When you’re nauseous, small amounts of bland, low-fat food are your best bet. Salty foods tend to settle the stomach better than sweet ones, and cold foods are easier to tolerate than hot ones because they give off less smell. The goal isn’t a full meal. It’s keeping something down so your blood sugar stays stable and you don’t get dehydrated.
Best Foods to Start With
Plain crackers, dry toast, and pretzels are reliable starting points because they’re salty, starchy, and nearly odorless. From there, you can work up to plain rice, a small baked potato, or simple broth-based soup. Applesauce and bananas are gentle options if you want something with a bit more substance. These are all part of what used to be called the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast), which remains a reasonable short-term strategy even though it’s no longer recommended as a strict regimen. Cleveland Clinic notes the BRAT diet lacks calcium, vitamin B12, protein, and fiber, so sticking to it beyond a day or two can actually slow recovery.
Once you can keep bland carbohydrates down, try adding a source of protein. Research suggests protein reduces nausea more effectively than carbohydrates alone. Good options include a few bites of plain chicken, a hard-boiled egg, a small handful of nuts, or a spoonful of peanut butter on toast. You don’t need a lot. Even a small amount of protein can help stabilize your stomach and your energy.
Why Cold Foods Often Work Better
If the smell of cooking makes your nausea worse, cold foods are a practical workaround. They release fewer aromas, so they’re less likely to trigger that wave of queasiness before the food even reaches your mouth. Cold sandwiches, chilled fruit, yogurt, and cheese sticks are all worth trying. Popsicles and frozen fruit bars serve double duty: they’re cold, and they help with hydration.
How to Handle Fluids
Dehydration is the biggest risk when nausea keeps you from eating normally, especially if you’ve been vomiting. Clear, cool beverages are easiest to tolerate. Think water, diluted juice, clear broth, or flat ginger ale. Sip slowly rather than gulping. One useful rule: avoid drinking liquids at the same time you eat. Separating fluids from food by 30 to 60 minutes in either direction helps prevent your stomach from getting overly full, which can make nausea worse.
If you’ve been vomiting and can’t keep much down, a simple oral rehydration solution replaces not just water but the salt and sugar your body is losing. You can make one at home by dissolving half a teaspoon of salt and two tablespoons of sugar into about four cups of water. A juice-based version works too: mix three-quarters of a cup of apple juice with three and a quarter cups of water and half a teaspoon of salt. Store either in the fridge and use within 24 hours. These homemade solutions are more effective than plain water at preventing dehydration because the sugar helps your intestines absorb the salt and fluid.
Foods and Drinks to Avoid
Fatty and fried foods are the biggest offenders. They slow down digestion, keeping food in your stomach longer and giving nausea more time to build. Spicy foods irritate the stomach lining directly. Beyond those two categories, several other common items tend to make things worse:
- Citrus fruits and juices, which are acidic enough to aggravate an already sensitive stomach
- Coffee and caffeinated tea, which stimulate stomach acid production
- Chocolate, which relaxes the valve between your stomach and esophagus
- Alcohol, which irritates the stomach lining and worsens dehydration
- Very sweet foods or drinks, which can intensify nausea, especially after vomiting
Tomato-based foods and sodas also land on the avoid list for most people dealing with nausea. If something sounds appealing despite being on this list, your body may tolerate it fine. But when in doubt, bland wins.
Eating Patterns That Help
How you eat matters as much as what you eat. Smaller portions work significantly better than normal-sized meals because a full stomach stretches and triggers more nausea. Aim for five or six small snacks spread through the day rather than three bigger meals. A few crackers here, half a banana there, a small cup of broth an hour later. This keeps something in your stomach without overwhelming it.
An empty stomach can actually make nausea worse, which is why eating a few plain crackers first thing in the morning (before even getting out of bed, if morning nausea is your issue) is a time-tested strategy. Eating slowly and chewing thoroughly also helps, since swallowing large bites forces your stomach to work harder. If you’re lying down after eating, prop yourself up slightly. Lying flat can slow digestion and push stomach contents toward your esophagus.
When You Can’t Keep Anything Down
If solid food isn’t staying down at all, don’t force it. Start with ice chips or small sips of clear fluid every few minutes. Frozen popsicles and gelatin are good middle-ground options: they provide some sugar and fluid without requiring real digestion. Once you’ve kept liquids down for a few hours, try a few bites of something plain like a saltine cracker or dry toast. Build from there gradually. The progression is fluids first, then soft bland foods, then small meals with protein. Most nausea episodes resolve within 24 to 48 hours, and you can return to your normal diet once eating no longer makes you feel worse.