After throwing up, give your stomach a few hours of rest before eating anything. Start with small sips of water or ice chips, then gradually move to bland, easy-to-digest foods once you can keep liquids down. The goal is to rehydrate first and refuel second.
Start With Fluids, Not Food
Your first priority after vomiting isn’t eating. It’s replacing the water and electrolytes you just lost. But don’t gulp down a full glass right away. Give yourself a grace period of a few hours, then start with ice chips or tiny sips of water every 15 minutes. For the first 24 hours, aim for at least 1 ounce (about 30 ml) of fluid per hour as a baseline.
Plain water works, but an oral rehydration solution is better because it contains the right balance of sodium and sugar to help your body absorb fluid more efficiently. You can find these at any pharmacy. Broth is another solid option since it provides both fluid and a small amount of salt. Weak tea and diluted fruit juice (not citrus) are also gentle choices. Popsicles and gelatin count toward your fluid intake too, and they’re easier to tolerate when even water feels like too much.
Skip carbonated beverages, alcohol, and anything with caffeine. Fizzy drinks can increase bloating and stomach pressure, caffeine is a mild diuretic that works against rehydration, and alcohol irritates the stomach lining.
When You’re Ready to Eat
Once you’ve been keeping fluids down for a few hours without nausea returning, you can try small amounts of food. The key word is small. Eat six to eight mini meals spread throughout the day rather than three large ones. Eating slowly matters too, since a rushed meal can trigger nausea all over again.
Stick to foods that are low in fat, low in fiber, and mild in flavor. Good options include:
- Starches: white rice, plain crackers, white bread or toast, plain pasta, potatoes
- Fruits: bananas, applesauce, canned fruit, melon
- Proteins: eggs, plain baked chicken, whitefish, tofu, creamy peanut butter
- Other: broth-based soup, yogurt, pudding, graham crackers, hot cereals like cream of wheat
You may have heard of the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast). While those foods are fine to eat, the CDC has noted that sticking only to BRAT foods is unnecessarily restrictive and provides suboptimal nutrition when your body actually needs calories to recover. A better approach is to eat any bland, well-tolerated food and expand your diet as quickly as your stomach allows. The goal is to return to your normal eating pattern relatively fast to compensate for the calories you lost during the acute illness.
Foods to Avoid While Recovering
Your stomach is still inflamed and sensitive, so certain foods will slow your recovery or bring the nausea back. Fatty and greasy foods are the biggest culprits because they take longer to leave your stomach. Fried chicken, pizza, burgers, and rich sauces are all poor choices for the first day or two.
High-fiber foods like raw vegetables, whole grains, beans, and nuts can also be hard on a recovering gut. Spicy food irritates the stomach lining. Citrus fruits and tomato-based foods are acidic enough to trigger discomfort. Full-fat dairy (cheese, ice cream, whole milk) can worsen nausea for some people, though low-fat dairy and yogurt are generally fine.
Ginger Can Help With Lingering Nausea
If you’re still feeling queasy and struggling to eat, ginger is one of the few natural remedies with clinical evidence behind it. Studies have tested doses between 975 and 1,500 mg per day, typically divided into three or four smaller doses. You don’t need to measure that precisely at home. Ginger tea, ginger chews, or even flat ginger ale (let it go flat first to remove the carbonation) can help settle your stomach enough to start tolerating food.
Probiotics and Gut Recovery
If your vomiting was caused by a stomach bug, probiotics may help you bounce back a bit faster. A meta-analysis of studies in children with acute gastroenteritis found that probiotics shortened the duration of diarrhea symptoms by roughly a day. That’s a modest benefit, and the evidence quality is limited, but it’s unlikely to cause harm. Yogurt is a natural source of probiotics and doubles as an easy-to-digest food during recovery. Probiotic supplements are another option.
Signs You’re Getting Dehydrated
Vomiting puts you at real risk for dehydration, especially if you’re also dealing with diarrhea. In adults, watch for urinating less than usual, dark-colored urine, dry mouth, and skin that stays pinched up (doesn’t flatten back immediately) when you pull it. In infants and young children, red flags include no wet diapers for three hours, a rapid heart rate, and that same slow-to-flatten skin. These signs mean fluid loss is outpacing what you’re taking in, and you may need medical help to rehydrate.
A Practical Timeline
Here’s a rough framework for the first 24 hours after your last episode of vomiting:
- Hours 0 to 2: Rest your stomach completely. No food, no drinks.
- Hours 2 to 4: Begin sipping water or sucking on ice chips, a few sips every 15 minutes. Try broth or an oral rehydration solution if tolerated.
- Hours 4 to 8: If fluids are staying down, introduce a small amount of bland food. A few crackers, half a banana, or a couple spoonfuls of applesauce.
- Hours 8 to 24: Gradually increase portion sizes and variety. Continue eating small meals frequently rather than large ones. Add proteins like eggs or plain chicken when you feel ready.
- Day 2 and beyond: Transition back toward your normal diet. Reintroduce foods one at a time so you can identify anything that triggers nausea again.
Everyone recovers at a different pace. If you can only manage a few crackers on day one, that’s fine. Let your body guide you, and prioritize fluids above everything else.