Easy-to-Digest Foods: 35 Gentle Foods and What to Limit

The easiest foods to digest are warm, soft, cooked foods that are low in fat, rough fiber and fermentable sugars: bone broth and soups, eggs, fish and poultry, white rice, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, cooked carrots and squash, ripe bananas, applesauce and cultured foods like goat-milk kefir. They're gentle because cooking, mashing and fermenting have already done part of the work of digestion, which leaves your gut less to do and gives it a chance to rest and repair.1236

Think of bloating, heaviness and an upset stomach as signals. They usually point upstream, to stress, processed and fried food, big late meals, a stomach bug or a digestive fire that's running low, and they tell you the gut is overloaded or inflamed.124 Easy-to-digest foods meet that problem where it starts. They take weight off the gut, hand its lining the building blocks it uses to rebuild, and let a body designed to heal do its job before you widen your diet again.

This is how I approach gut healing. In my Healing Leaky Gut Protocol, bone broth ranks first among the ten foods that heal the gut, pasture-raised eggs rank as the most digestible complete protein, and the rule over all of them comes from Chinese medicine: a healing gut prefers warm, cooked, soft food.1 It's also how people have eaten through illness for generations, with chicken soup, rice porridge and ginger tea.4 Below are 35 foods to start with, grouped by type, along with the hard-to-digest foods to limit and how to eat after a stomach bug, a cold or a big Thanksgiving dinner.

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What makes a food easy to digest?

Digestion is work. Your stomach churns food with acid and enzymes and lets it into the small intestine a little at a time, where most nutrients are absorbed, and bacteria in the colon ferment whatever gets past. Five things decide how hard that work is.

Heat. Cooking unfolds proteins so your enzymes can reach them, and it softens the tough walls of vegetables. Cooked egg protein is far easier to absorb than raw, as the benefits list below shows.6

Texture. Soft, mashed and pureed food leaves less for your stomach to grind, which is why soups, purees and well-cooked vegetables tend to sit lighter than raw ones.

Fat. Fat slows the stomach. In a study of 7 healthy young men who each drank 300 milliliters of beef consommé with and without 60 grams of added margarine, the fat delayed the start of emptying to a median 32 minutes, and once emptying began, half of the fatty broth took 88 minutes to leave against 15 minutes for the plain broth.7 A spoonful of ghee or olive oil is fine, while a plate of fried food is a much heavier job.

Fiber type. Soluble fiber, the kind in oats, bananas and cooked squash, soaks up water and turns soft, while rough, insoluble fiber in bran, raw kale and seeds adds bulk your gut has to move. White rice carries 0.6 grams of fiber per cooked cup and brown rice 3.2 grams, so white rice is the gentler starch while your gut is upset, and brown rice is a good everyday grain once it's settled.89 Our guide to soluble vs. insoluble fiber explains the difference.

Fermentable sugars. Some carbohydrates, called FODMAPs, feed the gas-making bacteria in your gut, which is why onion, garlic, beans, wheat, apples and pears can bloat a sensitive gut.3 Lower-FODMAP foods such as rice, potatoes, carrots, zucchini, spinach and green beans give those bacteria less to ferment.3

This way of eating is often called a bland diet, and the BRAT diet and the low-residue diet are two familiar versions of it. The list below gives you far more to choose from, with protein, broth and cultured foods built in.

How easy-to-digest foods help your gut heal

On my show, I've explained the Chinese medicine view of digestion: part of your digestive system works like a fire. It needs heat and energy to break down food, and cooked food is much easier for it to break down and digest.4 Raw, cold and heavy food makes that fire work harder, which is why my protocols lean on soups, stews, cooked vegetables and rice porridge while the gut heals.14

Here's what happens in your gut when you eat this way, step by step:

Benefits of easy-to-digest foods

Each of these benefits comes back to one thing: a gut that gets a lighter load has room to calm down and repair. Here's what that looks like, from calmer IBS symptoms to the bone broth healers have long given a weak stomach:

What foods are easy to digest? 35 to start with

Cook them well, keep portions moderate and let your own gut guide you. The amounts come from my protocols wherever they give one.123

