Lesson 1: How To Relieve Nausea With Ginger Soda

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One of the things I’ve chosen to do away with as I’ve moved more and more into natural living is soda.

Eight years ago, I nixed sodas altogether. It wasn’t easy, but it was good for me. Over time, not only did I lose weight from cutting these sugar-filled drinks from my diet, but I also noticed that the soda cravings slowly became less and less frequent.

But then I became pregnant with my first baby and bouts of morning sickness showed up. I caved and used Sprite to help with the occasional nausea. The carbonation, for some reason, helped, and I would drink a mini-Sprite anytime I felt queasy.

Unfortunately, this morning sickness remedy jumpstarted more and more soda cravings, and as soon as my little man was born, I was drinking Coca-Colas and Dr. Peppers again. I don’t think I need to tell you of the horrors of sodas, but I knew that if I wanted to be healthy and set a good example for my kids then I shouldn’t be drinking them.

Here was the problem, though.

Sometimes I just wanted a carbonation fix. And, the fizzy drinks really did help settle my stomach when I suffered from morning sickness here and there during my pregnancies, not to mention anytime a stomach bug came around. What could I do then? Was there a healthier option for these situations that I didn’t know about?

Yes! Yes, there was!

My answer came in the form of a ginger soda.

First of all, ginger soda satisfies the craving for something spicy and fizzy without all the sugar and other unhealthy stuff that most sodas have. Sure it has some sugar, but it’s a natural sugar (better than the high fructose corn syrup found in regular sodas) and a minimal amount at that.

Next, ginger’s a great herb for your digestive system. Not only does it help to settle an upset stomach from morning sickness, motion sickness, and stomach bugs, but it helps dispel gas and soothe cramping that can sometimes occur after eating certain foods.

Now before I get to the fun, hands-on part of this week’s lesson… making some ginger soda, I want to quickly explain to you how ginger works to help with nausea whether it’s pregnancy related, motion related, or sickness related since that’s what we’re focusing on this week.

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Ginger: An Antiemetic

Ginger is categorized in a few different ways based on the actions it has in the body. All herbs are set up this way.

One of ginger’s many actions is that it’s an “antiemetic” which means it reduces the incidence and severity of nausea or vomiting. Notice I didn’t say it will stop it.

Ginger, like other herbs, is not a drug, and it’s impossible to say that it “will do” a particular thing in the body for every single person who takes it.

However, ginger and all plants contain chemicals called “phytochemicals,” and these chemicals stimulate certain effects in the body. To put it another way… herbs work by creating certain reactions in the body and the body responds to those reactions in a certain way. It’s the body doing the work, but the work is brought about by the herb. Does that make sense?

So when it comes to ginger helping with nausea, the way it works in the body is a two-fold process.

First, ginger has a high volatile oil (also known as essential oil) content. Herbs that have a good amount of volatile oils in them almost always have antispasmodic actions in the body, particularly in the smooth muscle of the digestive tract.

When you are nauseous or vomiting, what do you think is causing that sensation deep down in your gut?

Spasms… that’s what! Something has upset your body, and it’s responding by creating a series of spasms. Mild spasms can result in nausea. The stronger these spasms get the closer you get to actually vomiting.

This is where ginger and its volatile oils come into play. Ginger helps to soothe the spasms in the smooth muscle of the digestive tract by acting on the autonomic nervous system. This soothing or antispasmodic action relaxes the smooth muscle of the digestive tract which slows down or decreases the spasms, resulting in less nausea or vomiting for you. Make sense?

Next, Dr. Gerard Mullin, one of the nation’s top experts on the relationship between food and gut disorders, says that ginger works on the same receptor in the brain as the antinausea drug, Zofran. So not only is ginger working directly on the smooth muscle of the intestinal tract, but it’s working on brain receptors too!

There have been many scientific studies done that show consistent use of specific doses of ginger to be a great way to safely relieve or slow nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, illness, and when traveling.

So there you go. Now you know that ginger is an “antiemetic” herb that helps relieve nausea and vomiting, and you know how it works in the body.

Now, before we move on to our project, let me just say that if you are sick from something like food poisoning, no amount of ginger is going to keep you from vomiting. Your body knows when it needs to empty the contents of your stomach, and you don’t want to stop it. It’s trying to get whatever shouldn’t be in there, out. Don’t stop it! However, ginger can help relieve the nauseous feeling you may feel in between bouts of throwing up.

If this herb doesn’t provide enough relief for you on its own, consider switching to a stronger carminative or antispasmodic herb that has a direct action on the digestive system or use a formula that contains ginger and other supportive herbs for relief.

