Looking for a food poisoning remedy that works and can be applied at home? It might be the one thing that helps you cope, when you’re in excruciating stomach pain, feeling nauseous, or even vomiting. It gives you headaches, makes you dizzy, and even causes diarrhea. It may be common, but this doesn’t make it any less serious.
Most foodborne illnesses emerge within a few hours of eating contaminated food, laced with bacteria, viruses, and other parasites, toxins, and ‘poison’. Usually, food poisoning will go away on its own, within about 48 hours’ time. However, if you or someone you love is in need of a home remedy or natural fix, wouldn’t you want to have one at your fingertips?
Since food poisoning can entail severe dehydration, caused by vomiting and/or diarrhea, it’s important to address severe cases with your doctor. For milder cases and at-home solutions, check out our list of 10 home remedies for food poisoning: they are homeopathic and all-natural, but they’re also based on doctors’ recommendations!
Food poisoning remedies to try at home
As explained above, one of the most serious effects of food poisoning is a loss of water in the body, which, if maintained for the long-term, can cause severe side effects. In fact, chronic dehydration can even be fatal! So, before you run through our list of home-remedies, please make sure you’re upping your intake of water, by trying some of the following treatment solutions:
- Drink in small sips. Early on in your suffering, your stomach might be too upset to be able to handle big gulps. Alternatively, you can also try sucking on ice chips.
- Avoid alcohol, caffeine, and dairy. These are all irritants, so the only thing they will do is upset your stomach even more. If, for some reason, you cannot drink water, try non-caffeinated drinks, soda, or Gatorade.
- Avoid solid foods. Even adults will need to do this for at least a few hours, up to a whole day. Your stomach needs to calm down before it can digest anything at normal capacity.
When you do switch back to solid foods, choose healthy, non-irritating options: low-fat foods, which are easy to digest. Some good options include toast, bananas, and rice.
Meanwhile, make sure to get plenty of rest and monitor the color of your urine, to see if your body is being properly hydrated. You will know that this is the case, once your pee is clear and light colored again.
And now, check out some foodstuff that might be hiding right inside your fridge or pantry, which can act as natural food poisoning remedies!
1. Apple Cider Vinegar
“What, apple cider vinegar again?”, you might exclaim. Some of our more skeptical readers may wonder how it is that apple cider vinegar cures just about any type of stomach problem. The real reason behind that is its special chemical properties: ACV is an acidic substance, which is metabolized as alkaline. It works because it kills the bacteria nesting inside the lining of your intestines and soothes your pain.
To make it work as a natural food poisoning remedy, just add two tablespoons of ACV to a full cup of hot water and drink this on an empty stomach. Another option, if you can stomach it (pun intended) is to down 2-3 teaspoons of concentrated apple cider vinegar.
2. Ginger
Ginger, like others on this list, is a frequently used home remedy for stomach problems and issues that affect the intestines. Here are some ways to take it to relieve food poisoning symptoms specifically:
- Slice up a ginger root and eat it throughout the day.
- Extract some juice out of a ginger root and add a couple drops of juice to a teaspoon of honey. Repeat this 2-3 times per day, to help quell the inflammation and abdominal pain.
- If you’re suffering from nausea, heartburn, the impulse to throw up, and other problems caused by food poisoning, you might want to drink some ginger tea. To make it, grate a teaspoon of ginger into a cup of water and boil it for a few minutes, to make it a bit more concentrated. You can drink it with a little bit of honey, or a dash of sugar.
3. Honey
Honey works for indigestion, nausea, vomiting, and more. That’s because it’s one of Mother Nature’s few genuine super-foods, with awesome powers in combating fungi and harmful bacteria. You can either add one teaspoon of honey to your tea, twice or thrice per day, or simply ingest honey in its original form. This will also help you cope with abdominal pain, by reducing stomach acid.
4. Lemon
Lemons are highly acidic, so it’s no wonder that their juices work as nearly miraculous virus and bacteria killers. Not only will they help with cleansing your intestines of the parasites that caused the food poisoning, but they’ll also soothe your abdominal pains. Here are two remedies you can try at home:
- Add some lemon juice to a glass of warm water and sip on it throughout the day;
- Have 2-3 tablespoons of lemon juice with a dash of sugar added to the mix per day, until the symptoms recede.
5. Bananas
As anyone who’s ever suffered from troubles with loose bowels knows, bananas are one of the best foods to help you deal with your troubles. They’re fairly bland, non-irritant, non-inflammatory, and very easy to digest. They’re also calorie-dense, so they will help you recover from the exhaustion caused by dehydration, abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting.
You can simply eat bananas throughout the day, to keep your energy levels up, or mix and blend them with other healthful ingredients, into a fiber-rich shake. However, bear in mind that dairy is best avoided, until the food poisoning symptoms peak.
6. Teas
This one is a no-brainer: we’ve included teas on our list thus far, and you’ll also find more recipe ideas to help you deal with food poisoning right below. Let’s add to that list, by saying that certain herbal drinks can work wonders, both in relieving you of stomach pain and intestinal inflammation, as well as in helping your body restore its normal hydration levels. Here are some tea suggestions for you:
- peppermint tea – helps soothe stomach cramps;
- comfrey root tea – good for intestinal infections;
- meadow sweet tea – an excellent anti-bacterial;
- licorice tea – helps you deal with nausea;
- chamomile tea – also good for nausea, as well as a great inflammation remedy.
7. Garlic
Another one of our ‘good old friends’ here at the Home Remedy Shop, garlic is well-known as a potent anti-bacterial and anti-viral substances—it even works against toxin-filled fungi! It works as a home remedy for food poisoning, because it can help alleviate the abdominal pain caused by nausea, as well as keep diarrhea in check.
Here’s how garlic can work as a natural home remedy for food poisoning:
- eat a whole fresh clove with water;
- press several cloves and drink the juices;
- mix garlic oil with soybean oil and use it as a natural rubbing lotion for your tummy.
8. Fenugreek
Fenugreek seeds have been used for centuries to alleviate abdominal pain. When mixed with yogurt, which works wonders as an anti-bacterial and anti-microbial, its actually a great home remedy for food poisoning. Here’s how to take it: add one teaspoon fenugreek seeds to each tablespoon plain yogurt you have throughout the day. You will notice that your impulse to throw up will be diminished, while the tummy aches will go away almost instantly.
9. Basil
This herb works great for cases of stomach pain, due to its soothing properties. To benefit from its strong anti-microbial powers, try one of the following solutions:
- Fill a four-cup jug with water and add several basil oil drops. Drink this throughout the day, in small sips, to kill off the bacteria in your gut lining.
- Mix fresh basil leaves, a dash of black pepper, and one of pure sea salt into a plain yogurt cup. Prepare this concoction 3-4 times per day, on your second day of food poisoning.
- Grind several basil leaves to help them let out their juices. Add one tablespoon of honey and a bit of coriander juice (optional). Eat this mixture 2-3 times per day.
10. Cumin
The last cure on our list of great, natural food poisoning home remedies is a little seed you might know as cumin or, alternatively, jeera. Here’s how you can have it help you deal with inflamed intestines or other tummy problems:
- Make cumin seed solution, with salt and asafetida. Bear in mind that this drink will have quite a strong odor and flavor. If you can stomach it, we recommend you drink it 2-3 times per day, to help cleanse your intestines;
- Boil cumin seed tea, out of one teaspoon of seeds per cup of water. You can add some extra flavor and healing powers to this drink with just a dash of salt and some freshly squeezed juice out of coriander leaves. Drink this mild homemade tea twice or thrice per day, for a few days, until the symptoms subside.