Soothing broths and soups

• 1. Bone broth: the number one food for a healing gut and the first of the ten foods that heal in my Healing Leaky Gut Protocol, for its glycine, glutamine and collagen.1 Drink 8 to 16 ounces a day while your gut heals.1 Sip it warm between meals, or use it as the base for soups, rice and stews; our chicken bone broth recipe and bone broth recipes show you how.
• 2. Chicken vegetable soup: on my show, I've called soups the basis of your diet while you repair your gut, starting with a classic chicken vegetable soup made with organic chicken, bone broth, celery, carrots and a little grated ginger, which you could eat almost every meal.4 My version is in the recipes below, and our chicken vegetable soup is another good one.
• 3. Rice congee: congee is rice simmered in plenty of broth or water until it breaks down into a soft porridge, a healing food in Chinese medicine.4 Some of the people I've treated with leaky gut respond incredibly well to rice and potatoes, and for some, rice congee, cooked overnight until it's mush, is the number one food they heal from.4 Others don't do well with them at all, so let your own gut guide you.4
• 4. Gelatin and collagen: gelatin is cooked collagen, the protein that makes cooled bone broth set like jelly, and collagen sits in the Repair step of my Healing Leaky Gut Protocol at 10 to 20 grams a day, stirred into coffee, smoothies or soups.1 Choose beef gelatin or a bovine or fish collagen.

Easy-to-digest proteins

On my show, I've called cooked meat very easy to digest, and my protocols put 4 to 6 ounces of protein at every meal.43

• 5. Eggs: pasture-raised and cooked, whether soft-scrambled, poached or soft-boiled. Cooked egg protein is far better absorbed than raw (see the benefits above), and my SIBO Protocol uses 2 to 3 eggs a day as a complete protein that bacteria can't ferment.63
• 6. Wild salmon: second among the foods that heal in my leaky gut protocol, for omega-3s that help resolve inflammation, at 4 to 6 ounces two or three times a week.13 Bake, poach or gently pan-sear wild salmon.
• 7. White fish: cod, halibut and other mild white fish with fins and scales are lean, flaky and quick to cook. My reflux protocol calls for 4 to 5 ounces, baked, grilled or poached.2
• 8. Chicken: poached, roasted or simmered in soup, thighs or breast.12 Lean poultry gives you protein without the fat that slows emptying, so choose pasture-raised or free-range chicken, baked or poached.2
• 9. Turkey: turkey and vegetable soup in bone broth, turkey-zucchini soup and ground turkey with zucchini and rice all appear in my protocol meal plans.12 Turkey is also the protein already on most holiday tables.
• 10. Slow-cooked grass-fed beef or lamb: braised low and slow until it falls apart, as a stew, short ribs or a slow-cooked lamb shoulder, red meat turns soft and easy to chew, and my leaky gut meal plan uses all three.1 My SIBO Protocol lists grass-fed beef and lamb among the foods to eat freely.3 The WHO's cancer agency classifies processed meat as Group 1, carcinogenic to humans, and red meat as Group 2A, probably carcinogenic.20 As I've said on my show, the studies that link red meat to poor health mostly reflect grain-fed and processed meat, not the fresh, grass-fed red meat I recommend.21 Simmer a beef stew with carrots and turmeric.1

Easy-to-digest vegetables (cooked)

Cook them until they're tender: steamed, roasted, simmered in soup or pureed. Aim for about 2 cups of cooked vegetables a day. Zucchini, carrots, spinach and green beans are low in fermentable sugars, and root vegetables are soothing, easy-to-digest carbs.32

• 11. Carrots: half a cup of boiled carrots carries 2.3 grams of fiber, and cooking turns them sweet and soft.22 Roast carrots with ghee or simmer them in soup.
• 12. Zucchini: mild, soft once cooked and low in fermentable sugars.3 Sauté zucchini in olive oil or add it to turkey soup.
• 13. Green beans: yes, cooked green beans are easy to digest. They're low in fermentable sugars and one of the green vegetables in my reflux protocol.32 Steam green beans until tender.
• 14. Spinach and other cooked leafy greens: cooked greens bring magnesium and folate, and my leaky gut protocol puts it simply: cooked is gentler than raw.1 Wilt spinach, chard or kale into eggs or soup.
• 15. Beets: soft, sweet and soothing, like the other root vegetables.2 Roast beets alongside carrots.2
• 16. Butternut squash and pumpkin: third among my foods that heal, for their soft, gentle prebiotic fiber and beta-carotene.1 A cup of baked butternut squash cubes has 6.6 grams of fiber and 582 milligrams of potassium.23 Puree pumpkin or squash into soup or into the warming smoothie in the recipes below.

