Despite having just recently fasted for Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, I really don't have anything inspirational, eye-opening, or remotely monumental to share with you. What can I say? Sometimes, even the holiest of days doesn't provide fodder for a blog.
However, today something struck me as being worthy of a post. Mind you, this does not follow suit with my usual content, but I think everyone can benefit from this one. If you haven't already heard of this diet, then I encourage you to read on. If you know about this diet and have used it, then I implore you to comment below about your experiences so I know if it's still worth touting.
I now present to you, the BRATT Diet!
For some unidentifiable but thoroughly aggravating reason, I was struck this afternoon with a rather poignant stomach ache. I knew it was nothing serious and was fairly certain it was the result of something I ate, but it put me in the fetal position and made me considerably whiny. As Tomm fixed himself a sandwich for dinner, I realized that I probably should try to eat something, and turned my sights directly to the BRATT diet:
Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Tea, Toast.
The diet consists of low-fiber, low-fat foods that are very gentle on the system. While they do not provide the nutritional substance required on a daily basis, they are perfect options for a day or two while suffering from an upset stomach or diarrhea.
I first learned of this from my cousin when I was in college, and I was a little skeptical at first. I had told her about how for a few days it seemed that everything I ate was disagreeing with me. It was mostly just annoying and uncomfortable, but I wanted so badly to digest something, fully and completely, in a normal fashion. Imagine my relief, then, when I made myself some plain ol' toast accompanied with tea (unsweetened, no milk) and found that over the course of the next couple hours I was completely fine! No pain, no grumbling, angry stomach, no intestines yelling at me - such bliss! After a day or two of nothing but BRATT food, I was feeling significantly better and was able to resume my normal eating habits.
When I was in Israel, there was a period of a couple weeks where I regularly had intestinal upset. (I determined later it was probably because of an aversion to the regional tap water, and once I switched to bottled water I was pretty much fine.) I ended up eating a lot of toast and drinking a lot of tea in that time just to keep myself hydrated and somewhat sated. It was during this particular bout - specifically during a 12 km hike - that I discovered something interesting about the diet, or at least about myself: If I think I'm feeling better and want to "test" it with "real food," DON'T. No matter how benign the food might seem, no matter how convinced I am of its laudable dietary qualifications, multiple degrees, honors, or awards, it's not worth it. It only ends in misery, forcing me to crawl back to my rice and applesauce only to hear them chide "I told you so."
Thankfully I don't regularly suffer from stomach problems, but in the last few years I've been satisfied with the results whenever I've had the unpleasant opportunity to resort to the BRATT diet. I don't know that I can say with any amount of certainty that this diet actually helps get rid of a bug, but I usually feel a bit better after nibbling on toast or sipping some tea. I often find that having something in the stomach is better than nothing at all, even when your stomach is as cantankerous and petulant as a hormonal teenaged girl with PMS and a pimple on picture day in 8th grade. At the very least, it feels like progress to be able to swallow something and not regret it 15 minutes later.
I should reiterate that this diet is not recommended for long-term use, at least not on its own. One resource recommends it for a maximum of three days (don't worry, it's safe to open the PDF in that link), but more than that and you will deny your body the vital proteins, fats, fiber, and nutrients it needs.
So what do you think? Have you tried this? If you're like me and even the most simple tummyache is mildly debilitating, I highly recommend this course of action. I'd be happy to hear your thoughts in the Comments section, if only so I can confirm my suspicions that I am the only one in the world so madly in love with this sick-people diet.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have some applesauce to eat.
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