When your stomach is upset, the best foods are bland, low-fat, and easy to digest: bananas, plain rice, toast, broth-based soups, crackers, oatmeal, and boiled potatoes. What you eat matters, but so does when and how much. The goal is to give your digestive system the least possible work while still getting nutrients to help you recover.
The BRAT Diet Still Works, but It’s Too Limited
You’ve probably heard of the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. It’s been the go-to recommendation for decades, and those four foods are genuinely gentle on a sore stomach. But sticking to only those items for more than a day or two leaves you short on protein and other nutrients your body needs to bounce back.
Harvard Health recommends treating BRAT as a starting point rather than a strict plan. Once you can keep those foods down, expand to other bland options: brothy soups, boiled potatoes, crackers, unsweetened dry cereal, and plain oatmeal. As your stomach settles further, add cooked carrots, sweet potatoes without the skin, skinless chicken or turkey, fish, eggs, avocado, and cooked squash like butternut or pumpkin. These are all easy to digest but provide the protein and vitamins that bananas and toast alone can’t deliver.
Best Foods When You Feel Nauseous
Nausea calls for foods that are nearly flavorless, room temperature or cool, and low in fat. Strong smells and rich flavors can trigger more queasiness. Stick with plain crackers, dry toast, or a small bowl of white rice. Eating a few bites at a time is better than trying a full meal.
Ginger is one of the most effective natural options for nausea. It works by blocking serotonin receptors in the gut that trigger the vomiting reflex, and it reduces inflammation in the digestive tract. Clinical trials have tested standardized ginger extract at doses of 1,000 to 2,000 mg per day and found it effective for reducing nausea severity. In practical terms, that’s roughly a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger steeped in hot water, or a couple of ginger chews. Ginger ale can help too, though many commercial brands contain very little actual ginger.
Peppermint tea is another solid choice, especially if your stomach feels crampy or bloated. Peppermint relaxes the smooth muscle in your stomach and intestines, which can ease spasms and that tight, uncomfortable feeling. Sip it warm, not hot.
Best Foods for Acid Reflux and Heartburn
If your upset stomach involves burning or acid creeping up your throat, the strategy shifts slightly. You want foods that won’t trigger more acid production and that help buffer what’s already there.
Johns Hopkins Medicine groups helpful foods into three categories. High-fiber options like oatmeal, sweet potatoes, carrots, and green beans help absorb stomach acid. Alkaline foods, including bananas, melons, cauliflower, and fennel, naturally counterbalance acidity. And watery foods like cucumber, celery, watermelon, broth-based soups, and herbal tea dilute stomach contents and reduce irritation.
Nonfat milk and low-fat yogurt can act as a temporary buffer between your stomach lining and acid, providing quick relief. Yogurt has the added benefit of containing probiotics that support digestion. A small amount of lemon juice mixed with warm water and honey also has a surprisingly alkalizing effect, despite lemon being acidic on its own.
Foods That Make an Upset Stomach Worse
Fatty foods are the biggest offenders. Anything greasy, fried, or rich in butter slows down the rate at which your stomach empties into your intestines. Food sitting in your stomach longer means more bloating, more nausea, and more discomfort. This is the same mechanism behind gastroparesis, a condition where stomach contractions become too weak to move food along normally.
Other foods and drinks to avoid while your stomach is off:
- Spicy foods, which irritate an already inflamed stomach lining
- Dairy (full-fat), which is harder to break down and can worsen diarrhea if you have any degree of lactose sensitivity
- Caffeine and alcohol, both of which increase acid production and delay gastric emptying
- Raw vegetables and high-fiber foods, which require more digestive effort than your stomach can handle right now
- Acidic fruits like oranges, tomatoes, and grapefruit, which can sting an irritated stomach
What to Do After Vomiting
If you’ve been throwing up, don’t eat or drink anything right away. Give your stomach a grace period of a few hours. Then start small: suck on ice chips or take tiny sips of water every 15 minutes. If the water stays down, graduate to other clear liquids like clear broth, diluted electrolyte drinks, ice pops, or gelatin.
Once you’ve kept liquids down for a few hours, your appetite will likely start returning. That’s when you introduce small amounts of bland solid food: a few spoonfuls of applesauce, half a banana, a couple of crackers, or a small bowl of plain oatmeal. The key word is small. Your stomach has been through a lot, and overwhelming it with a full plate will often send you right back to square one.
How Probiotics Help Recovery
If your upset stomach involves diarrhea, whether from a stomach bug, food poisoning, or traveler’s diarrhea, probiotics can shorten recovery. Research compiled by the World Gastroenterology Organisation shows that certain probiotic strains reduce the duration of acute diarrhea by roughly one day. That’s a meaningful difference when you’re miserable.
You don’t need a specialty supplement. Low-fat yogurt with live active cultures is one of the most accessible sources. The bacteria naturally present in yogurt also help with lactose digestion, which matters because temporary lactose sensitivity is common after a bout of gastroenteritis. Fermented foods like kefir and miso soup are other options, and miso has the added benefit of being salty and brothy, which helps with hydration.
Hydration Matters More Than Food
When your stomach is upset, staying hydrated is more important than eating. Vomiting and diarrhea drain fluids and electrolytes fast, and dehydration can make nausea worse, creating a vicious cycle. Water is fine for mild cases, but if you’ve been losing fluids for more than a few hours, you need to replace electrolytes too: sodium, potassium, and a small amount of sugar to help your intestines absorb the water.
Diluted electrolyte drinks, clear broth, and coconut water all work well. Sip steadily rather than gulping. If you can’t keep liquids down for more than 12 hours, or if you notice dark urine, dizziness, or a dry mouth, dehydration is becoming a concern that needs medical attention.