Most upset stomachs resolve on their own within 24 to 48 hours, but the right combination of fluids, food choices, and simple remedies can shorten that timeline and make you a lot more comfortable in the meantime. What works best depends on your specific symptoms, whether that’s nausea, cramping, diarrhea, or a general queasy feeling.
Start With Fluids, Not Food
Dehydration is the biggest practical risk of an upset stomach, especially if you’re dealing with vomiting or diarrhea. Plain water helps, but it doesn’t replace the sodium and potassium you’re losing. Sports drinks, broths, and diluted fruit juices are better options because they contain both electrolytes and a small amount of sugar, which actually helps your gut absorb water faster. The mechanism behind oral rehydration works best when sodium and glucose arrive in roughly equal proportions, which is why the World Health Organization’s rehydration formula uses a 1:1 ratio of the two.
Sip slowly rather than gulping. If you’re nauseous, taking large amounts of liquid at once can trigger more vomiting. Small, frequent sips every few minutes keep fluid moving in without overwhelming your stomach. Ice chips or frozen popsicles work well if even sipping feels like too much.
What to Eat (and When)
You’ve probably heard of the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. It’s fine for a day or two when your stomach is at its worst, but there’s no need to limit yourself to just those four foods. Harvard Health notes that a less restrictive approach makes more sense for most people, since the BRAT diet is low in protein and other nutrients your body needs to recover.
Once you can keep liquids down, start with bland, easy-to-digest foods. Good options include brothy soups, oatmeal, boiled potatoes, crackers, and unsweetened dry cereal. As your stomach settles, add more nutrient-dense choices: cooked carrots, sweet potatoes without the skin, avocado, skinless chicken or turkey, fish, and eggs. These give you the protein and calories to actually bounce back, not just survive.
Avoid greasy, spicy, or highly acidic foods until you feel fully normal. Dairy can also be harder to digest when your gut is inflamed, so hold off on milk and cheese for a day or two even if you normally tolerate them fine.
Ginger and Chamomile Tea
Ginger is one of the most well-supported natural remedies for nausea. It speeds up the rate at which your stomach empties, which reduces that heavy, bloated, about-to-be-sick feeling. You can use fresh ginger sliced into hot water, ginger chews, or ginger ale that contains real ginger (check the label, since many brands use only flavoring).
Chamomile tea contains natural anti-inflammatory compounds that can reduce irritation in the stomach lining and esophagus. It also has mild antispasmodic properties, meaning it can help relax the muscles in your digestive tract and ease cramping. A warm cup between meals is a simple way to calm things down without introducing anything harsh.
Over-the-Counter Options
Bismuth subsalicylate (the active ingredient in Pepto-Bismol and Kaopectate) is the most versatile OTC choice for general stomach upset. It works by reducing fluid flow into the bowel, lowering inflammation in the intestinal lining, and killing some of the organisms that cause diarrhea. It can help with nausea, indigestion, and loose stools all at once.
If diarrhea is your main problem, loperamide (the active ingredient in Imodium) slows gut motility and reduces the frequency of watery stools. One important caveat: skip both of these if you have a fever or notice blood in your stool. Those signs suggest an infection your body needs to clear, and slowing down your digestive tract can make things worse.
For stomach upset driven by heartburn or acid reflux, antacids that neutralize stomach acid can bring quick relief. Acid-reducing medications that last longer are available over the counter as well and work better for recurring symptoms.
Apply Heat to Your Abdomen
A heating pad or hot water bottle placed on your belly is one of the simplest and most effective ways to ease stomach cramps. Research from University College London found that heat above 40°C (104°F) applied to the skin activates heat receptors that physically block pain signals from the gut. These heat receptors shut down the chemical messengers released by distressed tissue, essentially switching off the pain before your brain registers it. This is why a warm compress can feel almost immediately soothing for crampy, colicky abdominal pain.
Wrap the heating pad in a towel to avoid burns and use it for 15 to 20 minutes at a time. A warm bath works through the same mechanism if you don’t have a heating pad handy.
Probiotics for Recovery
Probiotics won’t stop an upset stomach in its tracks, but they can shorten the course of diarrhea, particularly from viral gastroenteritis (stomach flu). A meta-analysis of 14 studies involving over 1,700 children found that those who took probiotics experienced diarrhea for roughly 23 hours less than those who didn’t. The proportion of kids still having diarrhea after 48 hours dropped by about 30% in the probiotic group.
The evidence is strongest in children, with less robust data in adults, but the general principle holds: replenishing beneficial gut bacteria helps your digestive system stabilize faster. Yogurt with live active cultures, kefir, or a probiotic supplement can all help, especially in the days following the worst of your symptoms.
What Doesn’t Work
Apple cider vinegar is one of the most commonly recommended home remedies for stomach trouble online, but there is no published clinical research supporting its use for heartburn or indigestion. Harvard Health reviewed the evidence and found zero studies in medical journals addressing it. For people whose upset stomach involves excess acid or an irritated stomach lining, adding more acid could actually make symptoms worse.
Milk is another popular folk remedy. While it may briefly buffer stomach acid, it stimulates more acid production within 30 minutes, often leaving you worse off than before. Carbonated beverages can also backfire. Although the fizz may feel soothing initially, the gas can increase bloating and abdominal pressure.
Signs That Need Medical Attention
Most upset stomachs are minor and self-limiting, but certain patterns signal something more serious. Pay attention if your pain is severe enough to interfere with normal functioning, if you can’t keep any liquids down for more than several hours, or if you notice blood in your vomit or stool. A fever combined with abdominal pain can indicate an infection that needs treatment.
Specific warning signs for appendicitis include pain that starts near the belly button and migrates to the lower right side, loss of appetite, fever, abdominal swelling, and an inability to pass gas. Pain that feels different from past episodes of stomach trouble, particularly if it’s more intense or accompanied by new symptoms like constipation with severe cramping, also warrants prompt evaluation. If you’ve had recent abdominal surgery, err on the side of getting checked sooner rather than later.