Bland, low-fiber foods like bananas, rice, applesauce, and plain toast are the safest choices when your stomach is acting up. These foods are easy to digest and unlikely to trigger more nausea or cramping. But you don’t have to limit yourself to just those four items. A wider range of gentle foods can settle your stomach while giving your body the nutrients it needs to recover.
The BRAT Diet and Beyond
The classic BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) has been recommended for decades, and each item earns its spot. Bananas and applesauce both contain pectin, a soluble fiber that binds excess water in the gut and helps firm up loose stools. Bananas also replenish potassium, a mineral you lose quickly during bouts of diarrhea or vomiting. Plain white rice is rich in starch that converts to soluble fiber during digestion. And toast made from white bread is about as inoffensive to a sensitive stomach as food gets.
That said, sticking to only these four foods for more than a day or two leaves you short on protein, healthy fats, and several vitamins. Once the worst has passed, typically after 24 to 48 hours, you can expand to other gentle options: brothy soups, oatmeal, boiled potatoes, crackers, and unsweetened dry cereal. All of these digest easily without adding much stress to your gut.
As your appetite returns, cooked squash (butternut or pumpkin), cooked carrots, sweet potatoes without the skin, and avocado are nutritious next steps. They’re still bland enough to avoid triggering symptoms but provide more of what your body needs to bounce back.
Ginger for Nausea
If nausea is your main problem, ginger is one of the most effective natural options. It works by increasing muscle tone and motility in your digestive tract while blocking the chemical signals (specifically serotonin-related pathways) that trigger the urge to vomit. This dual action, calming the nausea reflex in your brain while keeping your gut moving, makes it useful for everything from food poisoning to motion sickness.
Clinical studies have used daily doses ranging from 600 mg to 2,500 mg, with 1,000 mg being the most commonly recommended amount. The FDA considers up to 4 grams per day safe. In practical terms, a cup or two of ginger tea, a few slices of fresh ginger steeped in hot water, or ginger chews can all deliver enough of the active compounds to help. If you’re dealing with motion sickness, try taking ginger about an hour before travel.
Chamomile and Peppermint Tea
Chamomile tea has a long track record for soothing digestive discomfort. Its natural plant compounds help relax the smooth muscles that line your intestines, which can ease cramping, gas, and that general “clenched” feeling in your abdomen. It also has mild anti-inflammatory properties that may help calm irritation in the stomach lining.
Peppermint works through a different mechanism. It blocks calcium channels in the smooth muscle of your digestive tract, which prevents the spasms that cause cramping and pain. Peppermint tea is a simple way to get these benefits for general stomach upset. For people with ongoing digestive issues like irritable bowel syndrome, enteric-coated peppermint oil capsules deliver more of the active ingredient to the lower gut, but for a temporary upset stomach, a warm cup of peppermint tea is usually enough.
One caveat: peppermint can relax the valve between your stomach and esophagus, so if heartburn or acid reflux is part of your problem, chamomile is the better choice.
Protein That Won’t Make Things Worse
Your body needs protein to recover, but fatty meats and greasy foods slow digestion and can intensify nausea. The key is choosing lean, simply prepared options. Skinless chicken or turkey breast, poached or baked, provides about 30 grams of protein per 3.5-ounce serving with minimal fat. White fish like cod, tilapia, or haddock is even lighter, with less than 3 grams of fat per serving. Egg whites are another safe bet, with almost no fat and easy digestibility.
Plain tofu, low-fat cottage cheese, and nonfat Greek yogurt round out the options. Greek yogurt has the added advantage of containing live bacterial cultures that may support your gut during recovery. Keep portions small at first. Your stomach is more receptive to frequent, light meals than a single large one when it’s irritated.
Probiotic Foods for Recovery
After a bout of stomach flu or food poisoning, the bacterial balance in your gut takes a hit. Probiotic-rich foods can help restore it. Yogurt is the most accessible source, especially varieties that list live active cultures on the label. The bacterial strains used to make yogurt are well-studied, and some brands add additional probiotic strains from the Bifidobacterium or Lactobacillus families.
Other fermented foods like kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, miso, and kombucha contain live cultures too, but these haven’t been as rigorously tested as the strains found in yogurt and dedicated probiotic supplements. They’re still reasonable choices once your stomach has settled enough to tolerate more complex flavors. Start with small amounts, since fermented foods can produce gas in some people, which is the last thing you want when your gut is already unhappy.
What to Avoid Until You Feel Better
Some foods are reliably bad choices during a stomach episode. Fatty and fried foods slow gastric emptying, meaning food sits in your stomach longer and increases the chance of nausea. Dairy (other than yogurt and low-fat options) can be difficult to digest, especially during a GI illness when your gut’s ability to break down lactose may be temporarily reduced.
Certain carbohydrates that ferment easily in the gut can also make things worse. These include:
- High-fiber raw vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and onions
- Beans and lentils (despite being good protein sources, save these for when you’re fully recovered)
- Sugary drinks and fruit juices, which can pull water into the intestines and worsen diarrhea
- Caffeine and alcohol, both of which irritate the stomach lining and promote dehydration
- Spicy foods, which can trigger acid production and further irritate inflamed tissue
Staying Hydrated Matters Most
No food recommendation matters much if you’re dehydrated. Vomiting and diarrhea drain fluids and electrolytes fast, and dehydration itself causes nausea, creating a vicious cycle. Sip water, clear broth, or an oral rehydration solution throughout the day rather than trying to drink large amounts at once. Small, frequent sips are far less likely to come back up than a full glass.
If plain water sounds unappealing, warm broth serves double duty: it replaces both fluid and sodium. Coconut water is another option that provides potassium and natural sugars without the concentrated sweetness of fruit juice. Avoid carbonated drinks if you’re dealing with bloating or gas, though some people find flat ginger ale (with the fizz stirred out) tolerable because of the small amount of ginger flavoring.