Several simple remedies can relieve nausea within minutes, and most require nothing more than what you already have at home. The fastest options involve controlled breathing, pressure points, and strong scents, while longer-lasting relief comes from ginger, bland foods, and careful hydration. What works best depends on why you feel nauseous in the first place, but many of these techniques overlap regardless of the cause.
The Fastest Trick: Sniffing Rubbing Alcohol
One of the quickest ways to knock down nausea is also one of the least well-known. Holding a standard rubbing alcohol prep pad (the kind used before injections) about an inch below your nose and inhaling deeply can cut nausea roughly in half within about four minutes. The effect is real but short-lived, lasting around 10 minutes, so it works best as a bridge while you try other remedies. In clinical trials, patients who sniffed isopropyl alcohol swabs were about a third less likely to need anti-nausea medication afterward. You can repeat the technique as often as needed.
Slow, Deep Breathing
Nausea activates your body’s stress response: your heart rate climbs, breathing gets shallow, and your stomach churns. Deep, rhythmic breathing reverses that cycle by stimulating the vagus nerve, a long nerve that runs from your brain to your gut and acts as a brake on your fight-or-flight system. The technique is simple. Inhale as deeply as you can, hold for about five seconds, then exhale slowly. Watch your lower belly rise and fall with each breath. Repeat for a few minutes. This won’t cure food poisoning, but it can meaningfully reduce the queasy, anxious sensation that makes nausea feel unbearable.
Press the P6 Point on Your Wrist
An acupressure point called P6, located on the inner side of your forearm near the wrist, has enough clinical backing that major cancer centers recommend it for chemotherapy-related nausea. To find it, hold your hand up with your palm facing you. Place three fingers from your other hand across your wrist, just below the crease where your wrist bends. The spot directly beneath your index finger, right between the two tendons you can feel there, is P6. Press firmly with your thumb for two to three minutes, then switch wrists. Commercial wristbands (like Sea-Bands) apply constant pressure to this same spot and are popular for motion sickness and morning sickness.
Ginger: The Best-Studied Natural Remedy
Ginger is the most researched natural treatment for nausea, and it consistently outperforms placebo in clinical trials. The effective dose ranges from about 1,000 to 1,500 mg per day, split into several smaller doses. In practical terms, that means 250 mg capsules of ginger powder taken four times a day, or 125 mg of liquid ginger extract four times a day. Ginger chews, ginger tea made from fresh slices, and even flat ginger ale (the kind made with real ginger, not just flavoring) can help in milder cases, though the dose is harder to control.
If you’re pregnant, ginger is one of the first-line treatments for morning sickness. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology also recommends vitamin B6 at 10 to 25 mg, three or four times a day, as a safe starting point for pregnancy-related nausea. Many prenatal nausea supplements combine both.
Peppermint Inhalation
Breathing in peppermint essential oil is another option with clinical support. In a trial of patients recovering from heart surgery, those who inhaled peppermint oil experienced nausea that was less frequent, less severe, and shorter in duration compared to a control group. The nausea episodes lasted roughly half as long. You don’t need a nebulizer to get the benefit. Placing a drop or two of peppermint oil on a tissue and holding it near your nose, or simply opening the bottle and breathing in, is enough for most people. Peppermint tea works too, though the effect is milder.
What to Eat (and How to Eat It)
An empty stomach often makes nausea worse, but eating the wrong thing can too. The old advice about sticking strictly to bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast (the BRAT diet) is fine for the first day or two, but you don’t need to limit yourself to just those four foods. Brothy soups, oatmeal, boiled potatoes, crackers, and plain dry cereal are equally gentle on the stomach. The key is choosing foods that are bland, low in fat, and easy to digest.
Once your stomach starts settling, adding more nutritious options helps you recover faster. Cooked squash, carrots, sweet potatoes without the skin, avocado, skinless chicken or turkey, fish, and eggs all provide the protein and nutrients your body needs without being hard to break down. Eat small amounts frequently rather than full meals, and stop eating if the nausea intensifies.
How to Stay Hydrated When You Can’t Keep Much Down
Dehydration is the main risk when nausea leads to vomiting, and it can also make the nausea itself worse. Plain water works, but an oral rehydration solution (like Pedialyte) replaces the sodium and potassium you lose when vomiting. Sports drinks are another option, though diluting them with an equal amount of water is a good idea since the high sugar content can worsen diarrhea if that’s part of the picture.
Take small sips rather than gulping. A few tablespoons every 10 to 15 minutes is a reasonable pace when your stomach is at its most sensitive. Ice chips or frozen electrolyte popsicles can be easier to tolerate than liquid. Signs that dehydration is becoming a problem include dark urine, dry mouth, dizziness when standing, and urinating much less than usual.
Over-the-Counter Medications
Bismuth subsalicylate (the active ingredient in Pepto-Bismol) works by reducing inflammation in the intestinal lining and slowing the flow of fluid into the bowel. It’s most effective when nausea comes from an upset stomach, food poisoning, or a stomach bug. Dimenhydrinate (Dramamine) and meclizine are antihistamines that block signals in the inner ear and brain that trigger nausea, making them better suited for motion sickness or vertigo-related nausea. Both types are available without a prescription and work within 30 to 60 minutes.
Warning Signs That Need Medical Attention
Most nausea passes on its own, but certain combinations of symptoms point to something more serious. Call emergency services if nausea and vomiting come with chest pain, confusion, blurred vision, a high fever with a stiff neck, severe abdominal cramping, or rectal bleeding. Vomit that contains blood, looks like coffee grounds, or appears green also warrants an emergency room visit. The same goes for a sudden, severe headache unlike anything you’ve experienced before, or signs of significant dehydration like dizziness, weakness, and very dark or infrequent urine.