Everything you need to know about essential oils for nausea

Before you start learning about which single or essential oil blends for nausea can help to alleviate this unpleasant affliction, it’s important that you know what this condition actually is.

Nausea is a symptom and can have a variety of causes. Some people experience it as a result of motion sickness or anxiety. Others may have it triggered when they're exposed to a specific food or particular scent. It can also accompany a stomach upset, migraine, or any other illness. And of course, we know that pregnant women often feel nauseous.

When you feel nauseous, you’ll experience a feeling of discomfort in your stomach and you may feel like you need to vomit. In many cases, nausea precedes vomiting, but it can also hit you in waves and pass without causing you to retch.

Once you know what essential oil is good for nausea, you won’t have to fear this feeling anymore. Whether it’s from a smell, a viral infection, a side effect of certain medication or as a result of a gastric ulcer, you’ll have the tools to deal with it.

There are many reasons you may be feeling nauseous and if it’s persistent, it’s always recommended that you check in with your doctor. Chat with them about using essential oils for nausea if it’s a chronic condition or if you’re pregnant and make sure that you know all the possible side effects this type of treatment entails.

How to use essential oils for nausea

Diffusers are by far the most popular way to use essential oils for nausea. If you choose the right diffuser, you not only make it easy to release essential oils into the air, but you can also add an element of style and beauty to your home.

Set your diffuser up near a wall outlet and fill it with water. Add your oils and adjust the settings as you require. Then you’re all set and can let the oils do their work to help you feel better.

When you know what essential oils help with nausea, you can also add them to your bath, create a massage oil using a carrier oil to dilute them, or experiment with blends to create a mist or room spray that you like. You can even rub diluted blends onto your pressure points to help fight feelings of sickness.

The best essential oils for nausea

Because nausea is so uncomfortable and sometimes unpredictable, you’ll want a quick remedy when it strikes. Once you know what essential oil is good for nausea, make sure you’re stocked up with a selection of oils so you can nip this feeling in the bud at once.

Cardamom

Cardamom’s unique scent is often used to help people relax. When nausea is a result of feelings of anxiety, this essential oil can work wonders.

Chamomile

Chamomile essential oil has been one of the answers to the question of what essential oil helps with nausea for hundreds of years now. One of its most significant properties is how quickly it can relax you, making it another good option for anxiety-induced nausea. 

Cinnamon

Cinnamon is another brilliant essential oil for nausea because it works to soothe a range of gastrointestinal issues, the symptoms of which frequently include nausea.

This essential oil is antibacterial and antiviral so if you’re feeling sick, it can give you the immune boost you need to fight the cause and the symptoms. It has a soothing effect which can also help soothe nausea caused by stress.

Fennel

Fennel essential oil is sometimes used as a treatment for digestive issues as well as a laxative. While it’s relaxing your digestive system, you may find that it helps decrease nausea levels too.

Ginger

Ginger is perhaps the most popular natural compound and essential oil for nausea. Gingerol, one of this root’s natural components, benefits gastrointestinal motility.

When your nausea is related to something you’ve eaten, ginger essential oil can ensure that the food causing the issue doesn’t remain in your body too long.

Lavender

Lavender essential oil is famous for its relaxing benefits. Many people experience nausea as a result of anxiety or physical pain, and this oil can prove very effective for this group.

Lemon

Any list detailing what essential oil is good for nausea would be remiss if it didn’t include lemon essential oil. This oil is safe for pregnant women, so it’s a good choice for nausea and vomiting if you’re expecting and suffering from morning sickness.

Lemongrass

If you had posed the question, what essential oil helps with nausea in Ancient India, lemongrass essential oil would have been the swift response!

It’s been one of the preferred natural remedies for treating nausea for hundreds of years and is commonly believed to help with morning sickness too.

Nutmeg

Nutmeg oil can be viewed as a preventative essential oil for nausea because it boosts your immune system. This will help you fight off the sickness that’s causing your nausea, although it’s as effective as a treatment for queasiness as well.

Peppermint or spearmint

The fresh, cooling scent of peppermint essential oil can provide a soothing sensation. This, in turn, can translate to your body’s muscles, including your gastric muscles, relaxing and in turn offering some relief from nausea. And if you prefer spearmint over peppermint, spearmint essential oil works too!

Chamomile’s effect on the causes of nausea

Chamomile’s efficacy as an anti-nausea treatment has been proven in multiple studies. Its anti-inflammatory properties have a positive effect on the gastric wall and fluid accumulation in the stomach. Chamomile in these instances was generally consumed as a tea and is most effective when blended with other ingredients.

Peppermint, ginger, cardamom and spearmint essential oils for fast-acting nausea relief

A review found that inhaling peppermint oil or ginger essential oil had very quick results for combating nausea and vomiting, reducing the need for anti-nausea medication. It confirmed that having these oils in your medicine cabinet is a good idea.

If you prefer spearmint to peppermint, you’re in luck: spearmint seems to be as effective as peppermint for reducing nausea, according to a comparative study.

Another study on the effect of aromatherapy on postoperative nausea showed that both ginger essential oil alone and a blend of ginger, peppermint, cardamom and spearmint essential oils answered the questions of what essential oil is good for nausea and the best essential oil blend for nausea, reducing the need for anti-nausea drugs. Cardamon’s antiemetic (anti-nausea) properties help to alleviate nausea and are also effective in helping to reduce the burning sensation that can accompany vomiting.

