Herbal Action: Antiemetic

Nausea, vomiting

Antiemetic herbs relieve nausea, upset stomach, vomiting, and related digestive distress.

What they do

• Relieve nausea and vomiting

• Calm an upset stomach

• Ease digestive discomfort tied to motion, illness, or other triggers

Antiemetics generally work through one of two mechanisms:

1. Carminative — easing spasms in the digestive tract

2. Cholagogue — promoting healthy bile flow

How they're used:

Commonly taken as teas or extracts — often in small, frequent sips when nausea makes anything more difficult to keep down.

When to consider them:

Motion sickness, indigestion, food poisoning, nausea related to pregnancy (make sure the ones you choose are pregnancy safe), medication side effects, and general illness.

Herbs

• Anise

• Bilberry

• Bitter orange

• Black haw (avoid in pregnancy)

• Capsicum

• Catnip

• Cinnamon

• Cloves

• Fennel

• Gentian

• Ginger

• Goldenseal

• Horseradish

• Irish moss

• Lavender

• Lemon balm

• Lobelia (avoid in pregnancy)

• Peach leaves

• Pennyroyal (avoid in pregnancy)

• Peppermint

• Red clover

• Red raspberry

• Sassafras

• Spearmint

• Sweet basil

• White oak

• Wild yam