Most upset stomachs resolve on their own within a few hours, but the right combination of food choices, simple remedies, and body positioning can speed up relief significantly. What works best depends on whether you’re dealing with nausea, bloating, cramping, or diarrhea, so it helps to have several options in your toolkit.
Start With What You Eat (and Don’t Eat)
When your stomach is already irritated, the goal is to give it the least possible work to do. The old advice about the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) still holds up for a day or two, but Harvard Health Publishing notes there’s no need to limit yourself to just those four foods. Brothy soups, oatmeal, boiled potatoes, crackers, and unsweetened dry cereals are equally gentle on the stomach and give you more variety.
Once the worst has passed, you can start adding back foods with more nutritional value: cooked carrots, sweet potatoes without skin, butternut squash, avocado, skinless chicken, fish, and eggs. These are still bland and easy to digest but provide the protein and nutrients your body needs to recover. The foods to avoid until you feel fully better are the predictable ones: greasy or fried foods, dairy, caffeine, alcohol, and anything spicy or highly acidic.
Eating smaller portions matters as much as what you eat. A full plate forces your stomach to produce more acid and churn harder, which is exactly what you don’t want when it’s already upset. Small meals every two to three hours keep something in your stomach without overwhelming it.
Ginger and Peppermint
Ginger is one of the most reliable natural remedies for nausea. It works by speeding up the rate at which food moves through the stomach, reducing the bloated, queasy feeling that comes from food sitting too long. Fresh ginger sliced into hot water makes a simple tea, or you can use ginger chews, ginger ale made with real ginger (check the label), or ginger capsules.
Peppermint works differently. The menthol in peppermint relaxes the smooth muscle lining of your digestive tract, which can ease cramping and that tight, pressurized feeling in your gut. It does this by blocking calcium channels in the intestinal wall, essentially telling those muscles to stop contracting so forcefully. Peppermint tea is the simplest delivery method.
One important caveat: peppermint also relaxes the valve between your esophagus and stomach. If you have acid reflux or a hiatal hernia, peppermint can make symptoms worse by allowing stomach acid to travel upward. In that case, stick with ginger.
How Your Position Affects Your Stomach
If you’re lying down with an upset stomach, which side you choose actually matters. Your stomach’s natural shape means its outlet (the pylorus) sits toward your right side. Lying on your right side allows gravity to help food and liquid move out of your stomach and into the small intestine more quickly. Research published in the American Journal of Physiology confirmed that gastric emptying of liquids is slower when you lie on your left side or flat on your back, because those positions force your stomach contents to work against gravity to reach the exit.
That said, if acid reflux is part of the problem, lying on your left side is actually better, because it keeps the stomach’s acid pool below the esophageal opening. So the best position depends on your symptoms: right side for bloating and nausea, left side for heartburn and reflux. Sitting upright or going for a gentle walk after eating is better than lying down at all, since staying vertical lets gravity do the most work.
Over-the-Counter Options
Pink bismuth liquid (the active ingredient in products like Pepto-Bismol) tackles several problems at once. It reduces fluid buildup in the intestines, calms inflammation in the gut lining, and has mild antibacterial properties that can help with diarrhea caused by foodborne bacteria. It’s a solid choice when your upset stomach involves both nausea and loose stools.
Antacids work best when the main symptom is a burning feeling in your upper stomach or chest, since they neutralize excess acid directly. For bloating and gas pressure, simethicone-based products (like Gas-X) break up gas bubbles so they’re easier to pass. These target different problems, so matching the product to your specific symptom matters more than grabbing whatever is in the medicine cabinet.
Acupressure for Nausea
Pressing on a point called P6 on the inside of your wrist is a well-studied technique for reducing nausea. To find it, place three fingers from your opposite hand across your inner wrist, starting just below the crease where your hand meets your wrist. The point sits in the groove between the two large tendons that run down the center of your forearm. Press firmly with your thumb for two to three minutes, then switch wrists.
This is the same principle behind anti-nausea wristbands sold for motion sickness and morning sickness. It won’t help much with diarrhea or cramping, but for pure nausea, it’s worth trying since it’s free, immediate, and has no side effects.
Hydration Matters More Than You Think
An upset stomach, especially one involving vomiting or diarrhea, drains your body of water and electrolytes fast. Plain water is fine for mild cases, but if you’ve been vomiting or had diarrhea for more than a few hours, an oral rehydration solution or even a diluted sports drink replaces the sodium and potassium your body is losing. Sipping slowly is key. Gulping a full glass of water on a nauseous stomach often triggers more vomiting.
Room-temperature or slightly warm liquids tend to be gentler than ice-cold drinks. Cold beverages can cause the stomach muscles to contract, which isn’t ideal when they’re already irritated. Warm broth does double duty here: it hydrates and provides a small amount of sodium.
Probiotics for Recovery
Probiotics won’t provide instant relief, but they can shorten how long your stomach stays upset, particularly if diarrhea is involved. One strain, Saccharomyces boulardii (a beneficial yeast), reduced the duration of diarrhea from about nine days to just over two days in a clinical trial of hospitalized children. Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, one of the most widely studied probiotic strains, cut the duration of rotavirus-related diarrhea by about two days compared to a placebo. Lactobacillus reuteri shortened diarrhea episodes by roughly 25 hours on average.
These strains are available in supplement form at most pharmacies. Yogurt with live active cultures provides some probiotics too, though the strain and quantity vary by brand. If your stomach trouble follows a course of antibiotics, probiotics are especially worth considering, since antibiotics disrupt the gut bacteria that normally keep digestion running smoothly.
Signs That Need Medical Attention
Most stomach upset is temporary and harmless. But certain patterns signal something more serious. Pain that starts near your belly button and migrates to your lower right side over 12 to 24 hours is a classic sign of appendicitis, especially if it worsens when you move, cough, or take deep breaths. Severe upper abdominal pain that gets worse after eating, combined with nausea, fever, and a rapid pulse, can point to pancreatitis.
You should also seek care if you can’t keep any liquids down for more than several hours, if the pain is severe enough to interfere with your ability to function, or if your symptoms closely resemble a previous episode that required medical treatment but feel different or more intense this time. Bloody vomit, bloody or black stool, and high fever alongside stomach pain are always reasons to get evaluated promptly.