Okay this is going to sound a little “out there” but I’ve tried it and believe me this works! On Monday my hubby came down with the stomach flu. He was puking and felt awful. I think he had norovirus which is a highly contagious stomach flu. Norovirus has been going around and sure enough a guy he works with had it right before him. Well of course he had eaten off my plate that day and I was so worried that me and the kids would all get it too. A friend of mine told me to start drinking grape juice to prevent me from getting sick. Me and the kids all started drinking grape juice and here we are 3 days later healthy and well! You may have landed on my page after searching “prevent stomach flu grape juice”. Well I did some research as there wasn’t much info out there on this.
It turns out there is some science behind this grape juice thing and I did a little research. In order to prevent yourself from getting the stomach flu after you know you have been exposed (taking care of a sick person, being around someone that was sick, etc) you need to start drinking 100% grape juice, no sugar added, right away BEFORE any symptoms appear. If you are having symptoms then it is too late and DO NOT drink the grape juice or you will be puking purple and it won’t be pretty!
Drink the grape juice three times a day for a few days after being exposed. I have been drinking a water glass full three times a day and filling the kids sippy cups full three times a day. Yes, this is a lot of sugar but I’d rather consume/give my kids sugar than have them get the stomach flu. The grape juice works by changing the pH in your intestinal tract to one that doesn’t let the virus multiply. It also harbors various strong anti-viral chemicals in it. Along with the Vitamin C and anti-oxidants in the juice, it’s supposed to flush and kill the virus and/or severely lesson the symptoms. When you get a stomach virus, it actually isn’t in your stomach, it’s all in your large and small intestines. The effects of what it’s doing to those makes you sick to your stomach (changing the acidity in your stomach). Keeping the pH of the intestines slightly more alkaline is supposed to stop the virus from taking hold.
So there is the science behind it and I’m the living experiment 
Me and my three kids are all healthy and have survived having the stomach flu going through our house! I love that grape juice tastes great and is something my kids will willingly drink. So next time you are around someone with the stomach flu start drinking grape juice!
Has anyone else heard of this or tried it?
I am definitely going to keep this in mind this year. Last year DH and I got the norovirus twice! It was so awful, I've never had food poisoning and that was the first time I'd felt that awful. One time I was really pregnant and ended up in L&D with an IV, not pretty!
my hubby has it right now…i am not showing symptoms but can't drive…darn it…hopefully tomorrow he will feel well enough to go get me some juice and i won't be sick yet…fingers crossed!
Wow….I've never heard of such a thing! But I'm kind of vomit phobic, so I'm storing this info in my brain.
I’m vomit phobic, too! Like scared to pieces phobic…I just found this site because a bunch of people have come down with the flu and I don’t want it! I’m also storing this for future reference.
this is new to me! will be keeping more on hand for the little ones.
Thank You for sharing.
It's definitely something to keep on hand for the next time you need it!
@angie lilly-I hope you don't get it!! Sorry to hear
@sarah: thanks! me too! He is doing much better today. Fever broke at exactly the 24hr mark. Going to get my juice today so fingers crossed!
just got a part time job doing laundry at a nursing home going to try this as a precaution-btw antiseptic mouthwash kills germs-gargle hourly when you are getting a cold or sore throat
Makes sense, I like taking Crangrape juice when I'm sick! It saved my life when I had morning sickness!
I have a child now with the stomach flu and I am starting grape juice now. I will let you all know how it goes!
I hope you are all feeling well. Keep us posted on how it works for you all!!
-Sarah
This is very interesting and good to know
My child had it yesterday. I accidentally ate from her soup bowl at 5:00 last night. I started drinking grape juice at 6:00. I'll let you know if it works.
Did NOT know… thanks for the heads up!!!!
I was the one who ate from my daughter's soup bowl the day she was sick with a stomach virus. I am certain I ingested the virus. I drank grape juice – a large glass 3x daily – starting within one hour of exposure. It has been 50 hours since exposure, and no symptoms of stomach flu (knock wook). I'm not sure it was the grape juice that spared me, but I'm going to keep it on hand during the winter months just in case!
Yes this has worked for me!! My kids both got a bug within hours of each other – and everyone around us started getting it – my parents, my husband, my inlaws. I was determined not to be next so I went online and read about this little trick. I drank a glass of grape juice every few hours like a crazy person for 3-4 days and never got the bug! Now we keep a few bottles on hand just in case…
2:45 am and sitting in bathroom with my 6yr old who has the virus right now. I had it on Friday, and today was the first day i started to feel okay. I hope not to catch it again, and my husband hopes not to catch it at all.
