sabzi, a katori of curdSwap: Chicken or fish curry, lightly spiced, in place of dal
Evening
A glass of chaas or coconut water, with a bowl of murmura or roasted chanaSwap: A boiled egg
Dinner, by 8 pm
Moong dal khichdi with sabzi and a katori of curdSwap: Egg curry with rice
Bedtime
A glass of milk

Common myths

Eat only boiled food, with no haldi, oil or yellow foods.
Normal home food with a little oil and haldi is fine. Starving slows healing.
Sugarcane juice and glucose cure jaundice.
They give energy but cure nothing. Roadside sugarcane juice can spread jaundice.
Jhaad-phoonk, a mala or desi medicine will cure it.
Hepatitis A and E heal by themselves. Some desi medicines damage the liver.
Dal, eggs and milk harm the liver.
The liver needs protein to heal. They are good for you.

Dr. Arya’s note for you

Go to hospital at once if there is confusion or drowsiness, vomiting of everything, bleeding or black stools, very little urine, or if jaundice comes during pregnancy.

This chart is for adults recovering at home from hepatitis A or E. With diabetes, the diabetes chart wins on sugar. Jaundice from gallstones, alcohol, cirrhosis or hepatitis B or C needs different advice: ask Dr. Arya.