If you’re suffering from an upset stomach, home remedies can help. Over-the-counter medications and certain drinks will help soothe your symptoms, and simple lifestyle adjustments will help you prevent recurrences of an upset stomach. Check out this guide to find your upset stomach symptoms, and home remedies and tips to help you conquer them.
Please note that while reputable medical sources were consulted in the writing of this article, these suggestions (and in fact, home remedies in general) should not be considered a substitute for medical advice. Seeking the opinion of your family doctor or a gastroenterologist is recommended if you suffer from upset stomach and are looking for trusted home remedies to treat it.
The Mayo Clinic classifies an upset stomach under the umbrella term of indigestion. By their definition: “Indigestion – also called dyspepsia or an upset stomach – is a general term that describes discomfort in your upper abdomen. Indigestion is not a disease, but rather a collection of symptoms you experience, including bloating, belching and nausea.” The Mayo Clinic does not consider heartburn a symptom of indigestion, though they agree that sufferers of upset stomach also experience heartburn.
Some of the recommended home remedies for upset stomach are drugstore items, over-the-counter treatments like Pepto-Bismol, Alka-Seltzer and Tums. Despite the Mayo Clinic’s distinction that heartburn and indigestion are not one and the same, they recommend some OTC medications primarily associated with heartburn including Pepcid and Zantac. For more serious cases of upset stomach, prescription medications are available.
Home remedies for an upset stomach that don’t require an uncomfortable trip to the drugstore include drinking peppermint tea and eating bread or crackers. I’m a firm believer in aromatherapy (or scent therapy), and have long found peppermint to be very soothing. If no peppermint tea is available, peppermint hard candy may also provide some relief. Crackers and bread are believed to “soak up” excess bile in the stomach, helping you to avoid vomiting. Ginger ale and cola are also common home remedies for relieving an upset stomach, due to the carbonation. If you’re suffering from nausea as part of your upset stomach, be sure to drink slowly. Ingesting too much liquid too quickly can make you sicker, despite the Mayo Clinic’s submission that nausea is in fact often caused by dehydration.
Simple relaxation techniques are effective home remedies for an upset stomach, such as deep breathing or listening to calming music. This is another opportunity to use aromatherapy, so long as the scents don’t offend you. Vanilla and lavender are calming choices, though when you’re feeling ill they may seem overly sweet. I have found attempting to sleep very helpful in upset stomach situations. Apart from a bout with mononucleosis in my teens, upset stomach was generally the result of ingesting something that didn’t agree with me or a stomach flu. Both of these conditions generally improve with time, hence stomach flus being referred to as a “24-hour bug”. Spending as many as possible of those 24 hours sleeping is recommended, since the pain and discomfort of an upset stomach may make it hard to concentrate on much else.
The Mayo Clinic suggests that lifestyle changes can treat or eliminate upset stomach episodes. This makes complete sense to me, considering how many people I know who experience an upset stomach as a stress response. That old phrase “worry yourself sick” isn’t just a myth! Indigestion relief is far from the only benefit of beginning a healthier lifestyle, but may be one of the best excuses to start. These lifestyle changes are still considered home remedies, since they require no medical supervision. Lifestyle adjustments recommended by the Mayo Clinic include:
– Eat smaller meals. Eating smaller meals less often can cut down on the bloat of ingesting a lot of food at once. Be sure to also properly chew your food, and eat slower.
– Maintain a healthy weight. Excess weight around the abdomen can add pressure, leading to discomfort and acid reflux.
– Get more exercise. Regular activity will not only help you regulate your weight, but can also aid in digestion.
– Avoid your “trigger’ foods. Some of us just can’t handle spicy foods or certain ingredients, or have undiagnosed food allergies. Try keeping a food journal, to track whatever you eat – you’ll have it to refer to when upset stomach strikes. Most people would benefit from keeping a food journal, except perhaps those who already keep very strict diets.
Hopefully these home remedies will come in handy the next time you’re plagued by stomach upset!
Sources:
Mayo Clinic. “Indigestion.”
National Institutes of Health. “Indigestion.”
