Forgo food. Letting your digestive track to
rest is the most important part for getting over gastroenteritis faster. When you keep putting food into a
gastrointestinal track that is actively vomiting and having diarrhea, the digestive track lining is being stressed over and over again –
prolonging the illness.
Sip
small amounts of clear liquids or suck on ice chips, if able. The key here is ‘small amounts’. Large amounts of water will irritate the
lining of the stomach.
Reintroduce foods slowly – after the vomiting has stopped. Start with bland, easy-to-digest foods from the BRAT diet, an acronym for: broth and bananas, rice, apples, and toast. Avoid all dairy products, caffeine and alcohol until full recovery is attained.
Rest. Staying down isn’t always easy when your stomach has you in and out of the bathroom with vomiting and diarrhea. But rest is important because it decreased the energy demands on your body, allowing your body to use its full resources to fight off the virus and heal the gastrointestinal track.