Get enough rest. Recovering from food poisoning is exhausting and can make it feel like your stomach is fighting for its life. While you have a lot of responsibilities, it's important to get enough rest so your body can fully recover. Get sleep care if you develop insomnia after your food poisoning recovery.
Simple rest is one way to help your body heal from food poisoning. Take it easy until you are feeling better.
You may recover in a few days … or not
Most of the time, food poisoning will pass within 12 hours to 48 hours in healthy people. That's how long it takes for a healthy body to purge most foodborne infections.
Avoid food for the first few hours as your stomach settles down. Drink water, broth, or an electrolyte solution, which will replace the minerals that you lose with vomiting and diarrhea. Eat when you feel ready, but start with small amounts of bland, nonfatty foods such as toast, rice, and crackers. Get plenty of rest.
Start with small meals and slowly work up from there. Large portions may cause nausea or an upset stomach. You might need to eat small amounts more frequently throughout the day as your gastrointestinal tract recovers. Listen to your body as you ease back into eating regularly.
Symptoms of food poisoning
While different types of pathogenic bacteria can cause different symptoms, food poisoning generally presents itself with symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramping, and fever.
Symptoms of food poisoning often include upset stomach, diarrhea and vomiting. Symptoms usually start within hours or several days of eating the food. Most people have mild illness and get better without treatment.
Struggling with the stomach flu
Sleep on your side with your head elevated: If you find yourself vomiting a lot, then sleep on your side with your head elevated.
You may be tempted to try over-the-counter medications, but Dr. Feckoury says food poisoning usually needs to run its course. In the meantime, he also advises rest and a BRAT diet, which consists of bananas, rice, applesauce and toast. Broths may also be tolerable.
Food poisoning symptoms can last a few hours to a few days. How long food poisoning lasts depends on which microorganism infected you. After you ingest contaminated food or beverage, it may take hours or days until you develop symptoms. Here are some time frames for common causes of food poisoning.
Foods should be bland, low in fat, and low in fiber. Because fat is harder for the stomach to digest, avoid fatty foods as much as possible. Foods that are easier on the stomach include cereal, bananas, egg whites, gelatin, oatmeal, plain potatoes, rice, crackers, toast, and applesauce.
Other types of food poisoning such as campylobacter may only cause diarrhoea and abdominal cramps, without vomiting, although vomiting can occur in some cases. Some forms of food poisoning have an incubation period of up to several days so it can be hard to identify the source of contamination.
These two illnesses definitely have similar symptoms — but there are differences between them. Food poisoning is usually caused by bacteria, and it comes from contaminated food or water. Stomach flu (gastroenteritis) is usually caused by a virus, and it spreads from person to person.
“There is quite a lot of overlap between the symptoms of viral gastroenteritis (“stomach flu”) and food poisoning,” said Matthew Cook, DO, a family medicine physician with Banner Health Clinic in San Tan Valley, AZ. “Both illnesses share many of the same symptoms.”
You should drink plenty of liquids. If vomiting is a problem, try sipping small amounts of clear liquids. Replacing lost fluids and electrolytes is the most important treatment for food poisoning.
Food poisoning is rarely serious and usually gets better within a week. You can normally treat yourself or your child at home.
Watery diarrhea is commonly caused by a viral infection or food poisoning from eating undercooked meat or rotten foods. It can be serious if it causes dehydration. Keep an eye out for blood in the stool, and be sure to drink water and fluids with electrolytes.
Experiencing dehydration due to a stomach bug can leave you feeling incredibly weak. Taking the time to rest and allow your body to recuperate is important. Cut back on your normal activity—which you probably won't be able to do as you recoup anyhow—and get the recommended amount of sleep for your age.
You should avoid solid foods and dairy products until the vomiting and diarrhea have passed. Once you are feeling better, ease into eating and drinking again. Try bland foods, such as crackers, toast, and bananas. Avoid spicy foods, fried foods, dairy, and foods that are high in fat and sugar.
Well, fortunately, you'll usually recover from the most common types of food poisoning within 12 to 48 hours. Your goal should be to make sure that your body gets enough fluids so that you don't become dehydrated. Don't eat solid foods until diarrhea has passed, and avoid dairy products.
Symptoms of food poisoning typically last up to 7 days. However, this can depend on the type of food poisoning, the severity of the condition, and the effectiveness of treatments. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), every year, 1 in 6 Americans experience food poisoning.