Medical expert of the article
New publications
Diet for intestinal infection
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
A diet for intestinal infections, when vomiting and diarrhea cause severe dehydration of the body and loss of vital substances, is aimed at restoring the water-salt balance and returning the gastrointestinal tract to its ability to perform its functions normally.
When the body is affected by dysentery bacillus, salmonella, rotavirus or enterovirus infection, treatment of intestinal infection with diet is absolutely necessary, and, in fact, it is the most important part of symptomatic therapy of intestinal pathologies.
Treatment of intestinal infection with diet
Regardless of the specific type of bacteria or viruses that caused the disease, treatment of intestinal infection with diet in adults should begin with a temporary suspension of any food intake. The main thing during the acute period is to prevent dehydration, which, upon reaching a certain level (20% of the physiological volume of fluid in the body), poses a mortal threat.
Therefore, in the event of acute intestinal intoxication, it is necessary to take so-called rehydration solutions or rehydrant drugs orally: Ringer-Locke solution, Regidron, Hydrovit, Glucosolan, Gastrolit, Trigidron (available in sachets, the contents of which are soluble in water). These plasma-substituting, detoxifying saline solutions are recommended for drinking with minor diarrhea - 50 ml per kilogram of body weight, with moderate severity of the condition - 80 ml per kilogram. The dosage for children is indicated in the instructions for the drugs, and the child should be given water depending on his age and condition.
According to the optimal composition of the anti-dehydration solution established by the World Health Organization, one liter should contain 3.5 g of sodium chloride; 1.5 g of potassium chloride; 3 g of sodium citrate and 20 g of glucose.
Most doctors believe that the diet for acute intestinal infection, as well as the diet for viral intestinal infection - at the first stage of the disease - consists of drinking sweetened black tea (1-1.2 liters per day). At the same time, the total volume of liquid drunk during the day should be at least 2-2.5 liters. Some gastroenterologists recommend that adults drink a decoction of dried rose hips or blueberries, an infusion of fresh apple peel, strained rice broth.
Diet for intestinal infection in adults
What diet for intestinal infection is prescribed by doctors? This is diet No. 4, based on the use of products that do not irritate the esophagus, stomach and intestines either chemically, mechanically or thermally. Therefore, the food should be of a semi-liquid consistency, medium temperature, steamed or boiled, and also thoroughly chopped before consumption. The diet is 5-6 times a day.
The caloric content of such a diet for intestinal infection in adults is approximately 1980 kcal; sugar is allowed no more than 40 g, and salt - no more than 10 g per day; the content of fats and carbohydrates is reduced to 70 g and 250 g, respectively, and the amount of proteins is at the level of 100 g per day.
After the patient's health improves, they are transferred to diet No. 4B, which is significantly higher in daily calories (about 3,000 kcal) and carbohydrate content (up to 400 g); fats, proteins, sugar and table salt - as in diet No. 4. Diet No. 4B already allows dishes to be stewed, baked in the oven and lightly fried. And the number of meals is reduced to four times a day. At the same time, both diets recommend and limit the same products.
[ 5 ], [ 6 ], [ 7 ], [ 8 ], [ 9 ]
Diet for children with intestinal infection
The diet for children with intestinal infections is based on the same principles as the diet for adults, but has an “adjustment” for the child’s age.
Treatment of intestinal infection with diet in children involves the need to limit the consumption of carbohydrate foods, primarily milk sugar (lactose), which is contained in milk and milk-based products. The fact is that the main stage of digestion of carbohydrates, including lactose, occurs not in the stomach (where carbohydrates are only partially hydrolyzed), but in the small intestine. And in the presence of an intestinal bacterial infection, milk sugar begins to ferment vigorously, which causes excessive gas formation and, as a result, bloating and colic.
For this reason, for children in their first year of life who are bottle-fed, it is necessary to replace regular milk formulas with low-lactose or lactose-free formulas during illness.
For infants whose mothers breastfeed, the volume of sucked milk is not recommended to be reduced by more than 40% (for several days), since it contains protective antibodies. But the number of feedings should be increased. However, the main regulator of this process is the baby's appetite and his general condition.
In addition, despite the fact that the digestive system of children of this age is in the process of development and improvement, initially, among the acids of their bile, taurocholic acid predominates, which has antiseptic properties and helps fight pathogenic intestinal bacteria and viruses.
For older children, the diet for acute intestinal infection, as well as the diet for viral intestinal infection - regarding the prohibition and permission of certain products - is practically no different from the nutritional rules that adults should follow.
[ 10 ], [ 11 ], [ 12 ], [ 13 ]
Diet menu for intestinal infection
An approximate diet menu for intestinal infection may consist of semolina or mashed rice semi-liquid porridge, cooked in water, and sweet tea and white bread rusks. For the second breakfast, you can offer jelly with the same rusks.
Lunch may consist of lean beef broth with a crouton for the first course and meat soufflé for the second. Finish the meal with a glass of rosehip infusion. Blackcurrant jelly (or jelly) is suitable for an afternoon snack.
For dinner, you can eat mashed oatmeal porridge and a steamed chicken cutlet, and also drink a cup of weak tea or apple compote.
Diet recipes for intestinal infections
Many recipes for a diet for intestinal infections, such as mashed porridges, do not require description. But we will tell you how to steam chicken soufflé.
You will need a chicken breast, which needs to be boiled (whole or cut into several pieces). Then the boiled chicken is minced through a meat grinder or with a blender.
Next, the minced meat is combined with a raw egg yolk, egg whites beaten into a foam and 3-4 spoons of chicken broth, in which you need to stir a couple of teaspoons of wheat flour and add salt. The mass is thoroughly mixed until smooth, placed in a form greased with refined vegetable oil and steamed.
Instead of flour, you can put the same amount of boiled and ground rice. Then you should add a small piece of butter to the mixture.
A diet for intestinal infections requires strict adherence, then it will be much easier for the body of both an adult and a child to cope with the disease.
What can you eat if you have an intestinal infection?
You can eat white bread dried to the state of crackers; slimy soups on low-fat meat broth; strained porridge (not on milk); steamed dishes from minced meat or poultry; eggs (two pieces a day - soft-boiled or as a steamed omelet); berry and fruit kissels; strained cottage cheese with a low percentage of fat; tea and black coffee. Butter can be added to dishes, but very little (5-7 g).
What should you not eat if you have an intestinal infection?
The list of what you can't eat with an intestinal infection is much longer. Thus, a diet for an intestinal infection absolutely does not allow the consumption of bread and baked goods; pearl barley, corn, barley and millet porridge; milk and dairy products (except cottage cheese).
The diet should also not include: fatty meat, poultry and fish; sausages and smoked meat products; salted and smoked fish; fresh vegetables (white cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, garlic) and spicy herbs; fresh fruits and berries; legumes and mushrooms.
Canned food, sauces, seasonings (mustard, horseradish, etc.), hot cheese, eggs (fried and hard-boiled), chocolate, confectionery, fruit juices, carbonated drinks, alcohol should not be consumed under any circumstances - until toxins are removed from the body and normal functioning of the gastrointestinal tract is established.