Lavender for nausea and vomiting

A randomized, placebo-controlled study compared the effects of aromatherapy on postoperative patients with lavender oil, ginger oil, rose oil or water. Lavender yielded the most significant results, with 82.6% of patients experiencing reductions in nausea, vomiting and the need for anti-nausea drugs. Ginger was also effective, with 65.2% of patients experiencing improvements.

Lemon oil for patients suffering from NVP

Patients struggling with the onset of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy found relief from their symptoms by inhaling lemon essential oil in a 2014 study. The oil was given to pregnant women to inhale on demand whenever they felt nausea coming on over a period of four days. Compared to the placebo, lemon oil was found to be more effective.

Effective essential oil blends for nausea

Whether you’re suffering from stomach flu, have morning sickness or simply aren’t a great traveller, essential oils can do a lot to help you alleviate nausea. When you need a little extra help, these recipes may be just the thing:

The kiss-being-queasy-goodbye blend

This essential oil blend for nausea is good for children and adults alike.

Due to the fact that it contains bergamot essential oil, avoid using it in instances where it needs topical application and there’s the risk of sun exposure. This oil may make skin more sensitive to the sun’s rays and you run the risk of rashes and sunburn.

Combine 3 drops of basil essential oil with 2 drops each of bergamot and sweet orange essential oil and pop the mix into your diffuser or dilute it with a carrier oil and add the mix to your bath or use it as a massage oil.

You could also add the blend to a spray bottle and use it to spritz up whatever room you’re in when you’re feeling nauseous.

The nausea-be-gone blend

Combine 4 drops of peppermint essential oil with 2 drops each of ginger and lavender in a 10 ml roll-on bottle, and add 1 drop of cardamom. Then fill the bottle with your preferred carrier oil and close it up.

When you’re feeling sick, apply some of this essential oil blend for nausea to your palms, throat, abdomen or wrists.

You can also cup your nose and mouth after you’ve dabbed some onto the palms of your hands and inhale the scent in long, measured breaths until you get some relief.

The no-more-nausea blend

Use this blend for combating almost any kind of nausea, whether from food poisoning, morning sickness, motion sickness or whatever other cause.

Combine 3 drops each of grapefruit essential oil and cardamom oil. Add 2 drops each of ginger and lavender and put this essential oil blend for nausea into your diffuser and let it do its magic. 

The something-for-the-little-ones blend

Mix 1 drop of sweet orange essential oil with 2 drops of ginger and let your children inhale the mix if they're nauseous.

If you have a particular problem during car rides, apply a few drops of this blend to a cotton ball and wedge it into one of the air vents in your vehicle during the drive.

The take-it-easy-travel blend

If you’ve got nausea from altitude or motion sickness, combining 1 drop of peppermint and 2 drops of ginger essential oils with some carrier oil and rubbing it on your skin at pulse points can be very helpful.

Ginger is believed to get stagnant energy moving, and it’s spicy and warm. Peppermint is calming, clarifying and cooling, and both work to reduce muscle spasms.

How to use essential oils for nausea correctly

Now that you know what essential oil is good for nausea, you’ll be pleased to find out that this kind of treatment is also a very low-risk remedy. As with anything, there can be certain side effects, but most people will not have any adverse reactions to using this treatment.

Make sure that you properly dilute whatever essential oil for nausea you’ve decided to use before bringing it anywhere near your skin. Then do a patch test to ensure you don’t have any reactions to the oils and use them responsibly thereafter.

Make sure you never inhale the vapor from your diffuser directly as it may irritate your mucous membranes. You can, however, inhale directly from the bottle of essential oil, or use a vapor inhaler. If your nausea persists for two days or more or you start showing signs of dehydration, stop using essential oils and get in touch with your healthcare provider.

Essential oils and oil blends for nausea are meant to help you with mild to moderate queasiness. They will not necessarily cure a bacterial or viral infection, although many of the oils mentioned here can certainly help fight off such infections and their symptoms. Care should be taken if you’re pregnant, trying to conceive or breastfeeding. Oils should also be used with care around children and pets.

Essential oils for nausea FAQs

Can essential oils cause nausea?

In certain cases, yes, but this response to essential oils is very rare.

What essential oil is good for nausea?

Peppermint, ginger, spearmint, Roman chamomile, lavender, lemon and lemongrass are all options for targeting nausea with essential oils.

How quickly do essential oils work?

It takes just over 20 seconds for essential oil molecules to reach our brains, 2 minutes for them to enter our bloodstream and 20 minutes for them to affect every one of the cells in our bodies!

Is ingesting essential oils safe?

No. You can burn the mucosa in your digestive tract, mouth, nose, esophagus and stomach lining if you swallow them or use them internally.

The takeaway

Now that you know what essential oils help with nausea, it may be helpful to do a recap of what these oils are.

Essential oils can be described as plant-based active compounds distilled into potent oils. They harness the powerful properties of certain plants and many help with nausea, improve digestion, kill bacteria, relax muscles, relieve pain, improve sleep and boost your mood, among other benefits.

The marked global increase in dependence on essential oils for nausea and a host of other emotional, physical and even spiritual ailments is due to how few side effects their use entails. There’s minimal risk associated with them, and they work quickly too.

Just ensure that you only purchase 100% pure, organic essential oils from a trusted supplier like Volant. This will ensure that you enjoy the best benefits from high-quality essential oils and that you can rest assured you’re giving your body the best possible chance of recovering from nausea without adding harmful chemicals to your body.