My 5 year old had it last Monday….my 4 yr old had it by the weekend and my 12 year old woke up this morning with it. I have heard drinking green clay also works, but I'm scared as ever and so is my husband! He won't drink the clay, but he will drink the grape juice, so I'll get some and try to spare the rest of us who haven't caught it yet (3) including me.
My son had it Friday, Husband has it today… Oh how I wish I had grape juice for my daughter and I!!!!!
Yes, this DOES work! I have been doing it for about 5 years now. An old babysitter of mine used to work as a pediatric nurse and she told me about the grape juice trick. Said she didn't know exactly why it worked, but that it had never once let her down. So I tried it, and it worked. Since then, we have had numerous occasions where one of the kids would come in from school saying so and so got sick throwing up today and I was sitting right beside them, etc, etc… and off to the store I would go to buy grape juice and they would never get it. The few times that one of us has gotten it, the grape juice has always kept the rest of the family members from getting it too.
Started doing this a year and a half ago.
I just came across this, and I too discovered this little secret around the same time last winter. Two of my three kids came down with the flu on the same night, so I raced out to buy all of the grape juice I could get my hands on. Nobody else got sick! We continued to drink it until the spring time….. I am already stocking up for this year! It totally works!
My brother got exposed to this horrible virus and i felt so bad. Anyway i went and bought grape juice and none of the 4 other family members not including my brother were all fine it is amazing how great such a drink can prevent such a horrible virus
We are trying it now! My husband came down with it this past Monday AM and my daughter and I have been drinking 3 glasses or more if we can handle it a day since. We are on day 3 now and no bug so far. Of course I did plenty of washing down my home where needed with bleach and water. Mostly bleach where it could be handled , like in the bathroom. Thanks for sharing this wonderful preventative! And thank you to Welch’s!
Hi there. My hubby had the stomach virus on Friday night. (today is Monday) So, Saturday morning i went bought the Welch’s grape juice after reading a pin on pinterest about it. My daughter and I have been both drinking it 2-3 times daily. 6-8 oz at a time. So far so good. Disinfected my house all weekend. Cleaned everything!! Praying the juice works its magic since it is my daugter’s 4th birthday tomorrow and her party is on Saturday! Fingers Crossed. Hope it works for me like it did for you guys! Thanks for sharing!
My son got sick last Friday with the worst stomach virus I have ever seen in our house, ended up in the ER. I am the only one in the family who has been diligent about drinking the juice 3 times a day since. No one else has it so far, but I for one feel much better knowing I have this new trick in my corner! I will be keeping this around the house for sure. ANYTHING to keep from getting the dreaded stomach virus! I hate them! I wish I had known to try this idea years ago.
I’m glad to hear everyone else is doing well! Stay healthy
I wish i would have found this on Sunday, my whole house has been infected with this horrible virus since. My son started on sunday night and got better over the days, and is now sick again. I didnt think it was possible to get it immediately after it was gone. Im buying Grape juice in the morning. Im keeping grape juice in stock from now on.
Ugh sorry to hear that Bridget! Just make sure they aren’t already showing symptoms when you start the grape juice otherwise they’ll be puking purple and that stains! It has to be started before you show symptoms. Hope you all feel better soon! We keep a stockpile of grape juice on hand. Glad you’ll know for next time. I too first heard of this when our house was infected!
We started the grape juice just this winter and so far nothing! Not even queasy feelings.we only drink one glass a day and then up it if my daughter was in contact with someone who was sick or feeling sick! I love that this works so well!
Just googled what to do when kids exposed to stomach flu… And I am RUNNING to Safeway to buy grape juice! Let’s hope it works, I have four children under nine and am pregnant
thank you!!!!
what about white grape juice? I’m not a fan of the purple grape juice because of the fact that it can stain. My husband is sick and i don’t want me or my 8 month old son to get it. I have him qua rented in a back bedroom and have started the babe and I on white grape juice. Any indication that the white grape juice wouldn’t produce the same results?
I’m 45, and I’d like to offer a tip that I have used before with great success, a “last ditch” cure when the virus actually wakes you up at night.
First, here’s how to tell if you’re going to have it that night: is the food you ate today sitting in your stomach like a rock and not digesting? Even worse, are you also experiencing disscomfort like your stomach is trying to expand? Then start preparing, because you’re going to have an unpleasant evening.
