Reviewed by Dr. Prabhat Arya, MD (Internal Medicine) on 29 September 2026
Diet chart for typhoid
Typhoid fever burns up the body’s strength. Medicine kills the germ; food rebuilds you. Eat soft, well-cooked food with enough calories and protein, even when you do not feel hungry.
- Eat small, soft meals every 2 to 3 hours. Fever raises the body’s need for food; do not let the weight fall.
- Drink plenty: 10 to 12 glasses a day of boiled or RO water, ORS, dal water, coconut water, lassi or juice made at home.
- Finish the full course of antibiotics, even when the fever goes. Stopping early brings typhoid back.
Eat more
- Soft grains: khichdi, rice, dalia, suji upma, poha, idli, soft roti
- Protein at every meal: moong dal, paneer, curd, milk, eggs, fish, chicken
- Soft cooked vegetables: lauki, tori, pumpkin, carrot, potato
- Fruits: banana, papaya, chikoo, stewed apple, peeled at home
- Energy: a teaspoon of ghee on khichdi or dal, milk with a little sugar, kheer
- Fluids: boiled water, ORS, coconut water, dal water, lassi, home-made juice
Eat less, till you recover
- Raw salad and sprouts
- Whole dals: rajma, chole, lobia
- High-fibre food: bran, whole-grain atta with chokar
- Spicy food and heavy masala
- Tea and coffee: one or two cups; they do not replace water
- Big, heavy meals: eat small portions, more often
Avoid
- Street food, pani-puri, chaat, cut fruit and juice from outside
- Unboiled water and ice from outside
- Fried and very oily food: samosa, pakora, puri, bhature
- Raw or half-cooked eggs, meat and fish
- Alcohol
- Stale food or food kept out for hours
A sample day
Vegetarian first; the swap is for those who eat eggs, fish or chicken.
- On waking
- A glass of boiled water. Milk or light tea with a biscuit or toast
- Breakfast
- Suji upma, dalia with milk or two idlis, with a katori of curdSwap: Two eggs, boiled or scrambled, with toast
- Mid-morning
- A banana or papaya, and coconut water
- Lunch
- Moong dal khichdi with a teaspoon of ghee, soft lauki sabzi, curdSwap: Soft chicken or fish stew with rice
- Evening
- A glass of milk or lassi, with a bowl of kheer or paneerSwap: A boiled egg
- Dinner, by 8 pm
- Soft rotis or rice with dal and soft sabzi, or khichdiSwap: Soft stewed fish or chicken with rice
- Bedtime
- A glass of warm milk, if it suits you
Common myths
- Do not eat during fever.
- The body needs more food in fever, not less. Eat small, soft meals.
- Only khichdi for weeks.
- Khichdi is good, but add curd, milk, eggs, paneer and fruit for strength.
- Curd, milk and fruit are "cold" and make typhoid worse.
- They are safe and give strength. Only clean, home food matters.
- Stop the antibiotic once the fever goes.
- Finish the full course, or typhoid can come back.
Dr. Arya’s note for you
Go to a hospital at once if there is severe belly pain or swelling, black stool or blood in the stool, vomiting that does not stop, or confusion or drowsiness. Tell Dr. Arya if fever lasts beyond 5 days of antibiotics.
This is general advice for adults; children need separate advice. With diabetes, skip the sugar, kheer and juice here and check your sugar more often. With kidney disease or heart failure, that chart's water limit comes first, not 10 to 12 glasses; ask Dr. Arya.