Bland, easy-to-digest foods like plain rice, bananas, broth-based soups, crackers, and boiled potatoes are your best options when your stomach is upset. The old advice to stick strictly to the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) is fine for a day or two, but most experts now recommend a wider range of gentle foods so your body gets the protein and nutrients it needs to recover faster.
Best Foods for an Upset Stomach
The goal is to eat things that are soft, low in fat, and unlikely to irritate your digestive tract. These are reliably well-tolerated options:
- Plain white rice, which is low in fiber and easy to break down
- Bananas, which provide potassium you lose through vomiting or diarrhea
- Brothy soups like chicken broth or miso, which also help replace fluids and salt
- Boiled or baked potatoes without butter or heavy toppings
- Plain crackers or dry toast
- Oatmeal made with water rather than milk
- Applesauce, which contains a soluble fiber called pectin that helps firm up loose stools by promoting water absorption in the colon
- Unsweetened dry cereal
Once you can keep these foods down comfortably, start adding more nutritious options: skinless chicken or turkey, eggs, fish, cooked carrots, sweet potatoes without skin, butternut squash, and avocado. These are still gentle on your stomach but provide the protein your body needs to bounce back.
How Ginger and Peppermint Help (and When They Don’t)
Ginger is one of the most studied natural remedies for nausea. A systematic review of clinical trials found that taking around 1 gram of ginger daily for several days significantly reduced acute vomiting compared to a placebo. You don’t need a supplement to get this benefit. Ginger tea, fresh ginger slices steeped in hot water, or even ginger chews can settle a queasy stomach. Start with small amounts and see how you feel.
Peppermint tea is another popular choice, and it does have a real effect on your gut. It relaxes the smooth muscle in your intestinal tract, which can ease cramping and bloating. However, that same relaxing effect loosens the valve between your esophagus and stomach. If your upset stomach involves acid reflux or heartburn, peppermint can actually make things worse by allowing acid to travel upward. Stick with ginger instead if you’re dealing with any burning sensation in your chest or throat.
What to Avoid Until You Feel Better
Some foods are significantly harder for an irritated stomach to process. While you’re recovering, skip these categories:
- Dairy (milk, cheese, ice cream), which can be difficult to digest when your gut is inflamed
- Greasy or fried foods, which slow digestion and can trigger more nausea
- Spicy foods, which irritate the stomach lining
- Caffeine and alcohol, both of which can increase stomach acid and worsen dehydration
- Raw vegetables and whole grains, which require more digestive effort than your stomach can comfortably handle right now
Cultured dairy like plain yogurt is sometimes an exception. It contains beneficial bacteria that may help your gut recover, and the fermentation process breaks down some of the compounds that make regular dairy harder to tolerate.
You Don’t Need to Fast or Follow a Strict Diet
A common instinct is to eat nothing at all until you feel completely better. Current guidance from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases takes a different approach: you can return to eating your normal diet as soon as your appetite comes back, even if you still have diarrhea. Research shows that following a heavily restricted diet doesn’t actually help treat stomach viruses or speed recovery.
This is especially important for children. Pediatric recommendations are to resume a normal diet as soon as the child is willing to eat. Prolonged restriction can delay recovery by depriving the body of calories and nutrients it needs to heal.
The practical takeaway: if all you can manage is crackers and broth on day one, that’s fine. But don’t force yourself to stay on a limited diet for days if your body is ready for more.
Hydration Matters More Than Food
The biggest risk from vomiting and diarrhea isn’t the lost calories. It’s dehydration. Your body loses water, sodium, and potassium rapidly, and replacing those is the single most important thing you can do. Sip small amounts of water, clear broth, or an oral rehydration solution frequently rather than drinking large amounts at once, which can trigger more vomiting.
Signs you’re getting dehydrated include dark urine, dizziness when standing up, dry mouth, and a noticeably faster heartbeat. If you can’t keep any fluids down for more than a few hours, that’s a signal your body needs more help than home care can provide.
Probiotics May Shorten Recovery
If your upset stomach is caused by an infection (food poisoning, stomach flu, traveler’s diarrhea), probiotics can help you recover faster. A large Cochrane review found that probiotics reduced the average duration of diarrhea by about 30 hours compared to no treatment. In children with rotavirus specifically, the reduction was closer to 38 hours.
You can get probiotics through supplements or through fermented foods like plain yogurt, kefir, or miso. Starting them early in the illness appears to be more effective than waiting. They’re not a cure, but shaving a day or more off your symptoms is meaningful when you’re miserable.
Warning Signs That Need Medical Attention
Most stomach upsets resolve on their own within one to three days. But certain symptoms indicate something more serious than a passing bug. Seek urgent care if you experience sudden, severe abdominal pain that comes on abruptly, especially if it’s the worst you’ve ever felt. A fever combined with a rapid heartbeat or lightheadedness suggests your body is under significant stress.
Other red flags include blood in your vomit or stool, abdominal pain that gets dramatically worse when you cough or move, and a rigid or board-like feeling in your abdomen when you press on it. These can signal conditions like a perforated organ, intestinal obstruction, or internal bleeding, all of which require immediate evaluation.