Chicken broth is one of the most commonly recommended foods for nausea, and for good reason. It’s easy on the stomach, replaces fluids and sodium lost from vomiting, and requires almost no digestive effort. Medical guidelines from the Mayo Clinic include clear, fat-free broth as part of a clear liquid diet recommended for nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Why Broth Settles a Nauseated Stomach
When you’re nauseated, your stomach needs as little work as possible. Fatty foods slow down stomach emptying, which tends to make nausea worse. Low-fat chicken broth bypasses this problem because it’s mostly water, salt, and a small amount of protein, so it moves through your digestive system without sitting heavily.
The sodium in broth also plays a practical role. If you’ve been vomiting, you’ve lost both fluid and electrolytes. Plain water can rehydrate you, but it doesn’t replace the sodium your body needs. Broth delivers that sodium in a form your stomach can handle, which helps your body actually retain the fluid you’re drinking rather than passing it straight through.
Temperature matters too. Your stomach has heat-sensing receptors that respond to warm liquids by increasing gentle contractions that move food along. Research on gastric motility shows that hot liquids (around 60°C or 140°F) can speed up stomach emptying, which may help clear the feeling of fullness or stagnation that often accompanies nausea. This is one reason warm broth feels soothing in a way that cold water doesn’t.
Timing It After Vomiting
If you’ve been actively vomiting, jumping straight to broth isn’t always the best move. Your stomach needs a short rest first. Most guidelines suggest starting with small sips of an oral rehydration solution or clear fluids, then gradually introducing broth once you’ve kept liquids down for a couple of hours. Drinking too much too fast can trigger another round of vomiting, so start with a few tablespoons at a time and work up from there.
One important note for children: Nationwide Children’s Hospital specifically advises against giving teas or broths to kids who are vomiting, as these liquids could make symptoms worse. The American Academy of Family Physicians also notes that clear liquids like chicken broth don’t adequately replace the potassium, bicarbonate, and sodium that children need during dehydration. For kids, oral rehydration solutions designed with the right balance of electrolytes are the better choice.
Broth for Morning Sickness
Pregnancy-related nausea is a slightly different situation, and broth works well here. The Mother Baby Center recommends sipping soup broth as a way to get hydration and nutrition while calming the stomach during morning sickness. Broth contains electrolytes and minerals that help maintain blood volume, which can prevent the dehydration that often makes pregnancy nausea worse.
If the smell of hot broth triggers your nausea (a common problem in pregnancy, when your sense of smell is heightened), try cooling it down or adding ice. The aroma from a steaming bowl can be enough to set off a wave of nausea before you even take a sip, so temperature adjustment is a simple workaround.
What Kind of Broth Works Best
For nausea specifically, the best broth is clear and low in fat. That’s the version included in medical clear liquid diets. Rich, fatty broths with visible oil floating on top will slow your digestion and potentially make things worse.
Homemade broth gives you the most control over what goes in. If you’re using store-bought options, check the label for excess sodium, preservatives, and artificial flavors. Some commercial broths pack well over 800 mg of sodium per serving, which adds up fast if you’re sipping throughout the day. For most people dealing with short-term nausea, that extra sodium is actually helpful since you’re replacing what you lost. But if you have heart failure or high blood pressure, the sodium load matters. Heart failure guidelines recommend staying under 2,000 mg of sodium per day total, so several cups of salty broth could push you past that limit quickly.
Bone broth, which is simmered for 8 to 24 hours, contains more protein, collagen, and amino acids like glycine and glutamine than regular broth or bouillon. These amino acids have anti-inflammatory properties and are easy to absorb. That said, bone broth can also be richer and higher in fat depending on how it’s made. If your nausea is intense, a lighter, clearer broth is the safer starting point. You can move to bone broth as your stomach settles.
What Broth Can and Can’t Do
Chicken broth is a comfort food with genuine physiological benefits for nausea: it hydrates, replaces electrolytes, moves through the stomach easily, and provides warmth that promotes gentle digestion. What it can’t do is serve as complete nutrition. The Mayo Clinic is clear that a clear liquid diet, including broth, doesn’t provide enough calories or nutrients to sustain you beyond a few days. It’s a bridge, not a meal plan.
Broth also won’t treat the underlying cause of your nausea. If your nausea comes from a stomach virus, food poisoning, or motion sickness, broth helps you feel better and stay hydrated while your body handles the problem. If nausea persists for more than a couple of days, is accompanied by severe abdominal pain, or keeps you from holding down any fluids at all, the issue likely needs more than broth can offer.