Gentle starches

• 17. White rice: a low-fermentation starch most people tolerate well, ½ to 1 cup at a meal.3 With so little fiber, white rice is the gentlest grain while your gut is upset, and basmati or jasmine rice both work well in soup.84
• 18. Sweet potatoes: yes, cooked sweet potatoes are easy to digest. As I've said on my show, sweet potatoes and rice are what people with gut issues tend to do best with.4 A medium baked sweet potato has 3.8 grams of fiber and 542 milligrams of potassium.24
• 19. White potatoes: boiled, baked or mashed, potatoes are filling, gentle carbs, ½ cup at a meal in my SIBO Protocol.3 Mash them with ghee and a splash of bone broth.
• 20. Oatmeal: yes, oatmeal is easy on most stomachs. It's the first food in my reflux protocol, filling and gentle, at about 1 cup.2 My food lists call for organic, slow-cooked oats and put instant oatmeal on the avoid side, and if you're avoiding gluten, choose certified gluten-free oatmeal.161
• 21. Sourdough toast: when you want bread, choose real sourdough. Its long fermentation breaks down much of the gluten, which makes it easier to digest, and it tops my list of breads, with white bread on the avoid side.16 My leaky gut protocol takes all gluten out for at least 30 days, so bring sourdough bread back after that.1

Easy-to-digest fruits

• 22. Ripe bananas: soft and low in acid, one a day in my reflux protocol, which calls them gentle on the esophagus.2 A medium banana has 3.1 grams of fiber and 422 milligrams of potassium.25 In a randomized trial of 34 healthy women, eating a banana twice a day before meals for 60 days lowered bloating compared with a control group, and friendly bifidobacteria rose, though the rise was too small to rule out chance.26 Bananas are an easy snack on their own or sliced into oatmeal.
• 23. Applesauce: cooked, pureed apple is soft and easy on the stomach, and it's one of the cooked fruits I've recommended on my show for healing the gut.4 A cup of unsweetened applesauce has 2.7 grams of fiber.27 Simmer chopped apples with a little water and cinnamon until soft, then mash.
• 24. Baked pears: baked pears and berries close out my list of foods that heal, for soluble fiber and polyphenols that feed beneficial bacteria gently.1 Bake halved pears with cinnamon until soft.
• 25. Cooked berries: warm blueberries or other berries, simmered into a quick sauce or stirred into oatmeal, bring the same gentle fiber.14
• 26. Papaya: ripe papaya is soft and sweet, my reflux protocol names papaya enzymes among its honorable mentions, and it puts papaya and melon on the eat-freely list in its Restore phase.2 Eat it ripe, with a squeeze of lime.
• 27. Melons: like bananas, melon is a low-acid fruit my reflux protocol calls gentle on the esophagus, about 1 cup at a time.2 Cantaloupe and honeydew make a light dessert.
• 28. Avocado: soft, creamy and on the eat-freely list of my reflux protocol in moderation, about half an avocado at a time.2 My leaky gut meal plan serves avocado with a pinch of sea salt as a snack.1

Cultured foods

• 29. Goat or sheep kefir and yogurt: kefir and yogurt are cultured, so their microbes have already broken down much of the lactose (see the lactose benefit above), and they're the dairy I recommend first, from goat or sheep milk, full-fat and plain.1516 Coconut yogurt and coconut kefir are the dairy-free choices, and coconut yogurt is what my leaky gut protocol uses while the gut heals.1
• 30. Cottage cheese: cultured cottage cheese is on my list of the best dairy foods, the lacto-fermented kind.16 It's soft, mild and high in protein, and full-fat, cultured A2 cottage cheese is an option if you tolerate cow's milk.
• 31. Sauerkraut and other fermented vegetables: fourth among my foods that heal, for their live Lactobacillus.1 In a 10-week randomized Stanford trial of 36 healthy adults, the half who built up to about six servings of fermented foods a day, including sauerkraut and kimchi, saw their gut microbes grow more diverse and 19 of 93 inflammatory proteins in their blood fall, while the study's main immune score didn't change.12 Bloating rose a little during the build-up, so start small: I recommend starting with even a teaspoon of sauerkraut or coconut yogurt, backing off if it doesn't agree with you and trying again later.124
• 32. Miso: a traditional fermented soybean paste from Japan. Stir a spoonful of miso into a mug of warm bone broth for an easy sipping soup.

