Minimize Morning Sickness

I have several moms currently who are quite afflicted by morning sickness. I was lucky to have not been seriously affected by morning sickness. With my first pregnancy I quickly realized that taking my prenatal vitamins on an empty stomach or with insignificant food was the culprit behind my nausea and subsequent vomiting. I quickly began taking my prenatals later in the day, especially if I didn’t eat a substantial breakfast.

I’m not naive enough to think that all women’s morning sickness can be solved this easily. My mother suffered with such severe constant “all-day” sickness that she would have lost my oldest brother if it weren’t for peanut butter and to this day she cannot stomach mayonnaise on her knuckles from knifing it out of a jar to make my dad’s lunch sandwiches.

Morning sickness likely occurs due to the overwhelming hormonal changes that come hand in hand with pregnancy, but that doesn’t entirely explain why some moms are more affected than others. I’ve developed a huge trust in the human body and believe it provides us symptoms as signals and signs for us to listen to rather than simply get rid of. For these reasons, I don’t advocate simply taking a medication – natural or not – to stop the symptom.

The best ways to quickly minimize morning sickness is to provide your body with what it’s likely most lacking:

1. Eat Well: A sufficient diet. It’s no secret that the acronym for the Standard American Diet is SAD, and for that reason, it’s extremely rare for me to meet a mom who eats a sufficient diet (we won’t even discuss pure right now). Most are getting 5-7 servings of fruits and vegetables weekly opposed to the required daily. Most are toxic in the amounts of grains*, and I suspect, that if they do eat breakfast, it is largely composed of processed grains that quickly turn to sugar, leading to a blood sugar drop and more nausea. My suggestion with all people, especially pregnant moms, is to eat a breakfast with adequate protein. My favorite breakfast is scrambled eggs, with advocado on ezekiel toast. If you’re short on time, almond butter on ezekiel bread is quick. A quality protein shake is quick too. Replace your cereal with the Innate Breakfast (oats, nuts, berries/raisins, flax seeds with almond milk or organic apple juice). Start including a mid morning and mid afternoon snack consisting of a fruit or vegetable with nuts. Aim to eat something approximately every 2-3 hours to keep your blood sugar stable.

A note on grains. B vitamins are found in grains, but through processing are completely stripped of them. What generally happens is synthetic forms of the vitamins are added back in the finished product.

2. REST! Nothing slows you down quite like morning sickness. Since I fully believe the body is communicating to us via symptoms, it’s very likely morning sickness is an intelligent way for the body to slow us down, giving us time to properly heal. Make sure you’re getting adequate sleep – I have one mom who usually sleeps on her back, but because she’s worried about sleeping on her back in later pregnancy, she’s attempting to train herself now, which is resulting in poor quality sleep and is very likely contributing to her sickness (I know how I feel on poor sleep without being pregnant). It’s so obvious, but make sure you’re going to bed early enough each night! In less than 9 months, you’ll have plenty of late nights, get the rest now!

These two things should be your top priority. If you’re dealing with morning sickness, you won’t be far into your google search until you start seeing that vitamin B6 is a potential treatment. I find this viewpoint irritating quite honestly. B6 is essential for a properly functioning body. It aids in adrenal function, proper nerve transmission, and helps in the proper metabolism of fats, carbohydrates and protein. You can cover up B6 deficiency symptoms with a variety of treatments, but the only way to truly fix the problem is by becoming sufficient. That’s not treatment, since more B6 isn’t going to help you if your sufficient and your morning sickness is caused by something else. However, it’s always worth ensuring you are sufficient. Vitamin B6 is most commonly found in the following foods:

– bananas
– currants
– dried apricots
– prunes
– sunflower seeds & walnuts
– soya beans
– chicken
– salmon
– tuna
– turkey
– whole grains* (See #1 Eat Well)
– sweet potato
– brewer’s yeast

Let’s be honest, aside from chicken and whole grains, how often are you consuming those foods? The RDA for B6 when pregnant is 1.9mg. A 7 inch banana contains about .4mg. This is the minimum amount required to prevent a deficiency disease, in this case, hand and foot nerve damage, cracked lips and tongue inflammation. B6 deficiency is quite rare. However, let me be clear, there is a big difference between amount required to prevent disease and amount required to create health. Just eating the bare minimum to prevent disease will not create health, however, eating enough to create health will prevent disease. The solution, eat a diet with adequate amounts of a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. To help put this idea in perspective, studies on B6’s role in morning sickness suggest supplementing with about 75mg for about 3 days. So it seems to me, that what’s actually happening is you’re bring up your B6 levels to an adequate amount so you’re no longer suffering with a subclinical deficiency.  (If you overcook these foods, or microwave, you’re likely damaging the B6 so you’re getting even less.)

