Nausea and Vomiting
See also “Morning Sickness”
Nausea and vomiting have numerous possible causes, including excess acid secretion, toxins in the liver, pregnancy, worms in the colon, food poisoning, and flu. (For suggestions on reducing nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, see “Morning Sickness.”)
In the event of food poisoning or excess acid secretion in the stomach, vomiting occurs as a protective response of the body to get rid of toxins. With flu also, excess bile may build up in the stomach, and vomiting occurs to cast it out. In such cases vomiting is a sign of health, of the body taking care of itself.
But when vomiting becomes persistent, it may lead to dehydration or other problems, and it has to be stopped. Morning sickness, for example, may adversely affect the flow of nutrition going to the fetus.
Ayurveda recommends quite a few effective ways to relieve nausea and put a stop to vomiting.
PACIFY PITTA. Nausea and vomiting indicate high pitta in the stomach, with increased acid secretion irritating the gastric mucous membrane. Therefore, it is good to follow a pitta-soothing diet, especially abstaining from hot, spicy food or fermented food.
TRY FASTING. Fasting gives a healing rest to the digestive system. Don’t eat for a day—and drink 1 cup of sweet fresh pineapple juice with a pinch of ginger, a pinch of black pepper, and ½ teaspoon organic sugar. Take this 3 times during the day.
- Alternatively, you can drink cranberry juice or pomegranate juice on your fast.
EIGHT WAYS TO SETTLE NAUSEA AND VOMITING. Here are eight simple and effective suggestions to help you soothe nausea and vomiting:
- To 1 cup of water, add 10 drops of lime juice and ½ teaspoon sugar. Last, add ¼ teaspoon baking soda. Stir and drink. This can immediately stop nausea and vomiting.
- An effective remedy is to chew 1 or 2 cardamom seeds.
- A mixture of 1 teaspoon ginger juice (or freshly grated ginger pulp) and 1 teaspoon onion juice will help to settle nausea and vomiting.
- Make a mixture of equal parts lemon juice and honey. Dip your index finger into the mixture and lick it, consuming the mixture slowly.
- Try stirring ½ teaspoon honey and 2 pinches of cardamom into half a cup of plain yogurt.
- A tea made from 1 teaspoon cumin seeds and a pinch of nutmeg steeped in a cup of hot water will be quite soothing.
- Drinking sugar cane juice can also be helpful, as is cranberry juice with a little lime juice added.
- Ayurveda also recommends the following herbal formula to quickly stop nausea and vomiting:
rose petal powder ½ teaspoon
sandalwood powder ¼ teaspoon
rock candy powder ½ teaspoon
lime juice 10 drops
Take this entire mixture in room temperature water.
Vomit for Healing
Most people find vomiting a rather unpleasant experience, but there are times when one might want to induce vomiting. When someone has a flu or a bad cold, excess kapha may build up and the person suffers from persistent headache, congestion, and coughing. Mother Nature may bring on vomiting to remove the kapha, but if that doesn’t happen, Ayurveda suggests taking matters into your own hands.
Drink a glass of water with ¼ teaspoon salt dissolved in it. The salty water itself is emetic (provokes vomiting), but you can also rub the back of the tongue to stimulate the “gag” reflex and vomit out the water. The moment vomiting occurs, fever will generally come down, the headache will disappear, congestion in the chest will be greatly relieved, and you will feel much better.
FOR NAUSEA IN CHILDREN. Try giving the child some coconut water. Add 1 teaspoon lemon juice to a cup of coconut water (the natural juice inside a fresh coconut), and have the child take a sip every 15 minutes or so to settle the stomach.
FOR WORMS. Nausea and vomiting may also be a sign of worms. If a person has a history of passing worms in the stool and gets repeated attacks of nausea and vomiting, use the following strategy:
- Take the herb vidanga, about ½ teaspoon twice a day with a little warm water.
- Keep the colon clean by taking ½ teaspoon triphala at night for several weeks. Mix the triphala into ½ cup of warm water, let it steep for 10 minutes, then strain and drink.
TO DETOXIFY THE LIVER. Nausea and vomiting may be a sign that there are excess toxins in the liver. To detoxify the liver, the following formula is effective:
kutki ¼ teaspoon
shatavari ½ teaspoon
shanka bhasma pinch
kama dudha pinch
Take this mixture 2 or 3 times a day with water to relieve nausea and vomiting.