Feeling nauseous is the worst! It makes eating and drinking unenjoyable, and it always seems to happen at the most inconvenient times.

Luckily, there are things you can do to prevent this from happening to you on most occasions, and our AFC Urgent Care Mooresville team highlights these prevention tactics below.

• Here’s what to do: Stay hydrated. The body needs water to digest and absorb nutrients from foods and beverages efficiently. Being dehydrated makes digestion more difficult and less effective, which increases the likelihood of feeling nauseous.
• What to do next: Wash your hands frequently with soap and water, particularly after using the bathroom and before and after handling food. Bacteria and germs can often be the cause of an upset stomach that leads to nausea, and washing your hands frequently reduces the risk of harmful bacteria interacting with the food that enters your stomach.
• What to do after: Store, clean and prepare food carefully and correctly. Dirty, moldy and expired foods can all expose your body to harmful bacteria that can cause vomiting, diarrhea and even a fever.
• If you do become nauseous: Avoid lying down. When the body is horizontal, the acid in the stomach is more likely to travel backward and move upward, which can make nausea worse. If you must lie down, prop up your head, neck and upper chest with pillows, ideally at a 30-degree angle.
• Another nausea remedy: OTC antiemetic medications. These types of medications, like Dramamine and Pepto-Bismol, are anti-nausea drugs that can help to reduce feelings of nausea or vomiting.
• If you feel nauseous all the time: You could be dealing with a more serious medical condition, rather than just an acute reaction to a type of harmful bacteria. Common causes of chronic nausea and upset stomach are gastritis, intestinal obstructions and functional gastrointestinal disorders, like IBS. See your doctor if you experience frequent bouts of nausea over the course of a couple weeks.
• Action steps to take: If you’re trying to cover all your bases to avoid nausea, avoid spicy foods. Spices and hot foods can irritate people’s acid reflux senses, as well as their stomach linings and tendencies for indigestion, heartburn and nausea. If you know that spices are troubling for you, stick with mild flavorings and herbs instead, as those won’t cause discomfort.
• Doctor recommendations: Proper overall hygiene is the best nausea preventer, and it’s the best way to stay healthy! Remember to stay active, wash your hands, drink water, get enough sleep and eat lots of healthy, natural foods.

Have more questions about nausea? Don’t hesitate to ask us, so reach out or stop by our AFC center today!