If a strange sensation wakes yo up out of the blue (especially if you’re a sound sleeper), then “it’s going to happen”. Get to the bathroom NOW. And hopefully you have already prepared as described below.
Here’s what I do: When this garbage is making its way through your home, keep a powerful summertime fan in the bathroom. You’ll notice that right before you vomit, you get all weak, hot and sweaty. Get to the bathroom quickly, immediately strip down to underwear, and crank that fan up and freeze yourself. And I mean get yourself shivering, as quickly as you can. Kick that fan into hurricane mode. It MIGHT not keep you from having some severe diarrhea to pass this garbage, but it is an extremely strong remedy to stop nausea, even in stomach flu situations.
I discovered this trick one day when I was about to get sick on the bus in the morning on the way to work in Seattle (how embarrassing that would have been). I BARELY got off in time, I stepped off that bus a weak, limp noodle of sweat and misery. I immediately took my coat off, I was all hot and sweaty, and I was just about to vomit, but it was freezing out, lots of snow. That blast of cold air was the most welcome relief I had ever experienced, and it took only a few minutes for the sensation of nausea to completely vanish. I didn’t put my heavy winter coat back on until I was good and shivering. I must have looked like a freak to people, but it totally worked. 1/2 hour later, I got back on the next bus and actually went to work (which I probably shouldn’t have done). Key point is that the more shockingly cold you can make it, the more effective it is.
Hope this helps someone out there like it helps me.
Great point Bob! I’m a MAJOR vomit phobic!! I’ve learned a trick that is simular. Put an ice cold rag on your stomach and neck when you feel like throwing up. You don’t vomit. I’ve done this with my kids since they were babies. They are now 16 and 13 and ask for it when they feel like throwing up. When they were little they hated it though. It was just so cold. Once, my daughter was about 8 and she was like, get that thing off me. So, I too it off her and she threw up. After that, she asked for it.
Wow that is definitely a trick I will keep up my sleeve! Hopefully we don’t have to use it anytime soon!
I can atest to this as well.
Whenever I feel like vomiting is inevitable I will grab a bowl of cold water, and throw as much ice in it as possible. I then put my face in it when that “it’s gonna happen!!!” feeling comes. It works!
You said you did some research and there is science behind this remedy- can you post the sources you found from your research? I am trying to research this myself and have found nothing so far. Thanks!
Yes! It works and so does cranberry juice!!!!
I am one of the biggest skeptics of home rememdies… but I must admit this totally worked. It has fended the stomach flu off twice now for the family and me while someone in the house had the virus. As a working dad it really helps to not have sick days and to know your family is not puking at home.
I too am a skeptic so I was thrilled when it worked! Glad it has saved you and your family! My hubby has no sick days so it was always really tough when it made it’s way through the house!
Does this work only with 100% grape juice or can it be grape juice with some other kind of juice? I had to get combination juice tonight, they didn’t have anything else. But I can find 100% grape juice tomorrow if necessary.
It must be 100% purple grape juice. Any other kind will not work for this.
My step son came home with the stomach flu last night from school, was up all night throwing up. I HATE stomach viruses…..anything but that. I have 3 other kids and really can’t afford to have them or myself and husband get it. I sure hope this grape juice thing works!
Did it work for you Jill?
I am mom- I have a 14 yr old, 16 yr old and 2 yr old. All three and my husband have been a victim of the belly plague this past week and I am still free and clear…it works.
Thanks for sharing Lauren
Stay well!
I’ve done this many times with great success. We only drink one cup per day per person.
So you think one cup is effective enough? One cup is sure better than three lol.
Does it have to be Welches or can you substitute with a generic brand?
It must be 100% purple grape juice, nothing added, no blends. As long as that’s the case I think another brand would work the same.
What about if it says from concentrate with added 120% vitamin C ???
All i could find was welches 100% grape juice no sugar added but 120% added vitamin C and it says helps support a healthy heart. Will that work???
Also, how long do you drink the grape juice after exposure?
When you know you’ve been exposed you need to drink three glasses a day for a few days until the bug has passed (if you are taking care of the sick person) and the house has been disinfected then drink one glass a day for prevention in the future. 3 glasses a day for known exposure though. If you aren’t living with the sick person I would drink 3 glasses a day for 3 days.
