14/10/2025
Dogs do no not digest rice very well. White rice in particular has a high glycemic index, meaning it will cause a rapid spike in blood glucose levels. White rice is too starchy to be part of any dogs diet, especially when suffering from GI tract inflammation.
When your dog is unwell or suffering from a stomach upset whether it's in the form of vomiting, diarrhoea or IBS, it is essential to look at the diet as the first cause of the issue. Diet can also be first point to help cure the problem. The most common causes of vomiting and diarrhoea are from either something your dog has eaten, a virus or a food intolerance.
It's important that your dog gets onto a bland diet to help them recover from their gastrointestinal illness. The most common recommendation for a bland diet for a dog is boiled rice and chicken. Rice is suggested as it's classed as a carbohydrate and therefore a starchy food that is supposed to help bind the stools together, reduces diarrhoea and not irritate the stomach, 𝐁𝐔𝐓..
White rice is probably one of the worst foods to feed your dog! Why? White rice has very little nutritional or hydrating benefit for your dog. It's processed into sugar by the body. It's a refined carbohydrate which means it has been stripped of it's nutrition. It's been calculated that 97% of all white rice is genetically modified food.
Another option that's recommended is using brown rice instead of white as it has more nutritional value and takes longer to digest but a dog's digestive system hasn't been designed to digest rice in any form so the nutrients in brown rice aren't available to their body. If you're dog is unwell, it's digestive system is already compromised so adding a hard to digest food into their diet at this stage is likely to cause more irritation and inflammation.
Your dog requires a clean, high quality diet that helps naturally replace lost fluids, electrolytes, nutrients, to help them quickly recover.
