What are the Best Foods for Morning Sickness?

Pregnant women turn to a large variety of foods for morning sickness, such as crackers, and snacks containing ginger and peppermint. There really isn't one food that works for all women, but dry, bland-tasting snacks and herbal teas seem to do the trick better than most other food products. Figuring out which foods work best for a particular case of morning sickness can be something of a guessing game; one pregnant woman may find that certain foods ease morning sickness for a while, but that later on they lose their soothing abilities. Frustrating as it may be, the reality is that each woman must experiment to find which foods work best for her. Fortunately, the collective experiences of pregnant women have culminated in a good list of foods that are most likely to chase away morning sickness.

Studies have shown that ginger is one of the most effective foods for morning sickness. Grocery stores tend to contain an assortment of ginger products, each of which are fine to experiment with so long as they contain actual ginger. Ginger snaps, tea, candies, even the pungent smell of ginger spice have all helped ease nausea and vomiting.

Crackers and anything similar to crackers, such as toast, can also be effective foods for morning sickness. It may be that such crackers are fairly bland tasting and easier to eat in small doses—both good traits for foods to have when dealing with an upset stomach. Crackers have the added benefit of being extremely portable—a sleeve of salted crackers kept on the nightstand or carried around in a purse might be helpful. Similarly dry, bland foods such as cereal, pretzels and chips also may help.

Other foods for morning sickness don't exactly fall under the category of tasty edibles. Vitamin B6, for example, has helped many pregnant women overcome morning sickness symptoms. Various herbal teas, such as a peppermint or chamomile, have also proven effective against nausea.

Just the aroma of peppermint, in fact, has been known to help with morning sickness. There are different ways to get a therapeutic peppermint aroma. One way is to make tea, and inhale deeply through the nose between sips. Another way is to diffuse peppermint essential oil, which creates a much stronger smell for wafting throughout the house. Even the fainter aromas of peppermint candies and other peppermint products can be useful.

Part of feeling better is identifying the wrong foods for morning sickness. Many pregnant women find that, as much as they crave the healing effects of some foods, just the thought of other foods can churn their stomachs. Most aggravating is that some of those foods may be the very foods they enjoyed most before getting pregnant. Quickly finding out which foods don't work well is one of the most effective methods of alleviating morning sickness.

For some, there isn't any one most important food for morning sickness—any food at all helps. These women have found that an empty stomach equals an upset stomach, and that eating any bit of food is all it takes to chase away morning sickness. For this reason, doctors often recommend eating little amounts of food frequently throughout the day.