Nausea affects every single person at one point or another. Whether your nausea stems from pregnancy, acid reflux, motion sickness, or cancer treatment, various natural remedies can offer relief. Just as with over-the-counter medications, you may want to check with your healthcare professional before experimenting with the natural remedies in this article. Certain supplements or at-home remedies may not agree with your current health or medications you may be taking.
In order to treat nausea, you need to first determine the cause. Without knowledge of the cause, treating it can be quite difficult. Nausea during pregnancy, for example, is often accompanied by vomiting. In fact, seven out of 10 pregnant women experience nausea and vomiting related to pregnancy. Certain home remedies may work better for moms-to-be than someone who gets carsick. We hope the following methods help relieve nausea.
Peppermint
Not only does peppermint have a calming effect, but it may also relax stomach muscles and relieve nausea. Peppermint herb has been used to thwart symptoms of digestive disorders and other conditions since the times of ancient Greece, Egypt, and Rome. The fresh leaves and peppermint essential oil may benefit those who suffer from indigestion and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The reason for this is because peppermint works to ease inflamed tissues and prevent the further growth of unhealthy gut bacteria and microorganisms. Peppermint tea is the most common way to consume this remedy, but iced peppermint tea may provide extra benefit. Experts say that, in addition to the herb’s health properties, the cold may aid nausea reduction.
Aromatherapy
When you are nauseous, certain scents can either make symptoms go away or make them worse. A drop of peppermint oil under the nose can soothe feelings of nausea, just as other types of aromatherapy can have a similar therapeutic effect. According to research from 2021, inhaling a custom blend of lavender, peppermint, ginger, and lemon essential oils decreased vomiting and postoperative nausea. Many essential oils have health properties that calm the nervous system, which can typically aid with nausea relief. Add peppermint essential oil to a diffuser in order for you to inhale the vapors.
Ginger
In China, ginger has been used to treat digestive pain and issues for more than 2,000 years. How ginger eases nausea isn’t exactly clear, but researchers believe that the active components (gingerols and shogaols) directly affect the central nervous system and digestive system. A scientific paper from 2020 examined 13 previous studies involving 1,174 participants. The paper concluded that ginger was able to significantly reduce nausea compared to a placebo. More research found that ginger was effective at reducing the possibility of acute chemotherapy-induced vomiting in cancerous patients. Ginger tea is a common way to consume this remedy, but many people also enjoy the candied form of ginger, especially for nausea due to motion sickness.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is the practice of stimulating pressure points throughout the body to alleviate pain. It has been a practice in East Asian medicine for thousands of years, and it involves inserting thin needles into the skin at specific pressure points. Many scientists believe that acupuncture works because the needles stimulate certain nerves in the body. Those nerves send signals to the brain to release hormones that reduce feelings of nausea and pain. Acupuncture may help relieve morning sickness or mild nausea. In one study that involved 134 people with advanced cancer, acupuncture was a supporting therapy that helped alleviate vomiting and nausea that resulted from chemotherapy.
