When your stomach hurts, bland, low-fat foods are your safest bet. Think plain rice, bananas, toast, broth, and applesauce. These are easy to digest, unlikely to trigger more nausea, and gentle enough to keep your stomach from working overtime. But what you eat matters less than how and when you eat it, and some old advice about stomach aches deserves a second look.
Why Bland Foods Help
A stomachache usually means your digestive system is irritated or inflamed, whether from a virus, something you ate, stress, or excess acid. Bland, low-fiber, low-fat foods require less digestive effort. Fat slows stomach emptying, which can make nausea worse. Spicy or acidic foods can irritate an already sensitive stomach lining. Bland foods sidestep both problems.
Good options when your stomach is upset include:
- Plain white rice or rice porridge
- Bananas (also replace potassium lost from vomiting or diarrhea)
- Plain toast or crackers (without butter)
- Applesauce
- Clear broth (chicken or vegetable)
- Boiled or baked potatoes (no toppings)
- Plain oatmeal
The BRAT Diet Is Outdated
You’ve probably heard of the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. It was a standard recommendation for decades, especially for kids with diarrhea. But no clinical trials have ever tested whether it actually works, and nutritionally, it falls short. A review in Practical Gastroenterology found the BRAT diet provides roughly 300 fewer calories per day than a normal toddler’s diet, with extremely low fat and protein. It also delivers almost no vitamin A, zero vitamin B12, and very little calcium.
The concern is that sticking strictly to BRAT foods for more than a day or two can slow your recovery by depriving your body of the nutrients it needs to heal. Current guidance from gastroenterologists is to return to normal, age-appropriate foods as soon as you can tolerate them, rather than restricting yourself to just four items. Use BRAT foods as a starting point, not a multi-day meal plan.
What to Drink (and How to Make It)
Staying hydrated matters more than eating when your stomach is upset, especially if you’re vomiting or have diarrhea. Water is fine for mild stomach pain, but if you’ve been losing fluids, you need to replace electrolytes too. Sports drinks work in a pinch, though they contain more sugar than ideal.
You can make a simple rehydration drink at home: mix 4 cups of water with half a teaspoon of table salt and 2 tablespoons of sugar. This closely mirrors the World Health Organization’s oral rehydration formula and helps your intestines absorb water more efficiently than plain water alone.
Sip slowly. If you’ve been vomiting, wait at least 30 to 60 minutes after the last episode before drinking anything. Then take small sips, about a tablespoon or two every 20 minutes, rather than gulping a full glass. Drinking too much too fast can trigger vomiting again. Avoid milk and yogurt drinks until you’ve gone at least 8 hours without vomiting.
Ginger and Peppermint Actually Work
Ginger is one of the few natural remedies with real clinical backing for nausea. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found that 975 to 1,500 milligrams of ginger per day significantly reduced nausea. That’s roughly a quarter-inch slice of fresh ginger root steeped in hot water, or 250 milligrams of powdered ginger in capsule form taken four times daily. Ginger tea, ginger chews, and ginger ale made with real ginger (check the label) are all reasonable options.
Peppermint helps with a different kind of stomach pain: cramping and spasms. It works by reducing calcium flow into the smooth muscle cells lining your digestive tract, which relaxes those muscles and eases the squeezing sensation. Peppermint tea is the simplest way to get this effect. If your stomachache feels more like cramping or tightness than nausea, peppermint is the better choice. If you’re more nauseated, go with ginger.
Foods and Drinks to Avoid
Some foods will reliably make a stomachache worse. Skip these until you’re feeling fully normal again:
- Fried or greasy foods: Fat slows digestion and can increase nausea.
- Dairy products: Milk, cheese, and ice cream are harder to digest when your gut is irritated, even if you’re not normally lactose intolerant.
- Coffee and caffeinated drinks: Caffeine stimulates acid production and can irritate the stomach lining.
- Alcohol: Directly irritates the stomach lining and promotes dehydration.
- Citrus fruits and tomato-based foods: Their acidity can worsen an already inflamed stomach.
- Carbonated drinks: The gas can cause bloating and pressure that intensifies pain.
- Raw vegetables and high-fiber foods: These require more digestive work and can cause cramping.
How to Reintroduce Normal Food
After vomiting stops, the general timeline is to stick with clear liquids for the first 6 to 8 hours, then slowly introduce bland solids. Start small: a few bites of plain toast or a quarter of a banana. If that stays down for an hour or two, eat a bit more. Most people can return to their regular diet within 24 to 48 hours of symptoms improving.
Don’t force yourself to eat if you’re not hungry. Your body is redirecting energy toward fighting off whatever caused the problem, and a short period of reduced eating won’t harm you. Focus on fluids first, then add food as your appetite returns. When you do eat, smaller and more frequent meals are easier on your stomach than three large ones.
When a Stomachache Needs More Than Food
Most stomachaches resolve on their own within a few hours to a couple of days. But certain patterns signal something more serious. Pay attention if the pain is so severe it interrupts your ability to function, if you can’t keep any liquids down, or if the pain is unlike anything you’ve felt before.
Pain that starts near your belly button and migrates to your lower right abdomen over 12 to 24 hours is a classic sign of appendicitis, especially if it worsens when you move, cough, or take deep breaths. Severe pain combined with fever, abdominal swelling, an inability to pass gas, or bloody stool also warrants immediate evaluation. If you’ve had abdominal surgery in the past, new severe pain could indicate adhesions or obstruction. In any of these situations, dietary changes alone won’t help, and delaying care can be dangerous.