PRECAUTION: People who are on blood thinners and pregnant women need to be cautious about using too much ginger as it has also been shown to thin the blood. This can be a good thing for certain people in certain situations, but it can also increase your risk for bleeding too much if your blood is too thin. Most herbal practitioners recommend pregnant women not take more than 2 grams of ginger a day. That’s just under ½ a teaspoon of powdered ginger. For fresh grated ginger, that would be closer to 1 teaspoon a day.

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Making Ginger Soda

Okay, so let’s move on to this week’s project.

This week, I want you to try making some ginger soda. You may not be pregnant, you may not get motion sickness, and you may not be ill or experiencing nausea at the moment, but make it and try it after you eat a hearty meal. Notice how it makes you feel.

This is a great recipe to keep on hand for those times when you might need it. And remember, when it comes to using ginger for nausea, small amounts used consistently is your best bet at managing it naturally. Ginger soda can simply be one of the herbal remedies you reach for when you need it!

Ginger Soda

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• 1 ounce of fresh grated ginger root 
• 1 cup water 
• ¼ cup raw honey 
• 8-ounces carbonated water

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1. Grate ginger and weigh it using a kitchen scale. You’ll need 1-ounce. 
2. Place water and grated ginger in a small saucepan. Bring the water to a boil. Once boiling, immediately lower the heat until you have a nice simmer going. You want to reduce your water by half. This can take anywhere from 15-20 minutes.
3. In the end, you should be left with a ½ cup of water. 
4. Using a stainless steel sieve, strain the ginger from the water. Pour this water into a glass jar and let it cool to room temperature. 
5. Once cooled, add ¼ cup of raw honey to ginger water. Mix well. Store this ginger syrup in a glass jar in the fridge until ready to use. 
6. When ready to use, fill a drinking glass with ice. Pour your ginger syrup over the ice, filling your glass ¼ full. Top the last ¾ of your glass off with your carbonated water. Stir and enjoy!

[/et_pb_tab][et_pb_tab title=”Storage” _builder_version=”3.0.48″ body_font=”||||” body_text_color=”#7a6e67″ body_line_height=”2em” tab_font=”||||” tab_text_color=”#a3b1a4″ tab_line_height=”2em” background_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” body_line_height_tablet=”2em” body_line_height_phone=”2em” tab_line_height_tablet=”2em” tab_line_height_phone=”2em”]Because this syrup contains water, it must be refrigerated. It should stay good for 3-6 months as is, but if you double the amount of honey it will stay good for close to a year.[/et_pb_tab][et_pb_tab title=”Troubleshooting” _builder_version=”3.0.48″ body_font=”||||” body_text_color=”#7a6e67″ body_line_height=”2em” tab_font=”||||” tab_text_color=”#a3b1a4″ tab_line_height=”2em” background_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” body_line_height_tablet=”2em” body_line_height_phone=”2em” tab_line_height_tablet=”2em” tab_line_height_phone=”2em”]It can be tricky gauging when the water in step two has reduced in half. Feel free to strain it to see if it’s ready. If you have more than ½ a cup, add it all back into the saucepan for a few more minutes. If you end up having less than ½ a cup, no worries. Simply pour enough clean water into your ginger decoction to equal ½ cup, and you’re all set to move on![/et_pb_tab][/et_pb_tabs][et_pb_text admin_label=”Printable Recipe Card” _builder_version=”3.27.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]Feel free to print the recipe below to keep in your herbal materia medica!

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Have questions, thoughts, or comments related to this lesson? Leave them in the comments below, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible!

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https://www.growingupherbal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/divider.png” align_tablet=”center” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” admin_label=”Divider” _builder_version=”3.23″ sticky=”off” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” always_center_on_mobile=”on” saved_tabs=”all”] [/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”References” _builder_version=”3.27.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]REFERENCES: 

• Edelson, Mat. “Take Two Carrots and Call Me in the Morning.” Hopkins Medicine, Winter 2010. Accessed April 24, 2016.
• Ernst. E and Pittler, MH. (2000). Efficacy of ginger for nausea and vomiting: a systematic review of randomized clinical trials. Br J Anaesth. 2000 Mar;84(3):367-71. 
• Ginger Monograph. (2014). Retrieved April 24, 2016, from http://herbarium.herbalacademyofne.com/monographs/#ID=1012
• Ozgoli G, Goli M, Simbar M. (2009). Effects of ginger capsules on pregnancy, nausea, and vomiting. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 15(3):243-246.
• Physiology of Vomiting. (n.d.). Retrieved April 24, 2016, from http://arbl.cvmbs.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/digestion/stomach/vomiting.html
• Ryan JL, Heckler CE, Roscoe JA, Dakhil SR, Kirshner J, Flynn PJ, Hickok JUT, Morrow GR. (2012). Ginger (Zingiber officinale) reduces acute chemotherapy-induced nausea: a URCC CCOP study of 576 patients. Supportive Care in Cancer 20(7):1479-89.

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