Most nausea passes on its own, but you don’t have to wait it out. A combination of simple techniques can cut nausea intensity in half or more, often within minutes. The right approach depends on what’s causing your nausea, but several strategies work across nearly all types.
Slow Your Breathing First
The fastest way to dial down nausea is controlled breathing through your diaphragm. Breathe in slowly through your nose for four counts, letting your belly expand rather than your chest. Hold briefly, then exhale through your mouth for six counts. This activates the vagus nerve, which runs from your brain to your gut and triggers your body’s relaxation response. The vagus nerve directly influences the digestive system, so calming it can quiet the signals telling your brain you need to vomit.
This works especially well for nausea caused by anxiety, motion sickness, or post-surgery recovery. Try to focus entirely on the rhythm of your breathing for two to three minutes. Many people notice the wave of nausea start to recede before they finish.
Cool Yourself Down
When you feel nauseated, your body often tries to lower its own temperature by dilating blood vessels in the skin and sweating. Research in thermoregulation shows this cooling response is actually part of the same defense mechanism as nausea itself. Your body is essentially trying to reduce its metabolic demands.
You can work with this instead of against it. Place a cool, damp cloth on the back of your neck or forehead. Step outside into cooler air if possible, or sit near a fan. People experiencing motion sickness instinctively seek cold environments, and there’s good physiological reason for it. Cooling the skin helps your autonomic nervous system settle, which can ease the nausea signal along with it.
Press the P6 Point on Your Wrist
Acupressure at a specific spot on the inner wrist has surprisingly strong clinical evidence behind it. A Cochrane review of 59 trials found that stimulating this point (called PC6 or Neiguan) reduced nausea by about 32% and vomiting by 40% compared to sham treatment. In head-to-head comparisons, it performed as well as standard anti-nausea medications. When combined with medication, it worked even better, cutting vomiting rates nearly in half compared to medication alone.
To find the point, hold your arm out with your palm facing up. Place three fingers from your other hand across your wrist, starting at the crease where your hand meets your arm. The point sits just below your three fingers, between the two tendons running up your forearm. Press firmly with your thumb and hold for two to three minutes, or use a circular motion. Drugstores sell wristbands designed to apply constant pressure here, which are popular for motion sickness and morning sickness.
Side effects in clinical trials were minor: occasional skin irritation or redness that resolved on its own.
Try Ginger
Ginger is one of the most studied natural remedies for nausea, and it consistently outperforms placebos. In randomized trials, taking 1,000 mg of ginger daily (split into four 250 mg doses) reduced nausea severity by 63% to 85%, compared to 20% to 56% with placebo. Those are meaningful differences.
You have several options. Ginger capsules from a pharmacy give you the most consistent dose. Ginger tea works too: steep a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger in hot water for five to ten minutes. Ginger chews and candies made with real ginger (check the label for actual ginger extract, not just flavoring) are convenient when you’re on the go. Even flat ginger ale can help, though most commercial brands contain very little real ginger.
Inhale Peppermint
Peppermint oil inhalation can reduce both the frequency and severity of nausea. In a clinical trial of post-surgical patients, those who inhaled peppermint essential oil experienced nausea that was roughly half as severe and half as long-lasting as the control group. The frequency of vomiting dropped from an average of 0.73 episodes to 0.17.
You don’t need anything elaborate. Put one or two drops of peppermint essential oil on a tissue or cotton ball and hold it a few inches from your nose. Breathe normally. If you don’t have essential oil, peppermint tea gives you both the aroma and something gentle to sip. Some people also find that rubbing a small amount of diluted peppermint oil on their temples helps, though the inhaled route has the strongest evidence.
What to Eat (and Avoid)
When nausea strikes, the instinct to avoid food entirely makes sense for the first few hours. Once you’re ready to eat, the old BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) is fine as a starting point, but Harvard Health notes there’s no reason to limit yourself to just those four foods. Brothy soups, oatmeal, boiled potatoes, crackers, and unsweetened dry cereal are equally gentle on the stomach.
As your nausea improves, adding nutrient-dense foods helps your body recover faster. Cooked squash, carrots, sweet potatoes without skin, avocado, skinless chicken, fish, and eggs are all bland enough to tolerate while providing the protein and vitamins you’re missing. Sticking with only BRAT foods for more than a day or two can leave you short on essential nutrients right when your body needs them most.
A few eating habits also matter. Small, frequent meals are easier to tolerate than large ones. Cold or room-temperature food tends to have less aroma than hot food, which helps if smells are triggering your nausea. Sipping clear fluids between meals rather than during them keeps your stomach from overfilling. Avoid greasy, spicy, or heavily seasoned food until you’re fully recovered.
Common Triggers Worth Removing
Sometimes stopping nausea is less about adding remedies and more about removing what’s causing it. Strong smells are one of the most common triggers: perfume, cooking odors, cleaning products, and cigarette smoke can all intensify nausea. Open a window or move to a different room if possible.
Lying flat can worsen nausea because it allows stomach acid to creep toward your esophagus. If you need to rest, prop yourself up at a 30 to 45 degree angle. Avoid reading or looking at your phone while in a moving vehicle, since the mismatch between what your eyes see and what your inner ear senses is exactly what causes motion sickness. Looking at the horizon or closing your eyes helps resolve that conflict.
Dehydration itself causes nausea, creating a vicious cycle when vomiting has already cost you fluids. Take small, frequent sips of water, diluted juice, or an electrolyte drink rather than gulping large amounts at once. Ice chips are a good option if even small sips feel like too much.
Warning Signs That Need Medical Attention
Most nausea resolves within 24 to 48 hours. But certain combinations of symptoms signal something more serious. According to the Mayo Clinic, call emergency services if nausea comes with chest pain, severe abdominal cramping, blurred vision, confusion, or high fever with a stiff neck.
Get to an emergency room or urgent care if your vomit contains blood, looks like coffee grounds, or is green. The same applies if you’re showing signs of dehydration: dark urine, dizziness when standing, dry mouth, or extreme thirst. Nausea paired with a sudden, severe headache unlike anything you’ve experienced before also warrants immediate evaluation.