When your stomach is upset, bland, low-fiber foods like white rice, bananas, plain toast, broth, and applesauce are your safest bets. These are easy to digest, unlikely to trigger nausea, and gentle on an irritated stomach lining. What you eat matters, but so does what you avoid and how you reintroduce fuller meals as you recover.
The Best Foods for an Upset Stomach
The goal is to give your digestive system as little work as possible while still providing calories and nutrients. Refined, soft, and low-fat foods move through your stomach more easily than anything high in fiber, fat, or spice. Here’s what works well:
- White rice and plain pasta: Simple starches that absorb quickly and rarely trigger nausea.
- Bananas: Soft, naturally rich in potassium (which you lose when vomiting or having diarrhea), and easy to keep down.
- Applesauce and canned pears or peaches: Cooked or processed fruit is gentler than raw because the fiber has already been partially broken down.
- Plain toast or saltine crackers: White bread and white-flour tortillas work too. The key is avoiding whole grains, which are harder to digest when your stomach is already struggling.
- Clear broth: Chicken, vegetable, or beef broth provides fluids, sodium, and a small amount of calories without putting any real demand on your gut.
- Boiled or baked potatoes (peeled): The skin contains most of the fiber, so peeling them makes potatoes much easier on your stomach.
- Eggs: Scrambled or soft-boiled, eggs are a good source of protein that digests quickly.
- Plain yogurt: Contains live cultures that support gut bacteria, and the protein helps with recovery. Stick with plain or vanilla rather than varieties loaded with sugar or fruit chunks.
For protein, skinless chicken or turkey (baked or broiled, not fried) and poached fish are both well tolerated. Creamy peanut butter in small amounts can also work if you need calories but can’t face a full meal. Cottage cheese and mild hard cheeses like American are other options that sit easily.
Why Bland Food Works
When your stomach lining is irritated, whether from a virus, food poisoning, stress, or acid, it becomes more sensitive to anything that stimulates acid production or requires heavy mechanical digestion. Fat slows stomach emptying, which can make nausea worse. Insoluble fiber (the rough, scratchy kind in whole grains, raw vegetables, and fruit skins) physically irritates inflamed tissue. Spicy and acidic foods directly stimulate acid secretion.
Soluble fiber, on the other hand, dissolves in water and forms a gel-like material that actually slows digestion gently. Oats, bananas, avocados, and cooked carrots all contain soluble fiber. These foods can be soothing rather than irritating, which is why they show up on most recommended lists for stomach recovery.
Drinks That Help
Staying hydrated is just as important as choosing the right foods, especially if you’ve been vomiting or dealing with diarrhea. Water is the obvious choice, but it doesn’t replace the sodium and potassium your body loses. Broth is one of the best options because it contains both fluids and electrolytes naturally.
Coconut water is naturally rich in potassium and typically lower in sugar than sports drinks. Flat ginger ale or other clear carbonated drinks that have lost their fizz can help settle nausea. Tea, particularly ginger or chamomile, is another common choice. Diluted fruit juices like cranberry or grape can provide some calories and electrolytes if you can’t eat solid food yet. Sip slowly rather than gulping. Taking in large volumes at once can trigger more nausea.
Foods and Drinks to Avoid
Anything fried, greasy, or heavily seasoned will likely make things worse. Beyond the obvious, a few items catch people off guard:
- Raw vegetables and salads: Hard to digest when your gut is inflamed. Stick to well-cooked, tender vegetables instead.
- Dairy (in large amounts): A small serving of yogurt or mild cheese is fine, but a tall glass of milk or a bowl of ice cream can overwhelm a sensitive stomach, especially if you have any degree of lactose sensitivity.
- Coffee and alcohol: Both stimulate acid production and can irritate the stomach lining further.
- Gas-producing vegetables: Broccoli, cabbage, dried beans, and peas can cause bloating and cramping when your gut is already struggling.
- Peppermint: This one surprises people. While peppermint can help with general nausea, it relaxes the valve between your stomach and esophagus. If your stomach trouble involves heartburn or acid reflux, peppermint can actually make the burning worse by allowing acid to travel upward.
- Heavily fermented or pickled foods: Kimchi, pickles, and similar items can increase stomach acid and irritate an already inflamed lining. Save these for when you’re feeling better.
How to Reintroduce Normal Meals
You may have heard of the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) as the go-to plan for stomach recovery. It’s a fine starting point for the first several hours, but medical guidelines now consider it too restrictive to follow for more than a day. The CDC notes that overly limited diets during stomach illness can lead to poor nutrition and may actually slow gut recovery. The foods are helpful, but your body also needs protein and some fat to heal.
A better approach is to start with the bland staples and then gradually add back lean proteins (chicken, fish, eggs) within the first 12 to 24 hours if you’re keeping food down. Small, frequent meals work better than three large ones. Eating a few bites every couple of hours puts less strain on your stomach than sitting down to a full plate. As your symptoms ease over the next day or two, reintroduce cooked vegetables, then raw fruits, and finally fattier or more complex foods. If something triggers a return of nausea or cramping, back off and try again the next day.
When Stomach Trouble Lingers
Most stomach upsets from viruses or food-related causes resolve within 24 to 72 hours. If you’re still unable to keep food or fluids down after two days, notice blood in your vomit or stool, or develop a fever above 101.3°F, those are signs that something beyond a routine stomach bug may be going on. Persistent heartburn or stomach pain that keeps returning over weeks could point to conditions like gastritis or acid reflux that benefit from a more targeted approach than just dietary changes alone.