Most upset stomachs resolve on their own within a few hours, but you can speed things along with a combination of simple home remedies, the right foods, and targeted pressure techniques. The best approach depends on whether your main symptom is nausea, cramping, diarrhea, or general queasiness.
Start With What You Sip
When your stomach is churning, what you drink matters more than what you eat. Small, frequent sips of clear fluids keep you hydrated without overwhelming your digestive system. Room-temperature water is the safest starting point. If plain water feels hard to keep down, try sucking on ice chips or sipping diluted broth.
Ginger is one of the most studied natural remedies for nausea. A large clinical trial of 644 patients found that 0.5 to 1.0 grams of ginger per day significantly reduced nausea. That’s roughly a half-inch piece of fresh ginger steeped in hot water, or a couple of cups of strong ginger tea. Higher doses didn’t work better, so there’s no need to overdo it.
Chamomile tea is another solid option, especially if your stomach pain feels inflammatory rather than wave-like nausea. Chamomile contains compounds with anti-inflammatory properties that may reduce irritation in the stomach lining and esophagus. Brew it weak at first and sip slowly.
Avoid coffee, alcohol, acidic juices like orange juice, and carbonated drinks until your stomach has fully settled. These can all increase acid production or irritate an already sensitive gut.
What to Eat (and When)
You’ve probably heard of the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. It’s fine for the first day or two, but there’s no reason to limit yourself to just those four foods. Harvard Health notes that a less restrictive approach makes more sense for recovery, since BRAT foods alone don’t provide enough protein or nutrients to help you bounce back.
Other bland, easy-to-digest options include brothy soups, oatmeal, boiled potatoes, crackers, and unsweetened dry cereal. Once your stomach starts to settle, typically after 12 to 24 hours, you can expand to more nutritious choices: cooked carrots, sweet potatoes without skin, butternut squash, avocado, skinless chicken or turkey, fish, and eggs. These give your body the protein and vitamins it needs to recover without taxing your digestion.
Eat small portions. A few bites every hour or two is easier on your stomach than a full meal, even if the food itself is bland.
Try the Pressure Point on Your Wrist
Acupressure at a spot called P-6, located on your inner wrist, is a well-known technique for relieving nausea. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center recommends it for patients dealing with nausea and vomiting, and it costs nothing to try.
Here’s how to find it: hold one hand with your palm facing you and fingers pointing up. Place three fingers from your other hand across your wrist, just below the crease where your wrist bends. The spot directly below your index finger, right between the two tendons you can feel running down your forearm, is P-6. Press firmly with your thumb for two to three minutes, then switch to the other wrist. You can repeat this as often as needed.
Over-the-Counter Options That Help
Pink bismuth liquid or tablets (the active ingredient in Pepto-Bismol and similar products) work by reducing fluid flow into the bowel, calming intestinal inflammation, and killing some of the organisms that cause diarrhea. It’s useful for general stomach upset, nausea, and loose stools. Keep in mind that it will temporarily turn your tongue and stool black, which is harmless.
Antacids can help if your upset stomach is driven by acid reflux or heartburn, that burning feeling behind your breastbone or in your upper abdomen. They neutralize stomach acid quickly but wear off within a couple of hours.
If bloating and gas are your main complaints, simethicone-based products help break up gas bubbles in your digestive tract. They won’t help with nausea or diarrhea, but they can take the edge off that uncomfortably full, pressurized feeling.
Probiotics for Diarrhea-Heavy Episodes
If your upset stomach involves significant diarrhea, particularly from a stomach bug, food poisoning, or traveler’s diarrhea, probiotics may shorten how long it lasts. A Cochrane review of multiple studies found that probiotics reduced the average duration of infectious diarrhea by about 30 hours and lowered the risk of diarrhea still persisting at three days by roughly a third.
Yogurt with live cultures is the simplest source, though probiotic capsules or sachets containing Lactobacillus or Saccharomyces strains are more concentrated. Probiotics work best when started early in the illness rather than after several days.
Simple Habits That Make a Difference
Rest in a comfortable position, ideally propped up slightly rather than lying flat, especially if acid reflux is contributing to your symptoms. Lying flat allows stomach acid to travel upward more easily. Avoid tight clothing around your midsection, which puts extra pressure on your abdomen.
Heat can relax cramping muscles. A warm (not hot) heating pad or warm water bottle placed on your stomach for 15 to 20 minutes often eases abdominal cramps. Deep, slow breathing also helps. Shallow, anxious breathing can make nausea worse by keeping your body in a stress response.
Avoid smoking and NSAIDs like ibuprofen or aspirin, both of which irritate the stomach lining and can make things worse.
Symptoms That Need Medical Attention
Most upset stomachs are temporary inconveniences. But certain patterns signal something more serious. Seek medical care if your pain is severe enough to interrupt your ability to function, if you can’t keep any liquids down, or if vomiting persists for more than 24 hours.
Pay attention to pain that changes location. A nagging ache near your belly button that moves to your lower right abdomen over 12 to 24 hours and gets worse with movement, coughing, or deep breaths is a classic pattern for appendicitis. Upper abdominal pain that worsens when you eat, especially with fever and a rapid pulse, can indicate pancreatitis. A sudden, sharp cramp in the lower abdomen that hits maximum intensity almost immediately may be a kidney stone.
Bloating combined with constipation and inability to pass gas, particularly if you’ve had abdominal surgery in the past, raises concern for a bowel obstruction. Blood in your vomit or stool, a fever above 101.5°F that won’t come down, or signs of dehydration like dizziness, dark urine, or dry mouth also warrant a call to your doctor or a trip to urgent care.