Gentle fats and soothing herbs

• 33. Ghee, olive oil and coconut oil: a little healthy fat makes a meal satisfying without weighing it down. My reflux protocol keeps olive oil to about a tablespoon at a time, and my leaky gut protocol counts coconut oil among its foods that heal, for its lauric acid.21 Cook eggs and vegetables in ghee, and drizzle olive oil over rice and soup.
• 34. Ginger: a warming root that supports motility between meals, and my reflux protocol uses it in small amounts, ½ teaspoon fresh.32 In 24 healthy adults who each took 1.2 grams of ginger in capsules and a placebo an hour before a bowl of soup, while neither they nor the researchers knew which was which, the stomach emptied halfway in 13.1 minutes after ginger against 26.7 minutes after the placebo, though their symptoms were the same.14 Grate fresh ginger into soup or steep it for ginger tea.

• 35. Herbal teas: on my show, I've called herbal teas probably the biggest gut-healing therapy we're missing today.4 For gas, bloating or fullness after a meal, I recommend ginger, chamomile, fennel, peppermint or cardamom tea.5 My leaky gut protocol pairs ginger and slippery elm, 2 cups a day between meals, with chamomile and marshmallow root in the evening to calm the gut and nerves.1 Our guide to herbal tea covers each one.

Foods that are easy on the stomach after illness or a big meal

After a stomach bug

Fluids come first, since vomiting and diarrhea drain water and minerals. Sip an oral rehydration drink a little at a time,28 along with water and warm broth. As soon as you can keep food down, move to gentle foods: a cup of broth, white rice or congee, a ripe banana, applesauce or eggs, then chicken soup with soft vegetables. Use them as a short bridge back to full, nourishing meals over a day or two, as you feel ready. For children, the CDC's guidance pairs rehydration with continued, age-appropriate feeding, because early nutrition helps them recover.28 Our guide on how to stop diarrhea has more natural steps.

During cold and flu season

On my show, I've pointed out that chicken soup was once called Jewish penicillin, and that when someone was sick, people gave them chicken soup and ginger tea, plenty of soups, teas and warm, cooked liquids.4 The cold-season benefit above shows how a hot bowl gets nasal mucus moving. Make a pot at the first sign of a cold, with plenty of broth, carrots, celery and ginger, and keep sipping ginger tea between meals. Our guide to natural cold remedies has more.

After a big holiday meal

Holiday meals ask a lot of your gut: big portions, rich food, sweets and late evenings. I plan for it. On a holiday when I know I'll eat a big lunch and dinner, I just do protein in the morning, about 30 to 40 grams, or I wait until lunch.5

At the table, slow down. As I said on my show, "Let your meal take an hour, not five minutes."5 Build your plate the gentle way: turkey, a little stuffing, a little cranberry, a little sweet potato, and a small side of sauerkraut to support digestion.5 Our Thanksgiving side dishes give you lighter options to fill out the table.

Then get moving. A walk helps the meal along: in 10 healthy men who were each tested after the same 576-calorie meal, a slow walk afterward brought the time for half of it to leave the stomach down to 107 minutes, from 123 minutes with water at rest, while brandy, liqueurs and espresso made no difference, and fullness and bloating scores were the same either way.29 After the meal, before you lie down, go for a 20- to 30-minute walk.5 One Thanksgiving I took my daughter, who was 3 then, to a playground for an hour and a half before the meal, and afterward we all went on a big family walk.5

Proverbs 15:17 says, "Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith."30 A simple meal shared in peace is a good spirit to carry into the holidays. For the days after, leftover turkey makes an easy soup.

Easy-to-digest foods for IBS, SIBO, reflux and leaky gut

IBS and SIBO

A low-FODMAP diet is the best-studied diet for IBS, as the first benefit above shows.13 It's a short-term tool. In my SIBO Protocol, you skip onion, garlic, beans, wheat, apples, pears, dried fruit and sugar alcohols for now, eat three meals four to five hours apart with only water between them, and then bring foods back one at a time, because long-term restriction isn't healthy for the gut.3 Garlic-infused olive oil gives you garlic flavor without the fermentable fibers.3 Our guide to SIBO explains what drives it.

