Six foods and drinks to try if you’re suffering with a stomach bug

I’ve been really sick this week with a stomach flu – possibly the worst I’ve ever had – and today is the first day in a week I’ve managed to eat something other than a banana or a piece of dry toast. I’ve barely eaten and needless to say fallen really behind on my blogging and vlogging for my new Youtube channel.

I’m not going to lie, this isn’t the sexiest, foodiest, nicest blog post ever but for those suffering with coeliac disease, illnesses are more commonplace and I hope by sharing my experience I can help someone else suffering from similar stomach problems.

Although the last week was pretty brutal (and I missed the Allergy and Free From Show, which I am STILL bitter about!) I wanted to share some tips for those of you suffering stomach flu, a gluten attack, or anything which leaves you feeling less-than-peachy.

So here are some of the foods I ate and tips that helped me (from my extensive Googling during my sick days to stop my mind going wild with boredom) – I hope they can help you too. Please note – I’m not a healthcare professional and while I can share the tips which helped me, anyone suffering from any sort of stomach flu should always seek proper medical advice.

Dry, white gluten free toast

After literally eating nothing for about three days, toast was the only thing I could stomach. Dry, white gluten free toast is best – I put a tiny bit of butter on the occasional piece. White is better as it is more easily digestible and is pretty palatable when you’re really not feeling food too.

Bananas

I found bananas another saviour during the early stages of being ill. As well as being sweet and comforting they’re also recommended when you have a stomach virus. I found these helped give me a tiny bit of energy and were really easy to eat as you can mush them up.

Camomile tea

While peppermint tea is normally recommended for stomach problems, I read camomile tea is a good choice because it is anti-inflammatory and is a mild sedative. I’m not a huge fan so I drank camomile and spearmint tea and felt this really helped soothe the horrible cramps.

Ribena

I’m not entirely sure if this is something a doctor would recommend but I found having  glass of this made it easier to get fluids in me (it’s really important to drink as much water as possible when you’re ill) and gave me a bit of a sugar boost too. Just don’t overdo it.

Plain white rice

Rice is another great, bland food which helps give you a bit of energy without being too taxing on your stomach. I read somewhere to keep the water used to cook the rice and drink this (with a little honey to taste) as it’s meant to be extra soothing as it forms like a membrane in your stomach. I don’t know how true that is, but don’t do what I did and forget you put salt in the water to cook the rice, before you drink it…

Plenty of probiotics

A lot of people say yoghurt is the only dairy you should eat when you have a stomach bug because of its probiotic nature. I take a probiotic daily anyway so I upped this and took quite a few in the last few days and it has really helped clear it up. If you don’t normally take a probiotic it’s probably a good idea to consult with your doc first, but personally this really helped me.

Got any tips to relieve stomach flu?

These are just a few of the things I have tried this past week and today I finally feel like I am on the mend – my appetite has come back and I’m slowly trying to eat some ‘normal’ foods. If you’ve got any tips I’d love to hear them – comment below with your thoughts and tricks!