How to Calm an Upset Stomach

Video Transcript

"You've got an upset stomach and you want to know how to make that go away. My name is Beverly Bitterman, ARNP. I'm a health and wellness consultant, and I have a few tips for you. Common indigestion, perhaps from eating too much, eating, perhaps, the wrong kind of food, eating late at night -- something like that has caused you to have an upset stomach. If it's simple indigestion, the best thing to do is to avoid eating solid food for a few hours. Give your stomach a break. Three or four hours is a good idea. Meanwhile, have a...have some sips of water. You can have lukewarm water or warm water is probably the best. If the water goes down easy and doesn't make your stomach ache worse, then try drinking a whole glass of water. If that seems to go okay, wait a few more minutes -- like 20 or 30 minutes -- and have another glass of water. What you're doing is you're aiding your body and moving that food down and out. Meanwhile, the other kind of things that you could drink would be hot teas. You might want to try some ginger, some ginger ale, or this is a ginger root. You could cut a piece of that and put it in hot water and let it steam for about three minutes and then drink that. Once you feel a little bit better, then start with easy to digest food. Things like chicken noodle soup are great, toast with butter would be a good choice, scrambled egg, cottage cheese, things like that. If you have any of the following symptoms, however, seek medical care. If your...if your bowel movements are dark, maroon or tarry, you need to seek medical care. If you have a high fever and if it's lasting more than a day or two, you may give your doctor a call. By high, I mean something over 102 and you're wondering what to do. If you're vomiting and that's not going away, you also may wish to give your doctor a call. So I would suggest that you try to ease in to eating if you've got simple indigestion, keep your fluids up, and I hope you feel better."