When your stomach is churning, a few specific foods can calm things down quickly: bananas, plain rice, toast, broth-based soups, and boiled potatoes are among the safest bets. These foods are bland, low in fiber, and easy to digest, which means they won’t further irritate an already sensitive gut. But settling your stomach isn’t just about what you eat. What you drink and what you avoid matter just as much.
Start With Bland, Easy-to-Digest Foods
You’ve probably heard of the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. It’s been recommended for decades for nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, and the logic holds up. These foods are soft, low in fat, and gentle on inflamed digestive tissue. But as Harvard Health Publishing notes, there’s no reason to limit yourself to just those four items. Brothy soups, oatmeal, boiled potatoes, crackers, and unsweetened dry cereals are equally easy to digest and give your body more to work with.
The key principle is simplicity. Fat slows digestion, spice can irritate the stomach lining, and high-fiber foods force your gut to do more work. When your stomach is upset, you want foods that move through with minimal effort. Plain white rice is better than brown rice here. White toast is better than whole grain. Boiled or baked potatoes without butter or sour cream are ideal. Think of it as giving your digestive system the lightest possible workload while you recover.
If you’ve been vomiting or dealing with diarrhea for more than a day or two, start adding more nutritious options once the worst has passed. Cooked carrots, skinless chicken or turkey, eggs, avocado, butternut squash, and fish are all bland enough to tolerate while providing the protein and nutrients your body needs to bounce back.
Why Bananas and Applesauce Work So Well
Bananas and applesauce share something that makes them especially useful during stomach trouble: pectin, a type of soluble fiber that absorbs excess water in the intestines. If you’re dealing with loose or watery stools, pectin acts as a binding agent, helping firm things up without adding bulk that could worsen cramping. A single medium banana also delivers about 422 milligrams of potassium, roughly 10% of your daily needs. That matters because vomiting and diarrhea drain electrolytes fast, and potassium is one of the first to go. Low potassium can leave you feeling weak, shaky, and more nauseated.
Ripe bananas are best. The riper the banana, the softer and easier to digest it becomes, and the natural sugars are gentler on your stomach than added sweeteners. Unsweetened applesauce works on the same principle. Avoid apple juice, though, as the concentrated sugar can actually pull more water into the intestines and make diarrhea worse.
Ginger for Nausea
If nausea is your main problem, ginger is one of the most effective natural options available. The active compounds in ginger, called gingerols and shogaols, work directly on the receptors in your gut that trigger the urge to vomit. Specifically, they interfere with serotonin receptors (called 5-HT3 receptors) in the digestive tract, the same receptors targeted by prescription anti-nausea medications. The effect is dose-dependent, meaning more ginger produces a stronger response, up to a point.
The easiest ways to get ginger into your system when you’re feeling sick are ginger tea (made from fresh sliced ginger steeped in hot water), ginger chews, or flat ginger ale that still contains real ginger extract. Check ingredient labels on ginger ale, as many commercial brands use artificial ginger flavoring with no actual ginger. Fresh ginger tea is the most reliable option: slice a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, steep it in boiling water for 10 minutes, and sip slowly.
Chamomile and Peppermint Tea
Chamomile tea has a long folk reputation as a stomach soother, and there’s real science behind it. The flavonoids in chamomile, particularly compounds called apigenin and luteolin, inhibit enzymes that drive inflammation in the stomach lining. In lab studies, chamomile infusions reduced the activity of two key inflammatory enzymes by 43% to 63%, depending on concentration. For general stomach discomfort, bloating, or mild cramping, a warm cup of chamomile tea is a solid choice.
Peppermint tea can also help, but with an important caveat. Peppermint oil relaxes the smooth muscle in your digestive tract by blocking calcium channels in the gut wall. This is great for cramping and spasms. However, it also relaxes the valve between your esophagus and stomach. If your stomach upset involves acid reflux or heartburn, peppermint can make it significantly worse by allowing acid to travel upward. People with GERD or a hiatal hernia should skip peppermint entirely. For everyone else, especially those dealing with bloating or intestinal cramps, peppermint tea can bring quick relief.
Staying Hydrated Is Half the Battle
Dehydration is often the biggest risk during a stomach illness, especially if you’re vomiting or have diarrhea. Plain water is fine for mild cases, but if you’ve been losing fluids for several hours, your body also needs sodium and glucose to absorb water efficiently. The World Health Organization’s oral rehydration formula is simple enough to make at home: mix half a teaspoon of salt and two tablespoons of sugar into about four and a quarter cups of water. The sugar isn’t for energy. It activates a transport mechanism in your intestinal cells that pulls sodium and water into your bloodstream far more effectively than water alone.
Sip slowly rather than gulping. Drinking too much too fast when your stomach is irritated often triggers more vomiting. Small, frequent sips every few minutes are far more effective than trying to drink a full glass at once. Clear broths serve double duty here, providing both fluid and a small amount of sodium. Avoid milk, caffeinated drinks, alcohol, and fruit juices until you’re feeling consistently better.
What to Avoid Until You Feel Better
Some foods are almost guaranteed to make an upset stomach worse. Fried and greasy foods sit in the stomach longer because fat is the slowest macronutrient to digest. Dairy can be difficult even for people who aren’t lactose intolerant, because digestive enzymes are often temporarily reduced during a stomach illness. Spicy foods irritate the stomach lining directly. Raw vegetables, beans, and high-fiber grains require significant digestive effort and can worsen bloating and cramping.
Caffeine stimulates stomach acid production and speeds up gut motility, which can intensify both nausea and diarrhea. Carbonated drinks introduce gas into an already uncomfortable digestive system. Alcohol irritates the stomach lining and acts as a diuretic, worsening dehydration. Stick with the bland, simple options until you’ve gone at least 24 hours without symptoms before reintroducing your normal diet.
When Stomach Pain Needs More Than Food
Most stomach upset resolves on its own within a day or two with rest, hydration, and gentle eating. But certain patterns signal something more serious. Sudden, severe abdominal pain that doesn’t ease within 30 minutes needs emergency evaluation. The same applies to continuous vomiting that prevents you from keeping any fluids down, pain accompanied by fever and a rapid pulse, or severe pain concentrated in the lower right abdomen (a classic sign of appendicitis). Bloody vomit or stool, a rigid or extremely tender abdomen, and signs of significant dehydration like dizziness, dry mouth, or no urination for many hours all warrant immediate medical attention.