It would be a great understatement to describe things as “tense” right now, and tension can lead to anxiety, which—for some of us—can lead to nausea and other kinds of stomach issues. And, though I would never suggest you abandon Pepto or Tums, I’ve found that the addition of a stomach settling-beverage helps to soothe my insides.
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All of my anxiety lives in my stomach, which means that I find it very hard to chew and swallow food during times of stress. Since I am an anxious person who is stressed out fairly easily, I’ve had to develop a few liquid strategies for dealing with nausea brought on by generalized dread. I recognise that a placebo effect might be at least partially involved, but I also know that the ritual of making the beverage is calming, and that certain flavours help temper my nausea.
Ginger tea for what ails you
Ginger ale is a common nausea home remedy, but I’ve found ginger tea, which contains far more real ginger (obviously), to be more effective. (I’ve also found 7up to be more effective that ginger ale, but that’s because it tastes a little more acidic.) To make ginger tea, take a two-inch-ish knob of ginger, peel and slice it thinly, then boil the slices in a couple of cups of water for 10-20 minutes. Strain, add lemon or honey if you wish, and sip. For a slightly sweeter, colder approach, you can splash pickled ginger brine into some soda, which has the added bonus of being straight-up delicious.
Embrace bitter
Bitter, bracing elixirs also help calm my tummy down, and some of them happen to be alcoholic. Underberg, which is designed to be enjoyed after a heavy meal, takes an aggressive approach, forcing your stomach into a state of almost paralysed calm by assaulting it with an overwhelming mixture of herbs, spices, and ethanol. Campari and a lot of soda takes a similar, but gentler, approach, and bitters and soda really eases you into it with a touch of herbaceous bitterness and a ton of bubbles. If you want to avoid alcohol entirely, tonic water or Italian bitter sodas (such as Stappi Red Bitter or Sanbitter) can provide that bracing hit. (If tonic is too sweet to your state of being, dilute it with club soda.)
Appease your inner child
If there is a soda or tincture you sipped during childhood colds and stomach bugs, consider returning to it. We were a 7up-when-sick family, and the lemon-lime beverage still has the power to soothe me, even though those effects may be entirely psychological. (Attention calms me, and I associate 7up with maternal attention and affection.) I also find Mexican Coke helps combat queasiness, but I can’t explain that one.
Make sure you’re hydrated
If nothing else, make sure you drink water. Dehydration and the resulting dry mouth only exacerbate nausea, and can cause headaches and all kinds of unpleasantness. The sourness of lemon water hydrates and combats queasiness, but if plain, room temp water is all you can handle, guzzle that. (If you cannot handle plain water, go to a doctor because that is not good.)
You can also try A.A. Newton’s remedy: Alka-Seltzer dissolved in Gatorade; or mine: undiluted pickle juice. Both sound a little drastic, but drastic times call for drastic measures.
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