If you feel like you’re about to throw up, the fastest things you can do are stop moving, take slow breaths through your nose, and sip small amounts of cool water. Nausea often passes on its own within minutes to hours, but there are specific techniques that can calm your stomach faster and keep you comfortable while it does.
Slow Your Breathing First
Deep, slow breathing is one of the most effective ways to dial down nausea quickly, and you can do it anywhere. The technique is simple: breathe in slowly through your nose, letting your belly expand rather than your chest, then exhale slowly. Place one hand on your chest and one on your stomach to make sure your belly is the part moving. Aim for breaths that are noticeably slower and deeper than normal.
This works because slow diaphragmatic breathing relaxes the abdominal muscles and reduces stimulation of the vagus nerve, which controls gut movement and acid production. It also triggers your body to release endorphins, natural chemicals that act as built-in anti-nausea signals by quieting the brain’s vomiting center. Even a few minutes of focused breathing can make a noticeable difference.
Try the P6 Pressure Point
There’s a well-known acupressure point on the inside of your wrist called P6 that can help with mild nausea, including motion sickness and morning sickness. To find it, place three fingers from your opposite hand flat across your wrist, just below the crease where your hand meets your arm. Right below those three fingers, feel for the groove between the two large tendons running down the center of your inner wrist. Press firmly into that groove with your thumb. It shouldn’t hurt. Hold steady pressure for one to two minutes, then switch wrists if you’d like.
Change Your Environment
Strong smells are one of the most common nausea triggers, so move away from cooking odors, perfume, or anything with a heavy scent. Open a window or step outside if you can. Fresh air and a change of scenery can genuinely help by shifting your attention away from the queasy feeling and giving your senses something neutral to process. If you can’t get outside, a cool, well-ventilated room is the next best thing.
Sucking on a hard candy, like a peppermint or lemon drop, can also help. It replaces the unpleasant taste in your mouth that sometimes feeds the nausea cycle.
What to Sip and When to Eat
Don’t try to eat a full meal while you’re actively nauseous. Instead, focus on small, frequent sips of clear liquids to stay hydrated without overwhelming your stomach. Good options include plain or flavored water, clear broth, sports drinks, apple juice, ginger tea, or flat ginger ale. Ice pops work well too. The goal is to drink a variety of clear liquids throughout the day rather than gulping large amounts at once.
Once the nausea starts fading and you feel ready to eat, go with bland, soft foods. The old advice was to stick strictly to bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast (the BRAT diet), but that’s no longer recommended for more than a day because it lacks important nutrients like protein, calcium, and fiber. Following it too long can actually slow your recovery. Instead, use those foods as a starting point and add other gentle options: brothy soups, oatmeal, boiled potatoes, saltine crackers, or dry cereal.
As your stomach settles further, work in slightly more nutritious foods like scrambled eggs, skinless chicken, or cooked vegetables. Let your body guide you. If something sounds appealing and it’s not greasy, spicy, or heavy, it’s probably fine to try.
Ginger for Nausea
Ginger is one of the best-studied natural remedies for nausea, and it genuinely works for many people. Clinical studies typically use around 1,000 mg per day (about half a teaspoon of ground ginger), though doses ranging from 600 to 1,500 mg have shown benefits. For motion sickness, taking 1,000 mg about an hour before travel is the standard approach. The FDA considers up to 4 grams daily to be safe.
You don’t need capsules. Ginger tea, ginger chews, or even a small piece of fresh ginger root can help. Side effects are uncommon but may include mild heartburn or belching. If you’re pregnant and dealing with morning sickness, ginger is one of the most commonly recommended options, with most studies supporting 1,000 mg spread across the day for three to five days.
Over-the-Counter Options
If home remedies aren’t cutting it, a few types of OTC products can help. Bismuth subsalicylate (the active ingredient in Pepto-Bismol) coats and calms the stomach, and works well for nausea tied to overindulgence or a stomach bug. Antihistamine-based motion sickness tablets are another option if your nausea is related to movement or travel. Phosphorated carbohydrate solutions (like Emetrol) contain sugars and phosphoric acid that help settle the stomach during viral stomach bugs or motion sickness. Antacids can also help if your nausea seems connected to acid reflux or eating too much.
Watch for Dehydration
If you’ve been vomiting, dehydration becomes a real concern. The easiest way to monitor it is your urine color. Pale yellow means you’re well hydrated. Darker yellow or amber means you need more fluids. If your urine turns orange, you’re significantly dehydrated and need to increase fluid intake right away. Other signs include dry mouth, dizziness when standing, and feeling unusually tired.
Keep sipping clear liquids even if you can only manage a tablespoon at a time. Small, frequent amounts are easier to keep down than large gulps.
Signs That Need Medical Attention
Most nausea resolves on its own, but certain combinations of symptoms point to something more serious. Go to the emergency room if your nausea comes with sudden, severe abdominal pain that keeps getting worse, especially with fever. Nausea paired with chest pain, pressure, shortness of breath, or sweating can signal a cardiac event and warrants calling 911 immediately. If you hit your head and then develop nausea, vomiting, confusion, or dizziness, that could indicate a concussion or internal bleeding, even if symptoms seem mild at first.
Persistent vomiting that lasts more than 24 hours, an inability to keep any fluids down, or vomit that contains blood or looks like coffee grounds also warrants prompt medical evaluation.