digestion after stomach virus

Question
Hi Melissa,

You've been kind enough to have given me good answers in the past, so I'm back.  This question is about the digestibility of foods.  The BRAT diet is often recommended after a stomach virus.  Eating bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast are recommended presumably because these are bland foods.  

However, my diet is free of additives and comprised of whole foods.  After being sick, I ate when I became hungry, eating meat as well as fruit.  My digestion felt fine.

Are carbs supposed to be more easily digested than fat or protein?  Is the issue additives and spices?

Any comment would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Alan

Answer
Alan,
Digestibility depends on a lot of things, including the structure of the food (angel hair pasta is easier to digest than linguine) and the complexity of it (glucose is easier than complex carbs). Spices can be a little irritating to the digestive tract, as can some types of additives, especially sugar substitutes called "sugar alcohols". For people having a lot of trouble digesting food, an "elemental" diet is usually prescribed. Elemental diets come in powders or shakes, and they are nutritionally complete yet every nutrient is in the simplest possible form. You can buy them without a prescription, but the taste is nasty and they're very expensive.

Generally, though, after a standard stomach virus, there's absolutely no reason to eat any differently than you did before... unless, of course, you made yourself sick by drinking unpasteurized juice or eating raw eggs. In that case, pay attention to food safety. :)
Feel better soon!
Melissa

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