5 Of The Best Essential Oils For Easing Nausea + How To Use Them

Nothing can hamper the joy of travel faster than motion sickness. Maybe you experience nausea during flights or grow queasy on winding roads or white-capped waters. Nausea can crop up for other reasons too, such as from a migraine or medication side effects. Thankfully, some studies indicate that a handful of essential oils have promise to calm a topsy-turvy stomach. Plus, just the act of taking slow, steady, deep breaths may ease nausea1 by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, according to research. Inhaling an essential oil helps you focus on your breath when your gut is giving you grief. Here are a few essential oils that show promise in easing nausea and some best practices for using them.

You'll notice that the majority of the research testing essential oils on nausea have been conducted on pregnant and post-op people. While these nausea triggers are unique, it's reasonable to believe that essential oils would help with run-of-the-mill motion sickness and stomach discomfort too.

Ginger root has long been known as a stomach soother. (You might have sipped on ginger soda when you were sick as a kid, for example.) And it turns out, the mere scent of ginger may help quell queasiness. In one randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial, patients with post-operative nausea were given a gauze pad soaked in ginger essential oil and told to inhale deeply through the nose. They experienced a reduction in symptoms when compared to a control group of patients who received pads soaked in saline.

Smelling cardamom may also help kick nausea to the curb. That same study that looked at ginger also investigated a third group of post-op patients who were given a gauze pad soaked in an essential oil blend. The blend included cardamom along with ginger, spearmint, and peppermint. Patients in the group receiving the blend experienced the most improvement in nausea when compared to those who received ginger alone or who received the saline placebo.

Peppermint leaves are also lauded as a tummy tamer. And when sniffed, peppermint essential oil has potential to nix nausea. In a prospective randomized trial, also with patients experiencing an upset stomach after surgery, subjects were given either a placebo inhaler or an aromatherapy inhaler with a blend of peppermint, lavender, spearmint, and ginger. Those in the aromatherapy inhaler group reported a significant difference in the perceived effectiveness on their symptoms when compared to the control group.

The calming scent of lavender may also help chill out a cranky stomach. In a randomized, placebo-controlled study of patients experiencing queasiness after surgery2, participants were divided into four groups. Three groups were given an essential oil to sniff: either lavender, rose, or ginger. And one group received water as a placebo. Nearly 83% of patients in the lavender group reported improved nausea scores, compared to 65% in the ginger category, 48% in the rose group, and 43% in the placebo set.

In a randomized clinical trial, pregnant women who were experiencing nausea3 and vomiting were given either lemon essential oil or placebo to inhale when they felt ill. Of those who received the lemon, 50% reported satisfaction with the treatment, whereas only 34% in the placebo group said the same.

Essential oil preparations should be limited to topical and aromatherapy use only. Although you can buy food-grade extracts of peppermint and ginger, check with your physician first before ingesting, especially if you take prescription meds or are pregnant.

When queasiness strikes, it's hard to focus on anything else. So if motion sickness has a tendency to sneak up on you when you're traveling, or if nausea nags at you now and then for other reasons, essential oils may help you keep your stomach in check without the use of meds.