Most nausea can be eased or stopped with a combination of simple techniques you can try immediately: controlled breathing, ginger, peppermint, pressure point stimulation, and careful choices about what you eat and drink. The best approach depends on what’s causing your nausea, but several of these methods work across nearly all types.
What to Do Right Now
If you’re feeling nauseous at this moment, start with slow, deep breathing. Inhale through your nose for a count of four, hold briefly, then exhale slowly through your mouth. This activates your body’s calming nervous system response and can reduce the urge to vomit within minutes. Sit upright or slightly reclined rather than lying flat, which can worsen the sensation.
Open a window or step outside if you can. Fresh, cool air helps, partly because it removes food smells and other triggers, and partly because the temperature change can interrupt the nausea signal. Avoid strong odors of any kind, including perfume, cooking smells, and cleaning products.
Sip small amounts of cool or room-temperature water, clear broth, or weak tea. Don’t gulp large amounts of liquid at once. If plain water makes you feel worse, try sucking on ice chips instead.
Ginger: The Best-Studied Natural Remedy
Ginger is one of the most thoroughly researched natural treatments for nausea, and it works for several different causes: motion sickness, pregnancy-related nausea, post-surgical nausea, and nausea from chemotherapy. The active compounds in ginger root interact with receptors in your digestive tract that trigger the vomiting reflex, essentially calming those signals before they reach your brain.
Most clinical studies point to 1,000 mg per day as an effective and safe dose. For motion sickness, taking 1,000 mg about an hour before travel works well. For pregnancy-related nausea, studies have used 500 mg three times daily for three to five days. If you don’t have capsules on hand, fresh ginger tea, ginger chews, or even flat ginger ale (the kind made with real ginger) can help, though the dose is harder to control. Crystallized ginger is another convenient option that’s easy to carry with you.
Peppermint Inhalation
Simply smelling peppermint oil can measurably reduce nausea. The key compounds in peppermint, menthol and menthone, have antispasmodic effects that relax the smooth muscles of your digestive tract. Peppermint also appears to block certain receptors in the gut that trigger the nausea and vomiting reflex.
In studies of post-surgical patients, inhaling peppermint oil reduced nausea scores within two to six hours. For pregnancy-related nausea, daily use lowered symptom severity within 48 hours, with continued improvement through 96 hours. The effect was even more pronounced for chemotherapy patients, where nausea scores dropped significantly within 48 to 72 hours of starting peppermint inhalation.
You can put a drop or two of peppermint essential oil on a tissue or cotton ball and hold it near your nose, breathing normally. Peppermint tea works too, giving you the benefit of both the aroma and the warm liquid.
The Wrist Pressure Point
There’s a spot on the inside of your wrist called P6 (or Nei Guan) that, when pressed firmly, can reduce nausea. It works by changing the pain and discomfort signals that nerves send to your brain.
To find it: hold your hand palm-up and place three fingers from your other hand across your wrist, starting just below the crease where your hand meets your arm. Where your third finger lands, feel for the groove between the two large tendons that run down the center of your wrist. Press firmly with your thumb for two to three minutes, then switch to the other wrist. Anti-nausea wristbands (often sold as “sea bands”) apply continuous pressure to this same point and are a hands-free alternative, especially useful for motion sickness or all-day pregnancy nausea.
What to Eat When You Feel Nauseous
An empty stomach can make nausea worse, but eating the wrong thing will too. The goal is bland, low-fat, easy-to-digest foods in small amounts. Good choices include plain crackers, white toast, bananas, applesauce, plain rice, broth-based soup, potatoes, eggs, gelatin, and popsicles. These foods are gentle on your stomach and unlikely to trigger the vomiting reflex.
A few rules that make a real difference:
- Eat small amounts frequently rather than full meals. Five or six mini-meals spread through the day keep something in your stomach without overwhelming it.
- Chew slowly and thoroughly. Eating too quickly forces your stomach to work harder and can ramp nausea back up.
- Drink fluids slowly and separately from food. Filling your stomach with food and liquid at the same time increases the feeling of fullness that worsens nausea.
- Avoid greasy, spicy, or heavily seasoned foods. Fat slows digestion and keeps food sitting in your stomach longer, which is exactly what you don’t want.
- Stick to cool or room-temperature foods. Hot foods release more aroma, and strong smells are a common nausea trigger.
Over-the-Counter Options
If natural approaches aren’t enough, several pharmacy options are available without a prescription. Antihistamine-based medications (the active ingredients in Dramamine and Bonine) work by blocking histamine receptors involved in the nausea pathway. They’re particularly effective for motion sickness and vertigo-related nausea, though they can cause drowsiness.
Bismuth subsalicylate (the active ingredient in Pepto-Bismol) coats the stomach lining and can help with nausea caused by mild food-related stomach upset or overindulgence. It’s not ideal for motion sickness or pregnancy.
For pregnancy-related nausea specifically, a combination of vitamin B6 and an antihistamine called doxylamine is the only FDA-approved over-the-counter treatment for morning sickness that doesn’t respond to dietary changes and ginger. It’s available both as a prescription product and as separate over-the-counter components.
Nausea From Specific Causes
Motion Sickness
Prevention works better than treatment here. Take ginger (1,000 mg) or an antihistamine-based motion sickness pill at least an hour before travel. During the trip, focus on the horizon or a fixed point in the distance, sit in the front seat of a car or over the wing of a plane, and avoid reading or looking at screens. Fresh air from an open window or vent directed at your face helps significantly.
Hangover Nausea
Alcohol irritates your stomach lining and causes dehydration, both of which drive nausea. Sip water or an electrolyte drink slowly. Bland carbohydrates like toast or crackers can help absorb stomach acid. Ginger tea does double duty here, settling your stomach while rehydrating you. Avoid coffee initially, as it’s acidic and can worsen stomach irritation.
Anxiety-Related Nausea
Stress and anxiety directly activate the same nervous system pathways involved in nausea. Deep breathing exercises are especially effective here because they address the root cause. Step away from the stressful situation if possible, focus on slow exhales, and try the wrist pressure point technique. Cold water on your face or the back of your neck can also interrupt the anxiety-nausea cycle quickly.
Warning Signs That Need Medical Attention
Most nausea passes on its own or with the remedies above. But certain combinations of symptoms signal something more serious. Get to an emergency room or urgent care if your nausea comes with chest pain, severe abdominal pain, blurred vision, confusion, high fever with a stiff neck, or rectal bleeding.
You should also seek prompt care if your vomit contains blood, looks like coffee grounds, or is green. Signs of dehydration, including excessive thirst, dark urine, dizziness when standing, and dry mouth, mean you’re losing more fluid than you’re replacing and may need medical help. A severe headache alongside nausea, especially one unlike any headache you’ve had before, also warrants urgent evaluation.