When your stomach is upset, the best things to eat are bland, low-fat foods that are easy to digest: plain white rice, bananas, toast made from white bread, applesauce, broth, and boiled potatoes. These foods are gentle enough to stay down and unlikely to make nausea or diarrhea worse. But the old advice to eat nothing but the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) is outdated. Current guidelines from pediatric hospitals note that this approach is “unnecessarily restrictive” and that eating a wider variety of tolerated foods actually shortens illness and improves recovery.
Why Bland Foods Work
The foods traditionally recommended for an upset stomach share a few key properties. They’re low in fat, low in insoluble fiber, and unlikely to trigger further nausea. Fat is the biggest culprit to avoid because it slows stomach emptying, which keeps food sitting in your stomach longer and can worsen bloating, nausea, and pain. Anything with more than about 17.5 grams of fat per 100 grams counts as high-fat and is worth skipping until you feel better.
Bananas and applesauce contain pectin, a type of soluble fiber that absorbs excess water in the gut and helps firm up loose stools. Plain white rice is rich in starch that converts to soluble fiber during digestion, producing a similar effect. Rice water, the starchy liquid left after boiling rice, has been shown to reduce stool output in mild to moderate gastroenteritis. Its low osmolality helps the gut absorb water more efficiently, which means less fluid loss.
Bananas also replenish potassium, a mineral your body loses rapidly during diarrhea and vomiting. This makes them one of the most useful single foods you can reach for when your stomach is off.
Good Foods to Start With
Beyond the classic BRAT list, you can eat a wider range of foods as long as they’re mild and low in fat. Good options include:
- Plain crackers or pretzels for easy-to-digest starch and a small amount of salt
- Boiled or baked potatoes without butter or cream
- Clear broth or soup for fluid, salt, and warmth
- Plain oatmeal made with water
- Skinless chicken if you can tolerate protein
- Plain yogurt with live cultures
The key principle is to eat early and eat what you can tolerate. Withholding food for more than 24 hours is counterproductive. Early, unrestricted feeding reduces changes in gut permeability caused by infection, shortens illness duration, and leads to better nutritional outcomes. Start with small portions and expand as your appetite returns.
Foods and Drinks to Avoid
Fatty, greasy, and fried foods are the worst offenders. They slow gastric emptying and can intensify nausea, cramping, and bloating. Skip burgers, pizza, fried chicken, creamy sauces, and anything deep-fried until your symptoms have fully resolved.
Spicy foods, especially those heavy on chili peppers, stimulate the gut and can amplify symptoms. If you eat spicy food regularly, stick to mild versions. If you don’t eat it often, avoid it entirely while you’re recovering, since occasional exposure tends to cause more symptoms than habitual use.
Caffeine and alcohol both irritate the digestive tract and can worsen dehydration. Dairy products (other than yogurt) can be hard to digest during a stomach illness because temporary lactose intolerance is common when the gut lining is inflamed. High-fiber foods like raw vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and seeds can also aggravate diarrhea. Coarse insoluble fiber, like wheat bran, mechanically irritates the gut lining and stimulates water secretion, which is the opposite of what you want.
Hydration Matters More Than Food
Replacing lost fluids is the single most important thing you can do during a stomach illness. Vomiting and diarrhea deplete water, sodium, and potassium quickly, and dehydration can make you feel far worse than the illness itself.
The gold standard for rehydration is an oral rehydration solution (ORS), which contains a precise balance of sugar and electrolytes designed to maximize water absorption in the gut. The formula recommended by the World Health Organization uses about 75 milliequivalents of sodium per liter and 13.5 grams of carbohydrate per liter. Pre-made ORS packets or commercial products like Pedialyte follow this ratio and are safer than trying to mix your own at home, where getting the proportions wrong can cause problems.
If you don’t have ORS on hand, sip water, diluted juice, or clear broth throughout the day. Take small, frequent sips rather than large gulps, especially if you’re vomiting. Coconut water is a reasonable option since it naturally contains potassium and some sodium, though it’s not a perfect substitute for ORS.
Ginger and Peppermint for Nausea
Ginger is one of the best-studied natural remedies for nausea. It works directly in the digestive tract by increasing stomach motility and blocking serotonin receptors in the gut, the same receptors targeted by prescription anti-nausea medications. Compounds in ginger inhibit these receptors in a way that reduces the signals triggering the urge to vomit. Most clinical studies use around 1,000 milligrams per day, typically split into two or three doses. The FDA considers up to 4 grams daily to be safe. You can get ginger through tea, ginger chews, capsules, or freshly grated ginger steeped in hot water.
Peppermint can help with cramping and abdominal discomfort. It acts as a smooth muscle relaxant by blocking calcium channels in the muscles lining the digestive tract, which reduces spasms and the pain that comes with them. Peppermint tea is the simplest way to use it. One important caveat: peppermint relaxes the valve between your esophagus and stomach, which can worsen heartburn or acid reflux. If you tend to get reflux, skip the peppermint or use enteric-coated capsules designed to release further down the digestive tract.
Probiotics Can Shorten Recovery
If your upset stomach is caused by a stomach bug (acute gastroenteritis), probiotics can speed things along. A large meta-analysis of 25 randomized controlled trials covering over 5,000 patients found that probiotics significantly reduced the overall duration of diarrhea and shortened vomiting time. By day five, people taking probiotics had notably fewer episodes of diarrhea compared to those on placebo.
Yogurt with live active cultures is the easiest dietary source. You can also take a probiotic supplement. The most commonly studied strains for stomach illness belong to the Lactobacillus and Saccharomyces families. Start probiotics as soon as symptoms begin for the best effect.
Warning Signs That Need Medical Attention
Most upset stomachs resolve on their own within a day or two. But certain symptoms point to something more serious. Seek emergency care if you experience sudden, severe abdominal pain that doesn’t ease within 30 minutes, or if continuous vomiting prevents you from keeping any fluids down. Severe pain in the lower right abdomen combined with nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, or fever can signal appendicitis. Upper abdominal pain that worsens after eating, paired with fever and a rapid pulse, may indicate pancreatitis.
Signs of dehydration also warrant medical attention: very dark urine, dizziness when standing, dry mouth, or not urinating for several hours. In young children and older adults, dehydration can become dangerous quickly.