Most upset stomachs resolve on their own within a few hours, and the fastest way to help yours along is to stop eating heavy food, sip fluids slowly, and let your digestive system settle. What you do next depends on your specific symptoms, whether that’s nausea, bloating, heartburn, or diarrhea. Here’s what actually works.
Start With Small Sips, Not Big Glasses
When your stomach is upset, especially if you’re vomiting or have diarrhea, dehydration becomes the real threat. But gulping water can make nausea worse. Take small, frequent sips of clear fluids: water, broth, or an oral rehydration solution like Pedialyte. These solutions contain a precise balance of glucose and electrolytes designed to replace what your body is losing, and the World Health Organization considers them the most effective treatment for dehydration from diarrhea across all age groups.
Avoid alcohol, caffeine, and carbonated drinks until you’re feeling better. If plain water is all you can manage, that’s fine. The goal is steady intake, not volume.
Ginger Works, but Dosage Matters
Ginger is one of the few natural remedies with solid evidence behind it. The active compounds in ginger root block serotonin receptors in the gut that trigger the vomiting reflex. They also help food move through your stomach more efficiently when digestion has slowed down.
Research on chemotherapy patients found that ginger supplements at 1 gram per day or less, taken for more than four days, reduced acute vomiting by 70% compared to a placebo. For everyday stomach upset, you don’t need to be that precise. Ginger tea, ginger chews, or a small piece of fresh ginger can help with nausea. If you’re using capsules, aim for around 250 mg taken a few times throughout the day. More isn’t necessarily better.
Peppermint for Cramps and Bloating
If your upset stomach involves cramping, bloating, or that tight, pressurized feeling, peppermint can help. It works by relaxing the smooth muscle in your digestive tract, essentially blocking the calcium signals that cause muscles in your gut wall to contract and spasm. This is why peppermint tea often provides quick relief from that clenched, uncomfortable sensation in your abdomen.
Enteric-coated peppermint oil capsules (0.2 to 0.4 mL, three times daily) are the form studied most for irritable bowel syndrome, but for a simple stomach ache, a cup of peppermint tea is a reasonable starting point. One caution: peppermint can worsen heartburn by relaxing the valve between your esophagus and stomach, so skip it if acid reflux is your main problem.
Try Acupressure on Your Wrist
Pressing firmly on the P6 pressure point on the inside of your wrist can reduce mild nausea. To find it, place three fingers flat across the inside of your wrist just below the crease where your hand meets your arm. The point sits in the groove between the two large tendons, just below where your third finger lands. Press firmly with your thumb for two to three minutes, then switch wrists. This technique is commonly used for motion sickness and morning sickness, and anti-nausea wristbands work on the same principle.
What to Eat (and What to Skip)
The old BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) was once the standard advice, but it’s no longer recommended as a strict protocol. The American Academy of Pediatrics dropped it because it’s too low in protein, calcium, vitamin B12, and fiber to support recovery. Following it for more than 24 hours can actually slow healing.
The underlying idea is still useful, though. When your stomach is at its worst, stick to soft, bland foods. Bananas and plain rice are fine choices, but so are scrambled eggs, skinless chicken, plain crackers, and cooked vegetables. The point is to avoid greasy, spicy, acidic, or high-fiber foods that force your digestive system to work harder. As soon as you can tolerate more variety, add it back. Your body needs the nutrients to recover.
Matching Over-the-Counter Options to Your Symptoms
Not every stomach remedy treats every symptom. Choosing the right one saves you time and discomfort.
- Nausea, mild diarrhea, or general upset: Bismuth subsalicylate (the active ingredient in Pepto-Bismol) coats the stomach lining, acts as a barrier against acid irritation, and treats both nausea and diarrhea.
- Gas and bloating: Simethicone (found in Gas-X) breaks up gas bubbles in the gut. If your gas comes specifically from high-fiber foods like beans or broccoli, alpha-galactosidase (Beano) helps break down the sugars that cause it, but you need to take it before eating.
- Heartburn or acid reflux: Antacids like Tums neutralize stomach acid for quick but short-lived relief. For longer-lasting control, a product combining an antacid with an acid reducer (like Pepcid Complete) provides both immediate and extended relief.
Position Your Body to Help Your Stomach
How you sit and sleep affects how quickly your stomach settles. If heartburn or acid reflux is part of the problem, avoid lying flat. Elevating your upper body with a wedge pillow keeps stomach acid from creeping into your esophagus. A study from Harvard Health found that sleeping on your left side cleared acid significantly faster than sleeping on your back or right side, reducing both pain and tissue irritation.
Even without reflux, sitting upright or slightly reclined is generally more comfortable than lying flat when your stomach is upset. Gravity helps keep things moving in the right direction.
Probiotics for Recurring Problems
If stomach upset is a one-time event, probiotics won’t do much in the moment. But if you deal with frequent digestive issues, certain probiotic strains can help over time. A systematic review published in The Lancet’s eClinicalMedicine identified nine specific probiotics that showed measurable benefits for irritable bowel symptoms, including Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, which improved abdominal pain scores in multiple trials. Probiotics work best as a preventive strategy rather than a quick fix, and results vary by strain, so look for products that list specific strains on the label rather than just genus names.
Red Flags That Need Emergency Care
Most stomach upset passes within hours to a couple of days. But certain patterns signal something more serious. The American College of Emergency Physicians recommends seeking emergency care if your abdominal pain is sudden and severe, or if it doesn’t ease within 30 minutes. Continuous severe pain accompanied by nonstop vomiting can indicate a life-threatening condition.
Watch specifically for sharp pain concentrated in your lower right abdomen (a hallmark of appendicitis), pain in the middle upper abdomen that worsens after eating and comes with fever or a rapid pulse (possible pancreatitis), or any abdominal pain paired with a high fever, bloody stool, or an inability to keep any fluids down for more than 12 hours. These aren’t wait-and-see situations.