Acid reflux and GERD

With reflux, meal timing and size count alongside each food. My Acid Reflux & GERD Protocol builds the first 30 days on oatmeal, chicken, turkey and fish, wild salmon, green and root vegetables, melon and bananas, ginger in small amounts, rice, avocado and olive oil in moderation, and bone broth.2 It sets aside alcohol, coffee, chocolate, mint, fried and spicy food, citrus, tomato and carbonated drinks for those 30 days, then reintroduces them one at a time.2 Our GERD diet guide walks through it.

Leaky gut

Leaky gut is where this way of eating does its deepest work. My Healing Leaky Gut Protocol moves through six steps, Remove, Replace, Reinoculate, Repair, Rebalance and Reframe, and its 7-day meal plan is built so that every meal is easy to digest.1 Fermented foods come in slowly in the Reinoculate step: start with a tablespoon a day and work up to a quarter cup.1 Our leaky gut diet guide has the full food list.

Cooked vs. raw: why gentle cooking helps

Raw salads and green smoothies have a healthy reputation, and with strong digestion they're good food. While your gut is upset or healing, they ask too much of it. If you have a gut issue, I recommend warm, nourishing cooked food instead: a lot of cooked meat and cooked vegetables, a little rice or sweet potato, and baked fruit like pears and applesauce.4

Gentle cooking helps the vegetables, too. As Dr. Will Cole and I wrote in Heal Your Cells, "Cruciferous vegetables (like broccoli or kale) are easier on the gut and retain more usable nutrients when lightly steamed rather than eaten raw."31 Several foods are more nutritious cooked than raw, and steaming is the simplest way to make cruciferous vegetables gentler. When your digestion feels strong again, bring salads and smoothies back one at a time and notice how your gut responds.13

Hard-to-digest foods to limit

These are the foods that make your gut work hardest. Set them aside while your gut is upset or healing; many of the whole foods among them come back once it's strong, prepared the traditional way.

• Fried, greasy and very spicy food: fat slows the stomach (the broth study above), and my reflux protocol takes fried, fatty and spicy food out for 30 days.72 Bake, roast, poach or steam instead, with ghee, olive oil or coconut oil rather than refined vegetable and seed oils.16
• Ultra-processed food, added sugar and artificial sweeteners: on my show, I've named excess sugar among the foods that overburden the digestive system, and my leaky gut protocol removes refined sugar, artificial sweeteners and processed foods.41 Cook from whole foods; our guide to ultra-processed foods shows what to look for.
• Sugar alcohols: sorbitol and xylitol, common in sugar-free gum and candy, feed fermentation, and my SIBO Protocol limits them.3 Check labels for them.
• Alcohol, coffee and carbonated drinks: with reflux, my protocol takes all three out for 30 days.2 Sip ginger or chamomile tea instead.
• Processed meats: deli meats, hot dogs and sausages come salted, cured and often high in fat, and my leaky gut protocol takes processed foods out.1 Choose fresh meat you cook yourself.
• Big raw salads, raw crucifers and cold smoothies on an upset gut: save them for after your gut heals, and steam your broccoli and kale in the meantime.131
• Grains and beans that haven't been soaked, sprouted or fermented: whole grains and beans are good food when they're properly prepared, and my food lists favor sprouted grains, sourdough, and beans that are soaked or pressure-cooked.16 With SIBO, set beans and wheat aside for now.3
• Conventional milk and soft cheese: lactose is hard for many adults, and my SIBO Protocol limits milk and soft cheese.3 Cultured goat or sheep dairy is the gentler choice; see our guide to the symptoms of lactose intolerance.
• Ice-cold drinks and cold food: in Chinese medicine, cold foods, raw foods and ice drinks overburden the digestive system, as I've explained on my show.4 Choose room-temperature or warm drinks.
• Big, late meals: the how-to section below covers why dinner timing matters.

