Natural Treatments for Morning Sickness

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Can cannabis and ginger be considered safe and effective treatments for hyperemesis gravidarum (severe morning sickness during pregnancy)?

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Nausea and vomiting are common during pregnancy, affecting 70 to 85% of women worldwide, but not in all countries. Population groups that eat more plant-based diets tend to have little or no nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, though. For example, on a nationwide basis, the lowest reported rates in the world are in India, at only 35%.

Sometimes, symptoms are so severe it can become life-threatening—a condition known as hyperemesis gravidarum. Each year, more than 50,000 pregnant women are hospitalized. What can we do, other than reducing our intake of saturated fat, for example—cutting the odds five-fold by cutting out one daily cheeseburger?

The best available evidence suggests that ginger is a safe and effective treatment. The recommended dose is a gram of powdered ginger a day. That’s about a half a teaspoon which is equivalent to about a full teaspoon of grated fresh ginger, or four cups of ginger tea. The maximum recommended daily dose is four grams, though; so, no more than about two teaspoons of powdered ginger a day.

Cannabis was rated as extremely effective or effective by nine out of ten pregnant women who used if for morning sickness, but cannabis use during pregnancy may be regarded as potentially harmful to the developing fetus. This is not your mother’s marijuana. Today’s marijuana is six to seven times more potent than in the 1970s, and may cause problems both for the developing fetus, and then later for the developing child. The bottom line is that pregnant and breastfeeding cannabis users should be advised to either decrease or, where possible, cease cannabis use entirely.

What do they mean “where possible”? Under what circumstances would it not be possible? People don’t realize how bad it can get. This is how one woman described it. Hyperemesis gravidarum can lead to such violent vomiting you can rupture your esophagus, bleed into your eyes, go blind, or comatose. So, there are certain circumstances where cannabis could be a lifesaver for the mother and the baby, as women sometimes understandably choose to terminate otherwise wanted pregnancies.

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Katie Schloer.

Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.

Image thanks to Sarah / Flickr

Nausea and vomiting are common during pregnancy, affecting 70 to 85% of women worldwide, but not in all countries. Population groups that eat more plant-based diets tend to have little or no nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, though. For example, on a nationwide basis, the lowest reported rates in the world are in India, at only 35%.

Sometimes, symptoms are so severe it can become life-threatening—a condition known as hyperemesis gravidarum. Each year, more than 50,000 pregnant women are hospitalized. What can we do, other than reducing our intake of saturated fat, for example—cutting the odds five-fold by cutting out one daily cheeseburger?

The best available evidence suggests that ginger is a safe and effective treatment. The recommended dose is a gram of powdered ginger a day. That’s about a half a teaspoon which is equivalent to about a full teaspoon of grated fresh ginger, or four cups of ginger tea. The maximum recommended daily dose is four grams, though; so, no more than about two teaspoons of powdered ginger a day.

Cannabis was rated as extremely effective or effective by nine out of ten pregnant women who used if for morning sickness, but cannabis use during pregnancy may be regarded as potentially harmful to the developing fetus. This is not your mother’s marijuana. Today’s marijuana is six to seven times more potent than in the 1970s, and may cause problems both for the developing fetus, and then later for the developing child. The bottom line is that pregnant and breastfeeding cannabis users should be advised to either decrease or, where possible, cease cannabis use entirely.

What do they mean “where possible”? Under what circumstances would it not be possible? People don’t realize how bad it can get. This is how one woman described it. Hyperemesis gravidarum can lead to such violent vomiting you can rupture your esophagus, bleed into your eyes, go blind, or comatose. So, there are certain circumstances where cannabis could be a lifesaver for the mother and the baby, as women sometimes understandably choose to terminate otherwise wanted pregnancies.

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Katie Schloer.

Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.

Image thanks to Sarah / Flickr

Doctor's Note

People have long asked me to do videos about medical marijuana, but because of the stigma, only recently have there been a substantial number of clinical studies published. As soon as there’s a critical mass, I’ll put out a series of videos on the potential pros and cons.

What else can ginger do? See:

Check out my favorite way to eat ginger here: Dr. Greger’s Natural Nausea Remedy Recipe.

Other healthy pregnancy videos include:

If you haven’t yet, you can subscribe to my videos for free by clicking here. Read our important information about translations here.

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