Reviewed by Dr. Prabhat Arya, MD (Internal Medicine) on 29 September 2026
Diet chart for loose motions
The danger in loose motions is losing water and salt, not the stool itself. ORS replaces them. Keep drinking, keep eating light food, and most loose motions settle in 2 to 3 days.
- Drink ORS: one packet in one litre of clean drinking water. After each loose motion, drink one to two glasses. Make fresh every 24 hours.
- Keep eating. Light home food, in small meals every 3 to 4 hours, helps the gut heal faster than an empty stomach.
- Drink safe water only: boiled, filtered or RO. Wash hands with soap before eating and after the toilet.
Drink and eat more
- ORS (WHO formula, from the chemist): one packet in one litre of water, not less water
- No packet? One litre of clean water with 6 level teaspoons of sugar and half a level teaspoon of salt
- Home fluids: nimbu-pani with salt and a little sugar, thin salted chaas, dal water, rice water, coconut water
- Soft food: khichdi, rice with curd or dal, idli, poha, toast, boiled potato
- Curd and chaas
- Banana, stewed apple, papaya
Eat less, for a few days
- Milk: small amounts, in tea or with food; curd is better
- Tea and coffee: one or two light cups
- Raw salad and high-fibre food: bran, rajma, chole
- Spicy food and heavy masala
- Oil and ghee: just enough to cook
- Heavy meals: eat small portions, more often
Avoid
- Cold drinks, packaged juice, energy drinks: the sugar pulls more water out
- Glucose powder drinks in place of ORS: they are not ORS
- Fried and street food, cut fruit and pani-puri from outside
- Alcohol
- Unboiled water, ice and chutneys from outside
- Tablets to stop motions, or antibiotics, without a doctor: never with fever or blood
A sample day
Vegetarian first; the swap is for those who eat eggs, fish or chicken. Sip ORS through the day as well.
- On waking
- A glass of ORS. Light tea if you wish
- Breakfast
- Two idlis or a bowl of poha, or toast, with a katori of curd. One bananaSwap: One boiled egg with toast
- Mid-morning
- Coconut water or salted nimbu-pani. ORS after every loose motion
- Lunch
- Moong dal khichdi or rice with thin dal, boiled lauki or potato, curdSwap: Thin fish or chicken stew with rice
- Evening
- Thin salted chaas or dal water, with a banana or toast
- Dinner, by 8 pm
- Curd-rice or khichdi, or one soft roti with boiled sabziSwap: Soft stewed fish with rice
- Bedtime
- A glass of ORS. Keep ORS by the bed for the night
Common myths
- Stop eating till the motions stop.
- Eating light food helps the gut heal. Starving makes you weak.
- Drinking water makes the motions worse.
- The body is losing water. ORS and fluids replace it.
- A cold drink or glucose drink is as good as ORS.
- Too much sugar and too little salt. They can make it worse.
- Every loose motion needs an antibiotic.
- Most settle on their own with ORS. Antibiotics only if a doctor advises.
Dr. Arya’s note for you
Go to a doctor or hospital at once if there is blood in the stool, very little or dark urine, drowsiness or confusion, you cannot drink or keep fluids down, high fever, or it is not better after 3 days. Elderly people, diabetics and pregnant women should see a doctor early.
This chart is for adults; children need separate advice (ORS with zinc). With diabetes, still take ORS (its sugar is needed); check sugar more often and ask about your tablets or insulin. With kidney disease or heart failure, replace losses with ORS, not coconut water, and call Dr. Arya the same day: water and BP tablets may need pausing.