How to eat for easier digestion

How you eat helps your digestion too. Most of these habits come from my reflux and SIBO protocols:

• Chew every bite well, 20 to 30 chews, because digestion starts in your mouth.2
• Eat sitting down and calm, never on the run.32 Our guide to mindful eating has simple ways to slow down.
• Stop at about 80% full. That's the Chinese medicine habit my reflux protocol teaches: eat slowly, stop at 80% full, finish dinner early and don't lie down after eating.2
• Sip water between meals rather than with them; large amounts of liquid with meals are on my reflux protocol's list to avoid.2
• Space your meals. Three meals four to five hours apart, with only water in between, lets your gut's cleaning wave run, a core habit in my SIBO Protocol.3
• Finish dinner three hours before bed. In a Japanese study comparing 147 people with GERD and 294 without, going to bed less than 3 hours after dinner carried 7.45 times the odds of GERD, compared with waiting 4 hours or more.32
• Walk for 10 minutes after meals, since gentle movement helps the stomach empty.2
• Try digestive enzymes if bloating keeps coming back. My SIBO Protocol uses 1 to 2 digestive enzymes with meals to help break down food before bacteria can ferment it.3

Easy-to-digest meals and recipes

These meals come from my gut-healing approach and my protocol meal plans.124 Each one keeps the food warm, soft and simple. The soup is the one I've described on my show:

In place of a frozen fruit smoothie, I have patients make a warming smoothie: cooked pumpkin, butternut squash or sweet potato blended with water or a little coconut milk, pumpkin pie spice and a scoop of collagen or bone broth protein, about 20 grams, served at room temperature or warm.4

More easy-to-digest meal ideas, most of them straight from my protocol meal plans:

• Breakfast: pasture-raised eggs cooked in ghee with sautéed spinach.1
• Breakfast: oatmeal with banana, or with pear and cinnamon.2
• Lunch: turkey-zucchini soup, or turkey and vegetable soup in bone broth.12
• Lunch: chicken and rice; our crockpot chicken and rice does the work for you.
• Lunch: butternut squash soup with roast chicken.1
• Dinner: pan-seared cod with roasted carrots, or baked cod with roasted sweet potato and zucchini.12
• Dinner: baked wild salmon with rice and steamed carrots.2
• Dinner: beef stew with carrots and turmeric,1 or a slow-cooker turkey stew.
• Dessert: a baked cinnamon pear.1
• Snack: a warm mug of bone broth.1

When digestive symptoms need care

Easy-to-digest foods help an overloaded gut settle, and some symptoms need a doctor's care as well.228

Bone broth and histamine. Some people with histamine intolerance don't do well with bone broth that's simmered for a long time or made with vinegar. Make it in a pressure cooker for an hour or two without vinegar, or use a chicken stock or bone broth protein instead.4

Peppermint tea and reflux. Peppermint soothes the lower gut but relaxes the valve at the top of the stomach, so it often makes reflux worse. With heartburn, choose chamomile tea instead.2

Sourdough and celiac disease. Long fermentation breaks down much of the gluten in sourdough, but it's still a wheat bread. With celiac disease, choose rice, potatoes and certified gluten-free oats.

When food starts to feel risky. If your list of safe foods keeps shrinking, work with a practitioner who can help you widen it.

