Bland, low-fat foods that are easy to digest are your best options when your stomach is upset. Bananas, plain rice, toast, broth, and applesauce are reliable starting points, but you don’t need to limit yourself to just those. The key is choosing foods that won’t slow your digestion or irritate your stomach lining while your body recovers.
Start With Liquids, Then Ease Into Solids
If you’ve been vomiting, give your stomach a break for a few hours before eating or drinking anything. Once the nausea settles, start with small sips of clear liquids: water, diluted broth, or an electrolyte drink. When you’ve kept liquids down for a few hours, you can begin introducing small amounts of bland solid food.
Rushing back to full meals is one of the most common mistakes. Your digestive system needs a gradual ramp-up. Think of it as a progression: clear liquids first, then soft bland foods, then small regular meals over the next day or two.
The Best Foods for an Upset Stomach
The classic BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast) has been recommended for decades, and those four foods are still solid choices. They’re low in fat, low in fiber, and gentle on the digestive tract. Bananas also replace potassium lost through vomiting or diarrhea. But Harvard Health notes there’s no research showing the BRAT diet works better than a broader bland diet, and restricting yourself to just four foods for more than a day or two can leave you short on nutrients.
Beyond BRAT, these foods are well tolerated during stomach upset:
- Chicken broth or bone broth: easy to digest, keeps you hydrated, and provides electrolytes. Research has also found that chicken broth can reduce inflammation and may positively shift gut bacteria in a way similar to prebiotics.
- Plain crackers or pretzels: starchy, low-fat, and easy to nibble in small amounts.
- Boiled or baked potatoes (without skin or butter): soft, bland, and filling without being heavy.
- Plain cooked chicken or turkey: lean protein that won’t slow digestion the way fattier meats do.
- Oatmeal (if tolerated): some people find it soothing, though if you have diarrhea, its fiber content may not be ideal.
- Steamed or well-cooked vegetables without skins, like carrots or green beans.
Keep portions small. A few bites every hour or two is easier on your stomach than sitting down to a full plate.
Ginger and Chamomile Actually Help
Ginger is one of the few natural remedies with real evidence behind it for nausea. Its active compounds work on the digestive tract to calm nausea and reduce inflammation. Doses of 500 to 1,500 milligrams per day have been shown to relieve nausea, particularly in pregnancy, but you don’t need to measure precisely. A cup of ginger tea, a few slices of fresh ginger steeped in hot water, or even ginger chews can make a noticeable difference.
Chamomile tea is another good option. Chamomile helps relax the muscles in the digestive tract, which can ease cramping and gas. It also has mild anti-inflammatory properties that may soothe an irritated stomach lining. Sipping it warm between meals is a simple way to stay hydrated while calming your gut.
Peppermint tea is a third option, particularly if bloating or gas is part of the problem. It relaxes the smooth muscle of the intestines and can help trapped gas move through.
What to Avoid Until You Feel Better
Fat is the biggest thing to steer clear of. It naturally slows stomach emptying, which means food sits in your stomach longer and can worsen nausea, bloating, and discomfort. That rules out fried foods, creamy sauces, butter-heavy dishes, bacon, sausage, and full-fat dairy like whole milk, cream cheese, and ice cream.
High-fiber foods are also problematic during active stomach upset. Raw vegetables, raw fruits with skins, dried fruit, beans, lentils, bran cereals, and whole grain breads all take longer to break down and can make cramping and diarrhea worse. Once your symptoms improve, gradually add fiber back in.
Other foods and drinks to skip:
- Alcohol: impairs the stomach’s ability to empty and irritates the lining.
- Carbonated drinks: can increase bloating and that uncomfortable full feeling.
- Spicy foods: can irritate an already inflamed digestive tract.
- Caffeine: stimulates acid production and can worsen nausea.
- Acidic foods like citrus fruits and tomato-based sauces.
- Dense, heavy starches like bagels, dumplings, and thick pizza crust, which are harder to break down.
Probiotics Can Shorten Recovery
If your upset stomach involves diarrhea, probiotics may help you recover faster. Two strains in particular have the strongest evidence. Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (often labeled LGG) and Saccharomyces boulardii have both been shown to reduce the duration of infectious diarrhea by about one day. That might not sound dramatic, but when you’re dealing with a stomach bug, cutting a full day off your misery is meaningful.
You can find these strains in supplement form at most pharmacies. Yogurt with live active cultures is another option once your stomach can tolerate dairy again, though supplements deliver higher concentrations. Look for products that list specific strain names on the label rather than just “probiotic blend.”
A Simple Recovery Timeline
Most cases of stomach upset from a virus, food poisoning, or traveler’s diarrhea follow a predictable arc. The first few hours are the worst, and your only job is to rest and sip fluids. Within four to eight hours, you can usually start small amounts of bland food if the vomiting has stopped. Over the next one to two days, gradually expand what you eat, sticking to the low-fat, low-fiber foods listed above.
By day two or three, most people can return to a normal diet. If you’re still unable to keep food down after 24 hours, or if you notice signs of dehydration like dark urine, dizziness, or a dry mouth, that’s a sign your body needs more help than bland food alone can provide.