When you have a stomach bug, the best approach is to start with clear liquids only for the first 12 to 24 hours, then gradually add bland solid foods like toast, rice, bananas, and plain noodles over the next day or two. The goal is to stay hydrated, keep calories coming in, and avoid anything that forces your gut to work harder than it needs to while it’s inflamed.
Start With Clear Liquids
For the first 12 to 24 hours of a stomach bug, stick to sipping clear liquids. This means water, broth, diluted juice, ice chips, or an oral rehydration solution. Small, frequent sips work better than gulping down a full glass, which can trigger another round of vomiting. Your stomach lining is irritated and inflamed, so the less you ask of it during this window, the faster it settles.
Hydration is the single most important thing during a stomach bug. Vomiting and diarrhea drain water and electrolytes fast. Plain water replaces fluid but not the sodium and potassium your body is losing. Oral rehydration solutions like Pedialyte are a better choice than sports drinks here. A 12-ounce serving of Pedialyte Classic contains about 16% of the daily value for sodium, compared to just 7% in Gatorade. Sports drinks also tend to have more sugar, which can actually make diarrhea worse (more on that below).
Adding Solid Foods Back In
After you’ve kept liquids down for 12 to 24 hours, start introducing small amounts of bland food. Good options include:
- Toast or crackers (plain, no butter)
- White rice or plain noodles
- Bananas
- Applesauce
- Broth-based soup (not creamy)
- Plain baked potato (no butter or sour cream)
- Pretzels
Eat small portions frequently rather than full meals. If vomiting or diarrhea returns after eating, go back to clear liquids and try solids again more slowly. This isn’t a race. Your digestive tract needs time to heal, and pushing food too early just resets the clock.
You might recognize some of these foods from the old “BRAT diet” (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast). That diet used to be the standard recommendation, but it’s no longer considered ideal because it’s too nutritionally restrictive. It lacks adequate protein, calcium, vitamin B12, and fiber. Using BRAT foods as a starting point is fine, but you shouldn’t limit yourself to only those four items for more than a day. The American Academy of Pediatrics specifically advises against a strict BRAT diet for children, noting it can actually slow recovery.
What To Avoid For Several Days
Some foods and drinks will actively make your symptoms worse. Avoid these until you’ve been feeling normal for at least a couple of days:
- Dairy products: Stomach bugs can temporarily reduce your ability to digest lactose, the sugar in milk. This means cheese, yogurt, ice cream, and milk can trigger cramps and diarrhea even after vomiting stops.
- Fatty or fried foods: Fat slows stomach emptying and is harder to digest when your gut lining is compromised.
- Raw fruits and vegetables: The fiber content is difficult for an inflamed gut to process. Cooked vegetables and soft fruits like bananas are easier to handle.
- Spicy foods: These irritate an already-inflamed digestive tract.
- Caffeine and alcohol: Both are dehydrating, which is the opposite of what your body needs. Caffeine also stimulates gut motility, which can worsen diarrhea.
Why Sugar Is a Problem
Sugary drinks and foods deserve special attention. Sugar draws water into the intestines, which loosens bowel movements and can make diarrhea significantly worse. According to Harvard Health, people who consume more than 40 to 80 grams of fructose per day often develop diarrhea even when they’re healthy. When your gut is already inflamed, that threshold drops. This is why full-strength fruit juice, soda, and sugary sports drinks are poor choices during a stomach bug. If you want juice, dilute it with at least half water.
Ginger for Nausea
If nausea is your main symptom, ginger is one of the few home remedies with real evidence behind it. Compounds in ginger root speed up stomach emptying and act on the same brain pathways that anti-nausea medications target. Effective doses in studies range from 250 mg to 2 grams per day, split into three or four doses. Notably, the higher dose didn’t work any better than 1 gram per day.
In practical terms, this means sipping real ginger tea (made from sliced fresh ginger, not “ginger-flavored” tea bags), chewing on crystallized ginger, or taking ginger capsules. Ginger ale is mostly sugar water with minimal actual ginger, so it’s not particularly helpful and the sugar content can worsen diarrhea.
Probiotics Probably Won’t Help
You might be tempted to reach for probiotics to speed recovery. The evidence here is disappointing. A large U.S. study involving nearly 1,000 children tested Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (the probiotic with the most prior evidence for treating gastroenteritis) against a placebo. Children who took the probiotic had nearly identical symptom duration and recovery compared to those who took the placebo. Diarrhea lasted about two days in both groups. A parallel Canadian study using a different probiotic combination reached the same conclusion. This doesn’t mean probiotics are harmful during a stomach bug, but they’re unlikely to shorten it.
A Realistic Recovery Timeline
Most stomach bugs caused by viruses like norovirus or rotavirus follow a predictable pattern. The worst vomiting usually peaks in the first 12 to 24 hours. Diarrhea often lasts one to three days, sometimes a bit longer. Here’s a rough eating timeline:
- Hours 0 to 24: Clear liquids only, small sips frequently.
- Hours 24 to 48: Add bland solids in small amounts. Plain starches, bananas, broth-based soups.
- Days 3 to 5: Gradually expand your diet. Add lean proteins like plain chicken or eggs. Try cooked vegetables. Keep portions moderate.
- Days 5 to 7: Return to a normal diet, but continue avoiding dairy and very rich or greasy foods if your stomach still feels off.
If symptoms return after advancing your diet, step back to the previous stage and progress more slowly. Everyone recovers at a different pace, and your gut needs a few days to fully rebuild its lining even after you feel better.
Signs You’re Getting Dehydrated
The biggest risk with a stomach bug isn’t the infection itself. It’s dehydration. Watch for dark yellow urine, dizziness when standing, dry mouth, and noticeably reduced urination. In young children, look for fewer wet diapers, crying without tears, and unusual sleepiness. More serious warning signs that require immediate medical attention include confusion, fainting, complete lack of urination, rapid heartbeat, and rapid breathing. Severe dehydration sometimes requires IV fluids in a hospital, particularly in very young children, older adults, and people with compromised immune systems.