What has spread like a virus, by word of mouth, is both a diarrhea and vomiting remedy that is most commonly known as the Brat Diet. Men, women, children, toddlers, infants and strange as it may sound even dogs can benefit from the readily available food ingredients that make it up.
For literally centuries, people have been turning to common food to cure or stop nausea, the stomach flu, severe or chronic vomiting, to help combat dehydration (that can be a secondary symptom sparked by all of the above), and to stop diarrhea. As of late, the fancier terminology includes IBS, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome that often has sufferers resorting to harsher and powerfully potent (not natural to your body) diarrhea medicine or anti-nausea drugs and pills. Many often use Imodium safely, because recommended by so many doctors, but few realize that simple foods can often fix one’s diarrhea – - although naturally, may take a bit longer.
On the surface, that might seem like the best solution, often pushed by a doctor, but a harsh one in comparison to simply eating the right foods and allowing your body to more slowly combat your illness or virus, and recover more comfortably.
The BRAT diet, which actually is acronym, consists of only four major foods. Each letter in its name refers to a particular food, with little variation. Each food component of the Brat diet should be interpreted and defined by its most basic terms to remain, most effective as a diarrhea remedy and slowly and safely (and naturally for the matter) ease frequent vomiting caused from illness, having a virus or being stricken with something more serious.
Constipation often is a problem that mistakenly men and women hope the Brat diet will remedy, and while some foods within it may help ease bowels, in actuality it is not the most efficient solution.
The Brat diet consists of, in order – each food representing a letter in the diet’s name: bananas, rice, apples and toast. And while that formula is simple enough to stop or remedy even baby diarrhea, often people relax the ingredients and self-diagnose with their own alternatives. Such as substituting pasta for the toast, or simple bread for the toast – - which is not the same it all when your body begins to break down such foods for digestion.
Vomiting, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, being sick to your stomach, nauseous or dehydrated all states of being that require delicacy, and altering a proven remedy known to work and get results is not the time to begin experimenting with substitutions.
Although not glamorous, it is an effective diarrhea treatment and it works, which is the entire point of the Brat diet. The banana, rice (cooked), apples (raw, not apple sauce, nor cooked) and the toast (not just a slice of bread) all have specifically been found to be gentle enough on one’s body, even when your dog has the same symptoms (same remedy with human grade food – or mixing said ingredients in with their dog food) to ease digestion, and slow the process.
The real magic is the recovery time that said slowing allows your body to experience, both resting of the muscles that are endured during vomiting and diarrhea, and provide much needed and often desired nutrients to fuel your body with the energy it has so quickly depleted. The Brat diet is a staple remedy you should remember, that you’ll reference many times throughout your life, taking care of yourself or that of others.