More than half of all pregnant women experience morning sickness during their pregnancy. Most common in the first trimester, morning sickness can actually strike at any time of the day or night, and can be quite unpleasant. Thankfully, ginger tea is a safe, flavorful and drug-free remedy for your pregnancy-related nausea.
Pregnancy Nausea
Colloquially called "morning sickness," pregnancy-related nausea is largely due to your rising hormone levels early in pregnancy, explain Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel in their book "What To Expect When You're Expecting." Because you're still getting used to the hormones during the first few months of pregnancy, it's during these first three months that you're most likely to feel ill. While nausea can affect you at any time of day, it's most common in the mornings -- and any other time your blood sugar falls.
Ginger
A natural remedy for nausea -- pregnancy-induced and otherwise -- ginger contains a chemical closely related to capsaicin, which makes peppers hot. The ginger molecule, called zingerone, has a heat all its own, as you have no doubt experienced from time to time. Zingerone binds to neural receptors, sending signals that confuse your brain, explain Penny Le Couteur and Jay Bureson in their book "Napoleon's Buttons." You can't process the heat of the ginger and nausea at the same time.
Ginger Tea
While ginger works in any form to relieve nausea -- as long as you can taste it -- you may want to consider a tea. The warmth of the tea may help to settle your stomach, and you can add a little sugar or honey to increase your blood sugar and further reduce your nausea. You can either buy prepared ginger tea from most grocery stores or make your own by using fresh ginger and hot water.
Caution
If you choose to buy prepared ginger tea, be aware that you should look for a tea made purely of ginger and other food-grade herbs. Many herbal teas from health food and herbal medicine stores -- including so-called "pregnancy" teas -- contain herbs that aren't safe for use during pregnancy, explains the American Pregnancy Association. In general, if the ingredients are all food herbs -- herbs you'd find in the produce section of the grocery store -- you're probably safe.
References
- "What to Expect When You're Expecting"; Heidi Murkoff, et al.; 2008
- "Napoleon's Buttons"; Penny Le Couteur, et al.; 2004
- American Pregnancy Association: Drinking Herbal Teas during Pregnancy
