Plain, low-fiber foods like bananas, rice, toast, broth-based soups, and boiled potatoes are the gentlest options when your stomach is upset. But the best approach depends on what’s going on: nausea, diarrhea, cramping, and bloating each respond to slightly different strategies. Here’s what actually helps, what to avoid, and how to get back to normal eating.
Start With Bland, Easy-to-Digest Foods
You’ve probably heard of the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. It’s a reasonable starting point for a day or two if you’re dealing with a stomach bug, food poisoning, or traveler’s diarrhea. But there’s no clinical evidence that restricting yourself to only those four foods speeds recovery. According to Harvard Health, brothy soups, oatmeal, boiled potatoes, crackers, and unsweetened dry cereals are equally gentle on the stomach and provide more balanced nutrition.
The common thread is simplicity. Foods that are low in fat, low in fiber, and mild in flavor require less digestive effort. Think plain white rice rather than brown, peeled potatoes rather than loaded baked potatoes, and chicken broth rather than cream-based soups. Cooking vegetables softens their insoluble fiber, which is the type that’s hardest to break down. So steamed carrots or boiled squash will sit much better than a raw salad.
Ginger, Peppermint, and Chamomile
Ginger is one of the most reliable natural options for nausea. It works by stimulating movement through the digestive tract and blocking certain signals in the gut that trigger the urge to vomit. Clinical trials have used doses ranging from 250 mg to 1 g per day, split across three or four servings, with no added benefit from going above 1 g. In practical terms, that’s a few thin slices of fresh ginger steeped in hot water, or a cup of real ginger tea (check the label for actual ginger root, not just flavoring).
Peppermint works differently. It relaxes the smooth muscle lining your digestive tract by interfering with calcium signaling in gut cells, which reduces cramping and spasms. Peppermint tea is the easiest way to get this effect. If your main symptom is a tight, crampy feeling in your stomach or intestines, peppermint is often more helpful than ginger.
Chamomile tea has mild anti-inflammatory properties and may be especially useful if your stomach irritation is related to stress or acid reflux. Drinking it after meals or before bed can help soothe an inflamed stomach lining. All three teas are worth keeping around, and none have significant side effects at normal amounts.
Why Bananas and Applesauce Work
Bananas and applesauce aren’t on the BRAT list by accident. Both are rich in pectin, a type of soluble fiber that absorbs water in the gut and adds bulk to loose stool. Pectin forms a gel-like substance, especially in the acidic environment of the stomach, which slows everything down and helps firm things up during a bout of diarrhea. Research shows that as little as 2.5 grams per day of pectin produces a measurable thickening effect in the digestive tract.
A medium banana contains roughly 1 gram of pectin, and applesauce concentrates it further. These foods also replace potassium, an electrolyte you lose quickly through vomiting or diarrhea. If you’re tired of bananas, cooked sweet potatoes (without the skin) and avocado offer a similar combination of gentle fiber and potassium.
Stay Hydrated the Right Way
Dehydration is the biggest risk during any stomach illness, and plain water alone isn’t always the best fix. Your small intestine absorbs water most efficiently when it has small amounts of sodium and glucose to pull it through. That’s the science behind oral rehydration solutions: the optimal ratio is a sodium concentration around 60 mmol/L paired with glucose between 50 and 100 mmol/L. You don’t need to memorize those numbers. Commercially available rehydration drinks or packets (like Pedialyte) are formulated to hit this range.
A simple homemade version is water with a small pinch of salt and a teaspoon of sugar per cup. Sip slowly rather than gulping. If you’re vomiting, take very small sips every few minutes rather than drinking a full glass at once. Clear broths also count toward hydration and add sodium naturally.
Probiotics Can Shorten Diarrhea
If your upset stomach involves diarrhea, specific probiotic strains can reduce how long it lasts. The most studied strain is Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (often labeled LGG on packaging). A meta-analysis of trials involving nearly 1,000 children with acute infectious diarrhea found that LGG shortened diarrhea duration by about one day on average, and for rotavirus-related illness, the reduction was closer to two days. It also cut the risk of diarrhea lasting beyond a week by 75%.
The key is dose: at least 10 billion colony-forming units (CFU) per day, and starting as early as possible. Most pharmacy-grade probiotic supplements list their CFU count on the label. Not all strains work equally well. Head-to-head comparisons found that LGG and certain multi-strain mixtures were effective, while other common strains showed no significant benefit. Look for LGG specifically, and continue taking it for five to seven days.
Foods That Will Make Things Worse
Some foods actively aggravate an upset stomach, even ones that seem healthy. High-fructose foods are a common culprit because many people absorb fructose poorly, especially when the gut is already irritated. The American Gastroenterological Association flags these as frequent triggers:
- Fruits: apples, pears, watermelon, cherries, mangoes, and figs
- Sweeteners: honey, agave nectar, and anything containing high-fructose corn syrup
- Drinks: fruit juice, soda, sports drinks sweetened with fructose, and fruit smoothies
Beyond fructose, fatty and fried foods slow gastric emptying, which worsens nausea. Dairy can be hard to tolerate during a stomach illness because the enzyme that digests lactose is temporarily reduced when the gut lining is inflamed. Caffeine and alcohol both irritate the stomach lining and increase acid production. Spicy foods are an obvious one. Even raw vegetables, which are otherwise healthy, demand more digestive work than your stomach can handle right now.
When to Return to Normal Eating
You can go back to your regular diet sooner than you might think. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases states that once your appetite returns, you can resume eating normally, even if you still have some diarrhea. Research shows that following a restricted diet does not help treat viral gastroenteritis, and most experts no longer recommend prolonged fasting or bland-only eating.
That said, a gradual transition feels better in practice. Once the worst has passed, add more nutrient-dense foods that are still easy on the stomach: cooked squash like butternut or pumpkin, cooked carrots, skinless chicken or turkey, fish, and eggs. These provide the protein and micronutrients your body needs to recover without overwhelming your digestive system. Within two to three days of feeling better, most people can eat anything they normally would.