3. Move Well. Get adjusted by a chiropractor that understands the needs of pregnant women. Because your brain directs every function in your body, it’s essential that your nervous system clearly connects your brain and your entire body. This will allow your body to regulate its hormonal responses more adequately. Chiropractic’s role on the HPA axis is clearly documented, therefore it’s ability to modulate our stress response is crucial to today’s stress epidemic. The A in HPA stands for adrenals. Chiropractic can reduce the amount of stress on the adrenals via neurological pathways. A lack of sleep depletes adrenals. B6 is important to adrenal function. Are you starting to see a connection? Get checked regularly so you can be adjusted as needed. 

4. Get moving. We cannot have proper hormone balance without moving our body adequately. If you haven’t been moving your body prior to pregnancy, then start slowly. Go for a walk. Get out in nature, it will do wonders for your stress response, therefore helping you Think Well too. 

Those four things above will not only improve your morning sickness, but will move you and your baby towards higher levels of health (epigenetics). To get a concrete assessment of your current level of health, I offer my clients Health Risk Assessments. This is the only way to adequately assess how you are currently Eating, Moving and Thinking as it relates to your current health and predictive future health risk.

I understand the high likelihood of the reader being pregnant, suffering with morning sickness which leads her to this article and realizing that she likely like needs to begin participating in the above suggestions (perhaps to a higher degree), yet she’s sick right now and it’ll take time to get her body on track. Let me be clear in that doing what’s above is not optional. It’s the only way to create health. But while you’re implementing those things, and while your body is healing, it’s likely that you’ll still have nausea. So, in those cases I’m offering the following suggestions in addition to Eating Well Moving Well and Thinking Well.

No one is deficient in anti nausea meds, any more than they are deficient in anti-nausea herbs or essential oils. However, it’s likely that nature offers some safer options to ease morning sickness while meeting your body’s needs discussed previously until it has the time it needs to heal.

1. Ginger. Ginger is well known for It’s antinausea properties. There are ready made Ginger teas available on the market, though I assume their quality varies, so try a few if you’re not getting results. You can also make your own by adding slices of fresh ginger to hot water and sweeten with a little honey. Some report success with ginger ale, but try it flat and room temperature, as the fizz can upset your stomach. Tummydrops Ginger
are also available. 

2. Peppermint essential oil. Some people get relief from sucking on those familiar red and white candies, though due to sugar content and quality, it’s not my top recommendation. I prefer inhaling or applying essential oils topically, unless you are under the guidance of a qualified practitioner. Peppermint essential oil can be added to diffusers, worn on a necklace, bracelet, applied to your temples or belly, use a carrier oil like fractionated coconut oil if you are applying topically, especially if you have sensitive skin. Peppermint tea can also be helpful.

3. Chewing on anise/fennel seeds or drinking anise tea. Raspberry leaf tea can offer several benefits while pregnant, including reducing of nausea. Though because it can potentially cause uterine contractions it should not be use in late pregnancy or with a complicated pregnancy.

4. Acupuncture from a qualified practitioner. Or try Sea-Band Mama Wristband Accupressure in between sessions.

Some moms suffer from severe nausea while pregnant. As in cannot keep anything down, to the point of losing weight and developing other issues. Those individuals should seek medical advice and be monitored for the safety of their baby. However, Eating, Moving and Thinking well as outlined above are always indicated and are the only way to move towards higher levels of health and true wellness. These steps should always be followed, especially if under going medical treatment, because while medications can crush a symptom and at times be life saving, they always have some effect on the body and the only way to heal is to provide our body with everything it requires to be sufficient and minimize toxins as much as possible.