The bottom line

Easy to digest foods: frequently asked questions

References

1. Axe J. Healing Leaky Gut Protocol: The 30-Day System. DrAxe.com protocol. 2026 (p. 15, "Foods That Heal": the top 10 healing foods, ranked, and the TCM principle "A healing gut prefers warm, cooked, soft foods over raw, cold, or fibrous ones"; the 6R roadmap; Remove step "Eat freely" list with bone broth 8-16 oz daily and "Avoid" list; Reinoculate step, fermented foods 1 tbsp a day up to 1/4 cup; Repair step, collagen peptides 10-20 g daily; 7-day meal plan and daily herbal tea blend).
2. Axe J. Acid Reflux & GERD Protocol: The 30-Day Healing Protocol. DrAxe.com protocol. 2026 (Calm phase: eat slowly, stop at 80% full, eat-freely and avoid lists; Soothe phase: 20-30 chews, large amounts of liquid with meals; Restore phase: walk 10 minutes after meals, papaya and melon; red flags and when to see a doctor; p. 20, "Top 8 soothing remedies," peppermint and the honorable mentions; p. 22, "Top 10 reflux-friendly foods" with daily amounts and the 30-day cut list; 7-day meal plan and daily drinks).
3. Axe J. SIBO Protocol. DrAxe.com protocol. 2026 (Prepare phase: low-fermentation diet, meal spacing, chewing and eating seated, digestive enzymes 1-2 with meals, eat-freely and avoid lists; p. 22, "Top 10 SIBO-friendly foods" with daily amounts and the foods to limit; 7-day meal plan; FAQ, "a short-term tool").
4. Axe J. How to Heal Your Gut in 30 Days. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2025 (solo episode; chicken soup, ginger tea and cooked food at 32:21-33:02; patients and salads at 33:07; rice, potatoes and congee at 42:48; foods that are easy to digest and bone broth at 46:21, histamine and bone broth at 46:28; fermented foods at 47:03; herbal teas at 47:40; chicken vegetable soup at 47:44; sweet potatoes and rice at 48:29; cooked meat at 57:44; the digestive fire at 58:15; the warming smoothie at 58:38; warming foods and what overburdens digestion at 59:56. YouTube upload: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehASjzDVW5Y).
5. Axe J. How to Boost Digestion & Detox After A Big Meal. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2024 (solo episode, published Nov 27, 2024; slow meals at 5:09; the holiday plate with sauerkraut at 5:35; herbal teas at 7:51; protein-only holiday mornings at 8:07; walking after the meal at 8:55; his family's Thanksgiving at 9:10; soups, bone broth and vegetables after the holidays at 11:23. YouTube upload: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLvIwtwrkNA).
6. Evenepoel P, Geypens B, Luypaerts A, Hiele M, Ghoos Y, Rutgeerts P. Digestibility of cooked and raw egg protein in humans as assessed by stable isotope techniques. J Nutr. 1998;128(10):1716-1722. doi:10.1093/jn/128.10.1716 · PMID:9772141
7. Houghton LA, Mangnall YF, Read NW. Effect of incorporating fat into a liquid test meal on the relation between intragastric distribution and gastric emptying in human volunteers. Gut. 1990;31(11):1226-1229. doi:10.1136/gut.31.11.1226 · PMID:2253903
8. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. Rice, white, long-grain, regular, enriched, cooked. FoodData Central, SR Legacy, FDC ID 168878. April 1, 2019.
9. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. Rice, brown, long-grain, cooked. FoodData Central, SR Legacy, FDC ID 169704. April 1, 2019.
10. Olausson EA, Störsrud S, Grundin H, Isaksson M, Attvall S, Simrén M. A small particle size diet reduces upper gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with diabetic gastroparesis: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Gastroenterol. 2014;109(3):375-385. doi:10.1038/ajg.2013.453 · PMID:24419482
11. Halmos EP, Power VA, Shepherd SJ, Gibson PR, Muir JG. A diet low in FODMAPs reduces symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. Gastroenterology. 2014;146(1):67-75.e5. doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2013.09.046 · PMID:24076059
12. Wastyk HC, Fragiadakis GK, Perelman D, Dahan D, Merrill BD, Yu FB, et al. Gut-microbiota-targeted diets modulate human immune status. Cell. 2021;184(16):4137-4153.e14. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2021.06.019 · PMID:34256014
13. Cuffe MS, Staudacher HM, Aziz I, Adame EC, Krieger-Grubel C, Madrid AM, et al. Efficacy of dietary interventions in irritable bowel syndrome: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2025;10(6):520-536. doi:10.1016/S2468-1253(25)00054-8 · PMID:40258374
14. Wu KL, Rayner CK, Chuah SK, Changchien CS, Lu SN, Chiu YC, et al. Effects of ginger on gastric emptying and motility in healthy humans. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2008;20(5):436-440. doi:10.1097/MEG.0b013e3282f4b224 · PMID:18403946
