When your stomach is upset, stick to bland, low-fat foods that are easy to digest: bananas, plain rice, toast, broth, crackers, boiled potatoes, and applesauce are all safe starting points. But you don’t need to limit yourself to just those options. A wider range of gentle foods can help you recover faster by giving your body the protein and nutrients it needs to bounce back.
Start With Fluids, Then Add Food
If you’re actively vomiting or dealing with intense nausea, food can wait. Your first priority is staying hydrated. Start with small sips of water or ice chips for the first several hours. Once those stay down, move to clear liquids like broth, diluted juice, weak tea, or popsicles.
After about 24 hours, or once you can keep liquids down consistently, you can begin introducing solid food. Go slow. A few bites of toast or a small bowl of plain rice is enough to test the waters. If that sits well, gradually expand what you’re eating over the next day or two.
The Best Foods for an Upset Stomach
You’ve probably heard of the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. It’s a fine starting point for the first day or two, but there’s no research showing it works better than other bland foods. Harvard Health Publishing notes that a less restrictive approach actually makes more sense, because those four foods alone don’t provide enough protein or nutrients to support recovery.
Here’s a broader list of foods that are gentle on your stomach:
- Starches: White rice, boiled potatoes, plain oatmeal, crackers, pasta made with white flour, refined hot cereals
- Fruits: Bananas, applesauce, melon, canned fruit (skip citrus if you have acid reflux)
- Proteins: Eggs, skinless chicken or turkey, baked or steamed white fish, tofu, creamy peanut butter
- Vegetables: Cooked carrots, butternut squash, sweet potatoes without skin, cooked pumpkin
- Comfort foods: Broth-based soups, pudding, gelatin, graham crackers, vanilla wafers
- Drinks: Weak tea, vegetable juice, diluted fruit juice
The common thread is that these foods are soft, low in fat, mild in flavor, and low in fiber. That combination means your digestive system doesn’t have to work hard to process them, which is exactly what you want when it’s already irritated.
Why These Foods Are Easier to Digest
When your stomach is inflamed, fatty foods slow digestion and leave you feeling uncomfortably full. They also increase pressure on the valve between your stomach and esophagus, which can trigger heartburn on top of everything else. Refined carbohydrates like white bread and plain rice break down quickly without generating much gas or residue, so they pass through your system with minimal effort.
Protein matters too. Eggs, plain chicken, and fish give your body building blocks for repair without the heavy fat content that comes with red meat or fried food. Cooking methods matter here: steam, bake, or boil your food rather than frying it.
What to Avoid Until You Feel Better
Some foods actively make stomach upset worse. While you’re recovering, steer clear of:
- Fatty or fried foods: They slow digestion and increase pressure in your stomach
- Caffeine: Coffee, energy drinks, and strong tea stimulate your gastrointestinal tract, speeding things up and potentially causing cramping, bloating, and diarrhea
- Full-fat dairy: If you tolerate dairy at all, stick to low-fat or fat-free versions. Many people lose some ability to digest lactose temporarily during a stomach illness, which leads to gas, bloating, and cramping
- Spicy foods: They can irritate an already inflamed stomach lining
- Alcohol: It irritates the digestive tract and contributes to dehydration
- Raw vegetables and high-fiber foods: Whole grains, beans, and raw produce require more digestive effort
Hydration Matters More Than Food
Dehydration is the biggest risk during a stomach bug, especially if you’re dealing with vomiting or diarrhea. Water alone replaces fluid but not the electrolytes you’re losing. You can make a simple oral rehydration solution at home: mix 4 cups of water with half a teaspoon of table salt and 2 tablespoons of sugar. This ratio helps your body absorb the fluid more efficiently than plain water.
If that doesn’t appeal to you, chicken broth is another solid option. Dissolve a dry broth cube in 4 cups of water and stir in 2 tablespoons of sugar. The sodium in the broth plus the sugar creates a similar electrolyte balance. Sip slowly throughout the day rather than drinking large amounts at once, which can trigger more nausea.
Ginger Can Help With Nausea
Ginger is one of the few home remedies with real clinical evidence behind it. Studies on nausea have used doses ranging from about 1,000 to 1,500 milligrams per day, typically divided into smaller portions taken three or four times throughout the day. You can get this from ginger capsules, ginger tea made with fresh slices, or even flat ginger ale (though most commercial ginger ales contain very little actual ginger). Ginger chews or candies are another practical option when you can’t stomach much else.
What About Probiotics?
You’ll see probiotics recommended everywhere for stomach issues, but the evidence is weaker than most people think. A large Cochrane review found that probiotics probably make little or no difference in how long diarrhea lasts or how many people recover within 48 hours. Some medical groups have recommended specific strains for children with infectious diarrhea, but even those recommendations rest on low-quality evidence. Yogurt and fermented foods won’t hurt you, but don’t count on them to speed your recovery.
When an Upset Stomach Needs Attention
Most stomach bugs and mild food reactions resolve within a few days on their own. But certain symptoms signal something more serious. Seek immediate medical care if you have severe abdominal pain, fever, bloody stools, vomiting that won’t stop, swelling of your abdomen, or severe tenderness when you press on your stomach. If your pain lasts more than a few days or keeps getting worse rather than better, that also warrants a visit to your doctor.