Most indigestion responds well to a combination of dietary changes, over-the-counter medications, and a few well-studied natural remedies. The right approach depends on whether your symptoms are occasional or recurring, and whether the main problem is too much stomach acid, slow digestion, or something irritating your stomach lining.
Quick Relief: Over-the-Counter Options
Three categories of medication target indigestion, and they work differently enough that choosing the right one matters.
Antacids (like Tums or Rolaids) neutralize acid that’s already in your stomach. They work within minutes but wear off relatively fast, making them best for occasional flare-ups after a heavy meal. Baking soda works the same way, but the maximum safe dose is about 5 teaspoons per day, and it causes your body to retain water. If you have high blood pressure, baking soda can make it worse.
H2 blockers (like famotidine) reduce the amount of acid your stomach produces in the first place. They keep stomach acid suppressed for roughly four hours, so they’re useful when you know a meal is likely to cause trouble.
Proton pump inhibitors (like omeprazole) are the strongest option. They shut down acid production at the source by permanently disabling the pumps that release acid into your stomach. A single dose maintains low acid levels for 15 to 22 hours. These are designed for frequent symptoms, not one-off discomfort, and work best when taken daily for a stretch rather than as needed.
Ginger Speeds Up Slow Digestion
If your indigestion feels more like uncomfortable fullness, bloating, or food sitting like a rock in your stomach, ginger is worth trying. It works by physically speeding up how fast your stomach empties. In a clinical trial, 1.2 grams of ginger root powder (about half a teaspoon) cut the time it took for food to leave the stomach from roughly 16 minutes to 12 minutes. That’s a meaningful difference when your stomach feels like it’s holding onto everything.
Ginger tea, ginger chews, or capsules all deliver the active compounds. Fresh ginger sliced into hot water is the simplest route. Unlike acid-reducing medications, ginger addresses the mechanical side of digestion, so it pairs well with an antacid if you’re dealing with both fullness and burning.
Peppermint Oil: Helpful With a Caveat
Peppermint oil relaxes the smooth muscle in your stomach wall, lowering pressure inside the stomach and calming spasms. This can ease cramping and that tight, uncomfortable sensation in your upper abdomen. It also slows overactive stomach contractions, which helps when your digestive tract is churning aggressively.
The catch: peppermint oil also relaxes the valve between your esophagus and stomach. That means it can actually increase acid reflux. If heartburn is part of your indigestion, peppermint oil may make it worse. Enteric-coated capsules, which dissolve past the stomach, reduce this risk by delivering the oil further down the digestive tract. Peppermint tea, on the other hand, hits the stomach directly and is more likely to trigger reflux.
Iberogast: The Multi-Herb Approach
Iberogast (sold as STW 5) is a liquid blend of nine plant extracts, including bitter candytuft, chamomile, peppermint leaf, licorice root, and caraway. It’s one of the most studied herbal remedies for indigestion. In a meta-analysis of 637 patients, it showed a large, clinically meaningful improvement over placebo after four to eight weeks of daily use. It works through multiple pathways at once: relaxing the upper stomach, stimulating movement in the lower stomach, and calming inflammation in the gut lining. It’s available without a prescription in most countries and is commonly recommended by gastroenterologists in Europe.
Foods and Habits That Trigger Indigestion
Removing what causes the problem is often more effective than treating it after the fact. The most reliable dietary triggers are fatty or fried foods (which slow stomach emptying), spicy foods, raw onions, citrus, tomato-based dishes, chocolate, coffee, and carbonated drinks. Alcohol and smoking both relax the valve at the top of your stomach and increase acid production.
Eating too fast, eating too much in one sitting, and lying down within two to three hours of a meal are mechanical triggers. Gravity helps keep stomach contents where they belong, so staying upright after eating makes a noticeable difference for many people. Tight clothing around the waist can also push stomach contents upward.
Medications That Make It Worse
Several common medications cause or worsen indigestion, and this is an underappreciated trigger. Pain relievers like ibuprofen and aspirin directly irritate the stomach lining and are among the most frequent culprits. Iron supplements, certain antibiotics (particularly tetracycline), and bone-density drugs like alendronate can also inflame the esophagus.
Other medications don’t irritate directly but instead increase acid reflux by relaxing the esophageal valve or slowing digestion. These include calcium channel blockers and other blood pressure medications, opioid painkillers, certain antidepressants, sedatives like diazepam, and progesterone. If your indigestion started or worsened around the time you began a new medication, that connection is worth exploring with whoever prescribed it.
Symptoms That Need Medical Attention
Occasional indigestion after a big meal is normal. Persistent or worsening symptoms are not. The American College of Gastroenterology identifies several alarm symptoms that warrant investigation with an upper endoscopy:
- Unintentional weight loss
- Difficulty swallowing or pain when swallowing
- Persistent vomiting
- Unexplained iron deficiency anemia
- A family history of upper gastrointestinal cancer
For people over 60, the ACG recommends endoscopy for new or persistent indigestion even without these alarm symptoms, because the risk of an underlying condition increases with age. For everyone else, indigestion lasting more than two weeks despite over-the-counter treatment is a reasonable threshold for getting checked out.