15. Hertzler SR, Clancy SM. Kefir improves lactose digestion and tolerance in adults with lactose maldigestion. J Am Diet Assoc. 2003;103(5):582-587. doi:10.1053/jada.2003.50111 · PMID:12728216
16. Axe J, Rubin J. The Biblio Diet. Hachette Book Group; 2025. ISBN 9781546008439. Food lists: "Grains and starchy carbohydrates" (ebook p. 165: organic or sprouted grains, oats organic and slow cooked, sourdough the best bread, white flour, white bread and instant oatmeal on the avoid side); "Beans and legumes (soaked or pressure-cooked are best)," with tofu on the avoid side; the "Sinister Six" foods to avoid (ultra-processed and hydrogenated vegetable and seed oils); the dairy chapter ("The best dairy products are the lacto-fermented kind," including cottage cheese) and dairy ranking; bread chapter on sourdough's long fermentation.
17. Rabbani GH, Teka T, Zaman B, Majid N, Khatun M, Fuchs GJ. Clinical studies in persistent diarrhea: dietary management with green banana or pectin in Bangladeshi children. Gastroenterology. 2001;121(3):554-560. doi:10.1053/gast.2001.27178 · PMID:11522739
18. Saketkhoo K, Januszkiewicz A, Sackner MA. Effects of drinking hot water, cold water, and chicken soup on nasal mucus velocity and nasal airflow resistance. Chest. 1978;74(4):408-410. doi:10.1378/chest.74.4.408 · PMID:359266
19. Rennard BO, Ertl RF, Gossman GL, Robbins RA, Rennard SI. Chicken soup inhibits neutrophil chemotaxis in vitro. Chest. 2000;118(4):1150-1157. doi:10.1378/chest.118.4.1150 · PMID:11035691
20. Bouvard V, Loomis D, Guyton KZ, Grosse Y, Ghissassi FE, Benbrahim-Tallaa L, et al. Carcinogenicity of consumption of red and processed meat. Lancet Oncol. 2015;16(16):1599-1600. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(15)00444-1 · PMID:26514947
21. Axe J. 10 Biblical Superfoods That Can Add Years to Your Life. The Dr. Josh Axe Show, Episode 393. September 28, 2026 (solo episode; red-meat studies and grain-fed meat at 21:05. YouTube upload: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AnNi1umufc&t=1265s).
22. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. Carrots, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt. FoodData Central, SR Legacy, FDC ID 170394. April 1, 2019.
23. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. Squash, winter, butternut, cooked, baked, without salt. FoodData Central, SR Legacy, FDC ID 169296. April 1, 2019.
24. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. Sweet potato, cooked, baked in skin, flesh, without salt. FoodData Central, SR Legacy, FDC ID 168483. April 1, 2019.
25. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. Bananas, raw. FoodData Central, SR Legacy, FDC ID 173944. April 1, 2019.
26. Mitsou EK, Kougia E, Nomikos T, Yannakoulia M, Mountzouris KC, Kyriacou A. Effect of banana consumption on faecal microbiota: a randomised, controlled trial. Anaerobe. 2011;17(6):384-387. doi:10.1016/j.anaerobe.2011.03.018 · PMID:21524710
27. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. Applesauce, canned, unsweetened, with added ascorbic acid. FoodData Central, SR Legacy, FDC ID 167772. April 1, 2019.
28. King CK, Glass R, Bresee JS, Duggan C. Managing acute gastroenteritis among children: oral rehydration, maintenance, and nutritional therapy. MMWR Recomm Rep. 2003;52(RR-16):1-16. PMID:14627948
29. Franke A, Harder H, Orth AK, Zitzmann S, Singer MV. Postprandial walking but not consumption of alcoholic digestifs or espresso accelerates gastric emptying in healthy volunteers. J Gastrointestin Liver Dis. 2008;17(1):27-31. PMID:18392240
30. The Holy Bible, King James Version. Project Gutenberg eBook #10 (Proverbs 15:17).
31. Axe J, Cole W. Heal Your Cells. Avery; 2026. ISBN 9798217181353 ("Deficient by Design," p. 83: lightly steamed crucifers and gentle cooking).
32. Fujiwara Y, Machida A, Watanabe Y, Shiba M, Tominaga K, Watanabe T, et al. Association between dinner-to-bed time and gastro-esophageal reflux disease. Am J Gastroenterol. 2005;100(12):2633-2636. doi:10.1111/j.1572-0241.2005.00354.x · PMID:16393212

Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CNS

Doctor of Natural Medicine · Founder, DrAxe.com

Dr. Axe is a certified doctor of natural medicine, clinical nutritionist, and multiple New York Times bestselling author. He has spent 20+ years in clinical practice helping people heal at the root cause and founded one of the most-visited natural-health platforms in the world.

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