Clear Liquid Diet

Clear Liquid Diet

*Special Note*

Although a clear liquid diet can prevent dehydration, these instructions aren’t meant to reverse moderate or severe cases. For treatment of dehydration, click here for [Dehydration and Oral Rehydrating Solutions.]

Instructions For A Clear Liquid Diet

"Clear liquids" are any transparent drinkable liquid. Like glass, it might have color, but you should still be able to see through it. Usually they contain mostly sugar and water (except for broths and bullion, which are salty). A strict clear liquid diet excludes all solids (even noodles in soup), milk products, and citrus (orange, grapefruit) juices. See the list below for a variety of clear liquid recommendations. They are only appropriate for adults and children over 3 years.

These must be diluted by one-half with ice or water first.

Clear snack drinks like Hi-C, Kool-Aid, and most juice boxes

Jell-O

Popsicles

Bullion or clear broth (skimmed of fat)

Cranberry, grape and apple juices

Some types of soda pop; non-caffeinated, no artificial sweeteners, and most carbonation (fizz) should be gone

Why Are Clear Liquids Recommended For Intestinal Illness?

A clear liquid diet is important in some cases of diarrhea and vomiting for several reasons:

Many infections damage your intestinal cells which absorb food, so you won’t absorb solids, proteins, or fats very well. Eating these foods can worsen or prolong your vomiting and diarrhea. But sugar and water (the main components of a clear liquid diet) are still absorbed well in most intestinal illnesses.

The calories and water are needed. Taking nothing by mouth at all to stop vomiting or diarrhea is a mistake. Dehydration and lack of carbohydrates (in this case, sugar) slow your intestine’s recovery. Plain water is better for you than nothing, but sugared liquids are preferred because they provide food energy.

Sugared clear liquids and syrups have a soothing effect in vomiting for reasons we don’t completely understand. Some effective anti-vomiting medicines (such as Emetrol) are based on this effect.

Clear Liquid Advice For Diarrhea

For severe diarrhea you should drink as much clear liquid as possible, including small amounts of the salted ones like bullion; 3-4 quarts per day for an adult is not too much. The goals are to prevent dehydration, allow the intestines to recover, and provide food energy for healing and other basic functions.

Clear Liquid Advice For Vomiting

With vomiting, you have to be more careful. Even clear liquids can be thrown back up in bad cases. Follow these slow steps, and you’ll usually have good success.

See the treatment section of [Nausea and Vomiting] first for techniques and OTC medicine to stop vomiting.

Wait until you haven’t vomited, or had "dry heaves" for at least one hour.

Start a clear liquid diet (see above list) at only 1 tsp. every three minutes (about 1/8 cup in 15 minutes). Wait for 15 minutes, then repeat the cycle once.

If you don’t vomit in the first hour, you may progress to 1 cup (8 oz.) per hour in frequent small sips. If there isn’t severe diarrhea or dehydration already, 8 oz. per hour should be fine. If you vomit at any time during this process, you must start at the beginning again.

Resuming Your Normal Diet

If diarrhea and vomiting are under good control for 24 hours, you can start eating small amounts of starchy foods (crackers, bread, pasta). Don’t use butter, oil, or spicy toppings, though. If that goes well for 24 hours, you can resume a nearly normal diet, except:

Avoid dairy products for one week. Intestinal lactose digesting enzymes may take a long time to come back, causing a temporary "lactose intolerance" (gas, cramping and further diarrhea after eating dairy products).

No spicy, fatty, or deep-fried foods for one week. You intestines may still be irritated by these in the recovery phase.

If diarrhea or vomiting persists or returns despite the above suggestions, see your doctor. Also click here for the When To See Your Doctor sections of Diarrhea, Vomiting, and Dehydration.

For infants and children under 2, try the BRAT diet: bananas, rice cereal, apple cause and juice, and toast. Try this for a couple of days longer, since children this age can take longer to recover from intestinal illnesses.

Special note for treatment of infants. You needn’t withhold breast milk or formula from an infant for long. Studies show diarrhea and vomiting in infants are no worse when they begin nursing or formula feeding after just 12 hours of clear liquids than if you wait 24 hours or more. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests re-introducing formula slowly, but nursing should be fine. For the first 12 hours, you should also use a commercial oral re-hydrating solution (ORS - click here for Dehydration and Oral Rehydrating Solutions) in infants rather than the clear liquids listed above. And remember, children under six months with vomiting or diarrhea should be seen by a doctor.

More than clear liquid diet on our Self Care Home Page