Bland, low-fat foods that are easy to digest will settle an upset stomach fastest. Bananas, plain white rice, applesauce, and dry toast are the classic starting point, but you don’t need to limit yourself to just those four. Plenty of other gentle foods can help you feel better while giving your body the nutrients it needs to recover.
The Best Foods to Start With
The BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) has been the go-to recommendation for decades because these foods are soft, starchy, and unlikely to irritate your digestive tract. They’re a safe bet during the first 12 to 24 hours of nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.
But sticking to only BRAT foods for more than a day or two isn’t ideal. They’re low in protein, fat, and several vitamins your body needs to heal. Once your stomach starts to settle, branch out to other easy-to-digest options that offer more nutrition:
- Cooked vegetables: butternut squash, pumpkin, carrots, and sweet potatoes without the skin
- Lean protein: skinless chicken or turkey, fish, and eggs
- Healthy fats in small amounts: avocado is a good early choice because it’s soft and calorie-dense
- Oatmeal: easy on the stomach and rich in soluble fiber, which forms a gel-like material that slows digestion and can help firm up loose stools
If you’ve been vomiting, hold off on solid food for about eight hours after the last episode. Sip water or an electrolyte drink during that window, then ease back in with the mildest foods first.
Broth, Ginger, and Peppermint
Bone broth is one of the most useful things you can sip when solid food still feels like too much. It’s rich in glutamine, an amino acid that helps reduce gut inflammation and strengthen the intestinal lining. It also delivers electrolytes like sodium, potassium, and magnesium, which you lose quickly through vomiting or diarrhea. Even plain chicken broth works well if you don’t have bone broth on hand.
Ginger is one of the most studied natural remedies for nausea. Clinical trials have used doses ranging from 250 mg to 1 gram per day, split across three or four servings, with no added benefit from going above 1 gram. You don’t need capsules to get this effect. Fresh ginger steeped in hot water as tea, or even ginger chews, can calm nausea within 20 to 30 minutes. The active compounds in ginger work partly by blocking certain serotonin receptors in the gut that trigger the urge to vomit.
Peppermint can also help, but with one important caveat. It relaxes the smooth muscle of the digestive tract by blocking calcium channels in the gut wall, which eases cramping and spasms lower in the intestines. However, that same relaxing effect loosens the valve between your stomach and esophagus, which can worsen acid reflux. If your upset stomach involves heartburn or acid creeping up your throat, skip peppermint. If it’s more of a lower-belly cramping situation, peppermint tea or enteric-coated peppermint capsules (which dissolve in the intestines rather than the stomach) can provide real relief.
Foods That Make an Upset Stomach Worse
Fat naturally slows how quickly your stomach empties its contents into the small intestine. When your stomach is already struggling, a high-fat meal sits there longer, increasing feelings of nausea, bloating, and discomfort. Fried foods, greasy takeout, full-fat dairy, and heavy sauces are the biggest offenders.
Dairy deserves special attention. A stomach virus can temporarily damage the lining of your small intestine, reducing your ability to digest lactose (the sugar in milk). This temporary lactose intolerance typically lasts three to four weeks after the infection clears. During that window, even a glass of milk can cause bloating, cramping, gas, and watery diarrhea as the undigested lactose ferments in your colon. Yogurt with live cultures is usually tolerated better than milk because the bacteria have already broken down some of the lactose, but if dairy makes things worse, avoid it until your gut lining heals.
Other foods to skip while your stomach is recovering:
- Spicy foods: they can irritate an already inflamed stomach lining
- Raw vegetables and salads: harder to break down than cooked versions
- Caffeine and alcohol: both increase stomach acid and can worsen dehydration
- Carbonated drinks: the gas can add to bloating and discomfort
- High-fiber raw fruits: too much insoluble fiber speeds up transit and can aggravate diarrhea
Soluble Fiber for Diarrhea
Not all fiber is the same when your stomach is off. Soluble fiber dissolves in water and absorbs excess liquid in your gut, adding bulk to loose, watery stools. Insoluble fiber does the opposite, speeding things along in ways you don’t want right now.
Good sources of soluble fiber that are also gentle on the stomach include oats, bananas, applesauce, cooked carrots, and avocado. Barley and psyllium husk are also high in soluble fiber, though they’re better introduced once the worst has passed. Start with small portions. Even helpful foods can backfire if you eat too much too quickly while your digestive system is recovering.
Probiotics During and After Illness
Probiotics can meaningfully shorten a bout of diarrhea. A large meta-analysis in The Lancet Infectious Diseases found that probiotics reduced the risk of acute diarrhea by 34% overall, with an even stronger effect in children (57% risk reduction). They also cut antibiotic-associated diarrhea by 52%. The benefit held across multiple strains, so you don’t necessarily need to hunt for one specific product.
Probiotic-rich foods like plain yogurt (if you’re tolerating dairy), kefir, miso soup, and fermented vegetables such as sauerkraut can help repopulate your gut with beneficial bacteria. If you prefer a supplement, look for one containing common well-studied strains. Starting probiotics early in the illness, rather than waiting until you feel better, is when they appear to have the most impact.
A Practical Recovery Timeline
The first several hours after vomiting are for liquids only. Small, frequent sips of water, broth, or an oral rehydration solution work best. Gulping a full glass at once is more likely to come back up. Ginger tea can do double duty here, providing both hydration and nausea relief.
After about eight hours without vomiting, try a small portion of something from the BRAT list or a few bites of plain crackers. If that stays down, gradually increase the amount and variety over the next 24 to 48 hours, adding cooked vegetables, lean protein, and easy fats like avocado. Most people can return to their normal diet within two to three days, though it’s smart to keep portions smaller than usual and continue avoiding fried, spicy, and high-fat foods until everything feels consistently normal. If dairy causes problems after a stomach bug, give it three to four weeks before trying again.