When your stomach is upset, the best foods are bland, low-fiber, and easy to digest: think bananas, plain white rice, toast, broth, and cooked vegetables like carrots or sweet potatoes. The goal is to give your digestive system as little work as possible while still getting enough nutrients and fluids to recover. What you eat matters, but what you drink matters even more, since the biggest risk from vomiting or diarrhea is dehydration, not hunger.
Start With Fluids, Not Food
If you’re actively vomiting or having diarrhea, replacing lost fluids is your first priority. Water alone doesn’t cut it because you’re also losing electrolytes like sodium and potassium. Oral rehydration solutions (sold as Pedialyte or store-brand equivalents) are formulated with a 1:1 ratio of sodium to glucose, which optimizes fluid absorption in the gut. That specific balance is why sports drinks, which contain far more sugar, aren’t as effective.
Sip slowly rather than gulping. Taking small sips every few minutes is less likely to trigger another round of nausea than drinking a full glass at once. Clear broths, diluted apple juice, and coconut water are reasonable alternatives if you don’t have a rehydration solution on hand. Avoid anything carbonated, caffeinated, or very cold, as all three can irritate an already sensitive stomach.
The BRAT Diet and Its Limits
The BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast) has been the go-to recommendation for decades. These foods are bland, low in fiber, and unlikely to make nausea worse. They’re a fine starting point for the first day or two when your stomach is at its worst.
But there’s no clinical evidence that restricting yourself to only those four foods speeds recovery. Harvard Health Publishing notes that no studies have compared the BRAT diet with other approaches, and the bigger concern is that it’s nutritionally incomplete. Bananas and applesauce offer some potassium, but the diet is low in protein, fat, and most vitamins. Staying on it for more than a day or two can leave you feeling weak and delay your recovery.
Foods to Add as You Improve
Once you can keep bland foods down for several hours without nausea, start expanding what you eat. The key is choosing foods that are still gentle but nutritionally richer:
- Cooked vegetables: butternut squash, pumpkin, carrots, and sweet potatoes (without the skin) are easy to digest and provide vitamins your body needs to heal.
- Lean protein: skinless chicken, turkey, fish, and eggs give you protein without the heavy fat content that slows digestion.
- Avocado: soft, calorie-dense, and provides healthy fats that won’t irritate your stomach the way fried foods would.
- Plain oatmeal: more filling than toast and provides soluble fiber, which can help firm up loose stools.
You don’t need to eat large meals. Small portions every two to three hours are easier on your system than three full-sized meals, and they help maintain steady blood sugar when you haven’t been eating much.
Foods and Drinks to Avoid
Some foods that seem harmless, or even helpful, can actually make things worse. Dairy is a common culprit because the enzyme that digests lactose is produced in the lining of your small intestine, and that lining is often temporarily damaged during a stomach illness. Even people who normally tolerate milk may find it causes bloating or diarrhea during recovery.
Fried, greasy, and heavily spiced foods are hard to break down and can trigger nausea. Raw vegetables and high-fiber foods like whole grains, beans, and nuts are normally healthy choices, but their fiber content creates extra work for an inflamed digestive tract. Alcohol and coffee both increase stomach acid production and can worsen irritation.
Peppermint tea is often suggested as a stomach soother, and it does relax smooth muscle in the digestive tract. However, that same relaxing effect loosens the valve between your esophagus and stomach. If your upset stomach involves acid reflux or heartburn, peppermint can make the burning worse.
Whether Probiotics Help
Probiotics, particularly a strain called Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (found in many commercial supplements and some yogurts), have the strongest evidence for shortening diarrhea. A meta-analysis found it reduced both the duration of diarrhea and hospital stays in children with acute gastroenteritis. The European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology recommends starting it alongside rehydration therapy early in the illness.
The evidence in adults is less robust, but many gastroenterologists still consider probiotics a reasonable addition. If you want to try them, look for products that list specific strains on the label rather than just “live cultures.” Taking them with food improves survival of the bacteria through stomach acid.
Signs Your Upset Stomach Needs Medical Attention
Most stomach bugs resolve on their own within one to three days. But dehydration from persistent vomiting or diarrhea can become dangerous. Watch for confusion, fainting, a rapid heartbeat, rapid breathing, or not urinating at all. These are signs your body has lost more fluid than you can replace by sipping drinks, and you may need intravenous fluids.
Bloody stool, severe abdominal pain that localizes to one area, or a fever above 102°F (39°C) that doesn’t respond to over-the-counter fever reducers also warrant a call to your doctor. An upset stomach that lingers beyond a few days without improvement, even if it’s mild, is worth getting checked out to rule out something beyond a simple virus.