- There is a strong connection between nausea and low blood sugar levels. To keep your blood sugar level constant, eat small frequent meals six times a day. These small meals should be high in protein or complex carbohydrates (such as rye crackers or rice cakes) but contain no sugar or sweetener.
- Take powdered ginger root, available in most health food stores in capsules, three or four a day followed by a glass of water, first thing in the morning. This can be repeated several times as necessary throughout the day.
Fresh ginger tea can be made by adding two tablespoons of grated ginger to four cups of boiling water. You can drink two cups of this tea first thing in the morning and sip on it during the day.
- Slippery elm is a soothing and strengthening herb for the stomach. It possesses as much nutrition as oatmeal and is so gentle that it can be retained by the most sensitive stomach. It can be taken in powdered form in capsules or made into a gruel.
Slippery elm gruel is made as follows:
- Make a paste with one and a half teaspoons of slippery elm powder mixed with one teaspoon of honey.
- Bring 1/2 pint of milk to a boil and stir in the slippery elm paste as the milk reaches the boiling point.
- Remove from the heat and add a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg.
The same recipe can be made using water instead of milk.
- Vitamin-B6, 50 to 100mg a day, is a very effective anti-nauseant. It should be taken as part of a mega-B-50 capsule containing the rest of the B vitamins.
- Other supplements that may be useful include zinc, 25mg a day and magnesium, 200 to 400mg a day. Brewer's yeast two heaping tablespoons mixed with yogurt and mashed bananas, will help provide extra B vitamins. Stop your iron tablets until the nausea passes.
- How you get out of bed seems to be very important. Have whole wheat or rye crackers by the bedside. Have someone bring you some raspberry leaf and peppermint tea before you get out of bed and sip on it slowly. Make sure you get out of bed slowly.
- Other suggestions for morning time include a tea made from dried peach leaves; or one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in warm water first thing in the morning. You can also try a thermos of warm milk sweetened with honey or molasses by the bedside.
- Eat small, bland, easily prepared meals.
- Rest as much as possible. Fresh air and walking a mile a day may also be helpful.
- Carry raisins, raw almonds, rice cakes or whole wheat crackers with you so that you can always keep your blood sugar up.
- Keep away from smoky rooms and the smells of cooking. If possible, get someone else to do the cooking.
If you are nauseous in the evening, rest in a darkened room and get your mate to prepare the evening meal.
- Try a mono-diet. Start off with one healthy food say grapes or bananas, and then each day add a new food, brown rice, steamed vegetables, baked fish, etc. After two or three weeks, your nausea will probably subside.
- Blue green algae, such as spirulina, is very high in protein and very easy to digest. Spirulina powder can be mixed with mashed bananas or other fruit and provides many other nutrients as well.
- Never take any prescription or non-prescription drugs for your nausea. Benedictin, in the past prescribed by some doctors for the nausea of pregnancy, has been falsely associated with birth defects such as cleft palate and heart deformities. No association was ever proven and the drug has now been reintroduced into the market in Canada as diclectin (doxylamine 10mg and B-6 10mg). Remember that in the 1960's, thalidomide was promoted as a cure for morning sickness.
- Acupuncture treatments by an experienced practitioner can be very effective for severe and prolonged nausea and vomiting of pregnancy.