My son came down with the bug around 11 last night, heading out to get grape juice now! Hope it works! I have a severe phobia of vomit. I’ll will let you know in a few days!
I hope you are doing well. I’m working on an update to this post now. You can also drink one glass a day to prevent the stomach flu before being exposed. If you know you’ve been exposed drink 3 glasses a day for a few days until it has passed and you’ve cleaned the house for any remaining germs!
Hey! I’m still healthy! Felt a little ill last night but nothing other than that. And let me tell you I have bleached, and rebleached, and rebleached all my floors Nd hard surfaces and used Lysol on beds and carpets! I’m glad I found this blog!
So, are you suppose to drink the one with no sugar?
You said get sugar free or it won’t work, but then you went
on to say u made your kids drink 3 glasses a day, and that was
a lot of sugar for them???
My brother started vomiting a few days ago and the rest of the house thought they were okay after he started to feel better. Well tonight my other brother vomited and am paranoid beyond belief about catching this! It seems to be spreading
and absolutely HATE vomiting I can’t take it! I’m kinda upset that my mom convinced me it was okay to take my face mask off when it’s not! thanks for this post I will try this and report back.
What are the symptoms when it is too late exactly? Like just feeling achy or actually getting sick? Thanks so much for posting this!
I am waiting for my hubby to get home from work so I can go to the store and get a few jugs of grape juice. My 4yo started vomiting last night, and I DO NOT want my 7yo, my 15mo old and ESPECIALLY not my husband to come down with this. Anyone know if white grape juice works? I fear it may be too late to prevent my other kids from getting it, and Id like to avoid purple vomit stains on the carpet if at all possible!
It MUST be the 100% purple grape juice, nothing else added. If your kids are displaying ANY symptoms of being sick then don’t use it! If they are symptom free then start 3 glasses a day. Hope you all stay well!
Does it matter if the juice is refrigerated or not?
My daughter works at a retirement facility and came home 2 days ago telling us how so many of the old people were being quarantined and some were sent to the hospital from exposure to norovirus, That was enough to freak me out knowing all to well that my daughter will bring it home . Sure enough, the next morning she woke up staring into the white porcelin throne waking us all up. She said that the State Dept. of Health measured the height of this contamination as very severe and is airborne. Now I’m really freaking out, found your suggestion and started a regimen of 3 glasses per day of 100% pure red grape juice. So far (day 2) so good. My wife and son are all on board. Thanks for the tip!
Hey, can I substitute WHITE grape juice for the purple or is there some magic in the stuff that stains?
The magic is in the lovely, staining purple stuff
Sorry!
Me and my family have been doing this for several years and it has worked wonders for us..When we have been exposed to the virus we drink a glass of welches 100% grapejuice for several nights..hope this works for others like it has us
My husband just got sick a few hours ago. He looks so bad!! I am really afraid of catching it and giving it to my three other kids. I ran out and got the Welch’s grape juice at midnight after seeing the posts.
Still a little skeptical but giving my 100 percent to trying it.
I will post back after a few days. I pray it works. Thanks to everyone who responded as well!
So tonight i just happen to come across this post while googling about the stomach flu. I immediately went out and bought 2 bottles of the welch’s 100% grape juice and started drinking it as soon as got in my truck after buying it lol. i been exposed now for a day going on two days. My boyfriend came down with it Sunday afternoon and its now Tuesday morning but it is almost 1 am. i really hope this grape juice works because i start my job tomorrow on wednesday and i would hate to have to call out. i am extremely afraid of vomit and its one of my phobias lol so i pray i dont getvit!
my gosh, the past 2 years the stomach flu has ravenged our house. my daughter brought it home from daycare. my nephew goes to the same daycare & he brought it home too, so my sisters family was sick too! i have never heard of this grape juice home remedy! thanks for the tip! i’ll try it next time
Totally trying this! We drink a ton of the Welch’s WHITE grape juice but will try and purple next time the stomach bug comes around and see how we fare!
My friend tried this countless times, & it works. She told me the minute she stopped drinking it, she got sick. I give my son & I one a day as a preventative. Not sure if it works, but so far, so good….& a really nasty Norovirus is EVERYWHERE right now—in our church, in our small neighborhood–everywhere! And it lasts like 5 days, this one! I’m a believer in Welch’s & I ALWAYS keep a few bottles on hand. If you already got that sick feeling & aren’t given to alcohol, some 20% sherry sipped on can settle your tummy & fight off vomiting & diarrhea. Works for my mom!