Should You Drink Ginger Ale for an Upset Stomach?

Some people swear by drinking soda—especially ginger ale—to help an upset stomach. But is soda ever the cure for your health woes?

1. Does Ginger Ale Help Nausea?
2. Is Soda Good for an Upset Stomach?

Does Ginger Ale Help Nausea?

Nausea is never fun—whether it’s caused by motion sickness, morning sickness, or a nasty stomach bug. And though soda may seem like a comforting choice, it probably isn’t doing you much good.

“[Soda’s] not necessarily the best thing for the stomach,” gastroenterologist Braden Kuo of Massachusetts General Hospital told STAT in a 2016 video interview. Between the carbonation, the acidity, and the cold of a soda straight from the fridge, it’s just about the worst thing you can drink. If you do feel compelled to sip on some soda, Kuo recommended drinking a warm, flat ginger ale, because ginger helps the stomach relax.

Ginger has been used to aid digestion for thousands of years; its root has been proven to be effective in helping nausea. Ginger is considered a safe anti-nausea remedy, even for pregnant people and those undergoing chemotherapy. 

However, there’s only a tiny bit of ginger in common ginger ales made by companies like Canada Dry or Schweppes (“natural flavors” are some of the last ingredients listed on the bottle, and ginger is just one of several flavors included). As such, you might want to reach for the ginger tea rather than the ginger ale.

Is Soda Good for an Upset Stomach?

Some people reach for a Coke or Sprite when their stomach starts churning. But that isn’t any better. One study that reviewed decades of research found no evidence that flat sodas could rehydrate sick kids. “Carbonated drinks, flat or otherwise, including cola, provide inadequate fluid and electrolyte replacement and cannot be recommended,” the study authors declared in a press release.

Sodas contain far more sugar and too little sodium to help people rehydrate after vomiting and diarrhea. Cola in particular, the researchers found, had more than seven times the amount of sugar recommended by the World Health Organization for rehydrating drinks, and essentially no useful electrolytes.

The carbonation can also be hit or miss for a queasy stomach. For some people, the fizz may worsen their digestive distress. But others may actually get a bit of relief from some bubbles, especially if bloating is behind the stomach upset: “Some people find that having that carbonation helps them burp and then that alleviates the discomfort,” Thanh Thanh Nguyen, a registered dietitian at Mendinground Nutrition, told SELF. In such cases, plain sparkling water would be a less sugary solution than soda.

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A version of this story originally ran in 2016; it has been updated for 2025.