Bland diets are used when you have stomach ailments such as the stomach flu, gastritis or ulcers. The word “bland” makes the diet sound dull and tasteless, but that is not necessarily the case.

Following is summary of foods you can and cannot eat on a bland diet. I you take a close look, you will see that you will only be cutting out certain foods that can irritate your stomach, causing pain, bloating, gas and nausea if you have one of the above conditions.

Included foods are Cream of Wheat, White Rice, Mashed Potatoes, Cooked Pasta, Noodles or Macaroni, Saltine Crackers, White Bread, and Rolls or Buns. The recommendation is six to eight servings of these a day.

Other things you can eat include Applesauce, Cooked or Canned Fruit without the skins and seeds, Mild Juices such as Apple Juice, Grape Juice and Pear Juice, and Bananas. Cooked or mashed vegetables, any except tomatoes are acceptable too! You can have Green Beans, Carrots, Onion and Celery, Squash or Zucchini, and Winter Squash.

Dairy is allowed too as long as you stay within the limits of such things as cottage cheese, custard, ice cream, milk and yogurt. Meat is allowed as long as you stay away from such things as turkey, chicken and fish without a lot of spices.

A bland diet mainly cuts out foods that cause acid, like citrus fruits, tomatoes, raw vegetables, vegetable juice, citrus juices and heavy spices.