When your stomach is upset, the best foods are bland, low in fat, and easy to digest: think bananas, plain rice, toast, broth-based soups, boiled potatoes, and saltine crackers. Keeping portions small and meals frequent matters just as much as what you choose to eat. Most stomach upsets resolve within a day or two with the right foods and adequate fluids, so the goal is to keep yourself nourished and hydrated without making things worse.
The Best Foods to Start With
You’ve probably heard of the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. These foods are gentle on the stomach because they’re low in fiber, low in fat, and unlikely to trigger further nausea. They still work well as a starting point, but doctors no longer recommend sticking to only these four foods. The American Academy of Pediatrics considers a strict BRAT diet too restrictive, noting it lacks calcium, vitamin B12, protein, and fiber. For children especially, following it for more than 24 hours may actually slow recovery.
So use BRAT foods as your foundation for the first several hours, then expand. Other options that are equally gentle:
- Brothy soups (chicken broth, miso, vegetable broth)
- Oatmeal made with water
- Boiled or baked potatoes without butter or sour cream
- Saltine crackers or dry cereal
- Plain white pasta
Bananas deserve a special mention. Green and slightly underripe bananas contain pectin and resistant starch, both of which help firm up loose stools. A study on children with persistent diarrhea found that green banana and pectin reduced stool weight by about 50%, largely by improving the intestinal lining’s ability to absorb fluid. Ripe bananas are gentler on the stomach and still provide potassium, which you lose quickly through vomiting and diarrhea.
What to Add as You Start Feeling Better
Once the worst has passed and you’re keeping bland foods down comfortably, start reintroducing more nutritious options. Scrambled eggs are a good next step. Scrambling breaks down the protein structure, making eggs easier to digest than hard-boiled or fried versions. Skinless chicken or turkey, steamed vegetables, and soft-cooked carrots or squash are all reasonable choices at this stage.
How you cook matters nearly as much as what you cook. Steaming vegetables retains more vitamins and minerals than boiling, and poaching or baking meat requires no added fat. Frying in oil or butter adds significant calories and fat that your stomach isn’t ready to handle. Even something as simple as a baked potato becomes a much heavier food once it’s fried.
Ginger and Peppermint for Nausea
Ginger is one of the most well-studied natural remedies for nausea. Its active compounds work through multiple pathways in the body, but the practical effect is straightforward: ginger helps speed up a sluggish stomach. Research shows it counteracts delayed gastric emptying, meaning food moves through your system instead of sitting there making you feel worse. Ginger tea, ginger chews, or even flat ginger ale with real ginger can help settle nausea. Fresh ginger steeped in hot water for five to ten minutes makes a simple, effective tea.
Peppermint works differently. It relaxes the smooth muscle in your digestive tract by blocking calcium channels in muscle cells, which reduces cramping and spasms. A cup of peppermint tea can ease bloating and that tight, uncomfortable feeling in your abdomen. There’s one important caveat, though: peppermint also relaxes the valve between your esophagus and stomach, which can increase the likelihood of acid reflux. If heartburn is part of your upset stomach, skip the peppermint and stick with ginger.
Eat Small, Eat Often
Large meals stretch the stomach and trigger stronger digestive contractions, which is the last thing you want when your gut is already irritated. Eating smaller amounts more frequently keeps things calmer. Research on people with digestive symptoms found that more frequent small meals or snacks were independently associated with lower symptom severity scores, likely by minimizing post-meal bloating and easing the workload on your stomach.
In practice, this means eating a few bites every couple of hours rather than sitting down to a full plate. A few crackers here, half a banana there, a small cup of broth an hour later. As your appetite returns over a day or two, gradually increase portion sizes. Soft, pureed textures are also easier to handle during the worst of it.
Foods and Drinks to Avoid
Fat is the single most potent trigger for slowing down gastric emptying. When fat reaches your small intestine, it sends signals back to the stomach telling it to relax and stop pushing food through. That means greasy, fried, or rich foods will sit in your stomach longer, prolonging that heavy, nauseated feeling. Avoid fried chicken, pizza, burgers, creamy sauces, and anything cooked in a lot of oil or butter.
Other foods to skip while you’re recovering:
- Dairy (milk, cheese, ice cream), which can be difficult to digest when your gut lining is irritated
- Spicy foods, which can further irritate an inflamed stomach lining
- Raw vegetables and high-fiber foods like beans, whole grains, and raw salads, which require more digestive effort
- Caffeine and alcohol, both of which can increase stomach acid and worsen dehydration
- Carbonated drinks, which may increase bloating and gas
- Citrus fruits and juices, which are acidic and can aggravate nausea
Staying Hydrated
Dehydration is the biggest risk when you’re dealing with vomiting or diarrhea, especially for young children and older adults. Early dehydration shows up as decreased urine output and darker, more concentrated urine. As it progresses, you’ll notice a dry mouth, decreased skin elasticity, a faster heart rate, and irritability.
Sip fluids constantly, even if you can only manage small amounts. Water is fine, but you’re also losing electrolytes. Oral rehydration solutions, diluted sports drinks, and clear broths all help replace sodium and potassium. Take small, frequent sips rather than gulping large amounts, which can trigger more vomiting. If you can’t keep any liquids down for more than a few hours, that’s a sign you may need medical attention.
Probiotics During Recovery
Probiotic-rich foods and supplements can shorten the duration of diarrhea, particularly when started early. The two most studied strains are Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Saccharomyces boulardii, a beneficial yeast. S. boulardii has been shown to be particularly effective at reducing how long diarrhea lasts, and the benefits are strongest when supplementation begins within the first three days of symptoms.
You can get these through probiotic capsules or through foods like plain yogurt (once you’re past the worst of it and can tolerate dairy again), kefir, or fermented foods. Starting a probiotic within the first 24 hours of symptom onset appears to yield the best results, though any point during recovery still helps. Look for products that specifically list L. rhamnosus GG or S. boulardii on the label.
A Simple Recovery Timeline
During the first few hours when nausea is at its worst, focus only on clear fluids: water, broth, ginger tea, and oral rehydration solutions. Once you can keep liquids down, introduce the blandest foods: plain crackers, dry toast, a few bites of banana or plain rice. Over the next 24 to 48 hours, expand to include eggs, steamed vegetables, plain chicken, and oatmeal. By day three or four, most people can return to a normal diet, gradually reintroducing dairy, fiber, and more flavorful foods as tolerated.
If symptoms persist beyond 48 hours, you notice blood in your stool or vomit, you develop a fever above 101.3°F, or you can’t keep fluids down at all, those are signs of something more than a simple stomach bug.