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11 natural remedies to get rid of morning sickness during pregnancy
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11 Natural Remedies to Get Rid of Morning Sickness During Pregnancy - photo by Richa Sethia
Many women face morning sickness during pregnancy, and it can feel like a never-ending problem. However, the good news is that it is temporary. It is only a very tiny part of the entire pregnancy.

You can get rid of it. There are simple home remedies which will end your suffering.

Before you know about the remedies, you should know what morning sickness is and why it happens.

What is morning sickness?

Morning sickness is often nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. Even though it is called morning sickness, it can happen any time of day. In most cases it happens between 6 and twelve weeks of pregnancy, but sometimes it happens during the later stages.

Morning sickness is never fun, so here are some super easy ways to get rid of these symptoms:

1. Lemon candies

Keep a lemon candy handy everywhere you go. Keep them in your purse, under your pillow and anywhere else you can think of in case of emergency. The juice of the lemon candies will give you instant relief and will help you get rid of your nausea.

2. Peppermint candies

Just like lemon candies, peppermint candies can also be helpful. They have a similar calming effect on your stomach. This will make you feel refreshed and the taste of peppermint will make the nausea go away.

3. Lemon water

Lemon can cure your icky feeling. Add a few drops of lemon in a glass of cold water and drink it in the morning or when you're feeling sick.

4. Ginger tea

The smell and flavor of ginger has a calming effect on your belly. It will soothe you and help calm your nausea. A cup of ginger lemon tea would be even better.

5. Eat more often

During pregnancy, you can always be hungry or you can completely lose your appetite. If it is the former, then you are lucky. Because hungry or not, you should always keep something to munch on. An empty stomach will trigger sickness more than a full stomach will. Do not eat large meals. Instead, eat small meals or snacks throughout the day.

6. Keep snacks where you sleep

Cravings can happen anywhere and anytime - even in the middle of the night. Keeping food near your bed will save you time and energy, and the time it takes you to prepare a meal might make you more sick. If you keep some snacks near your bed, you can get up and munch anytime you need.

7. Blander is better

Choosing low fiber snacks is a good habit during pregnancy. Toast, saltine crackers, applesauce and bananas are a perfect combination. They will quench your hunger without challenging your digestive system too much.

7. Avoid chips and fries

Try to avoid fried and fatty foods during pregnancy. They take a long time to digest, which delays the process of transferring the nutrition to your baby. The more time it takes, the better chances are for you to feel sick.

8. Have breakfast in bed

Pamper yourself while you are pregnant. If possible, eat something before getting out of bed. That way your stomach will be full even before the first activity of the day. The longer you go with an empty stomach, the higher chances are for morning sickness.

9. Avoid cooking in the first trimester

Unless you absolutely love it and it makes you happy, avoid cooking in your first trimester. The different smells of the vegetables, meats, fish and eggs can trigger nausea. So, during those rough weeks, let your partner handle the kitchen duties. The smell of simple things like spaghetti can send you into sickness.

10. Stay hydrated

Drink plenty of water. If you are regularly throwing up, make sure that your body has enough water to maintain the level of fluid, inside your body. After each meal, drink as much water and healthy fluid as you can.

Remember that the morning sickness phase is short. If something is triggering your morning sickness, try to avoid it. No matter what you do, remember that it will all be worth it when you get to hold your precious baby in your arms.
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From the book 'Outliers' comes proof that good health is more than just genetics
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Friends Jim Young, left, Mike Natale, Jeff Natale and Ryan Kiernan were on Greenwich High School football team together and Jim and Mike were captains. Jim, who was the youngest in Sherry Young's family, was welcome in the homes of the other three boys who still had siblings around and grandparents near. - photo by Sherry Young
As I look back on my life and the lives of others, both personally and in the reading I have done, I am convinced of the necessity of positive human contact in our lives. We are doubly blessed when we are able to make good friends or are a part of a family where we are accepted and loved.

Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers tells of a time in the 1950s when Dr. Stewart Wolf met a physician who practiced in the area of Roseto, Pennsylvania. Roseto was settled by a group of Italian families from Roseto, Italy, who re-created their life again in America.

This was in the 1950s before drugs and measures to prevent heart disease became important. In their conversation the physician said, You know, Ive been practicing for 17 years. I get patients from all over, and I rarely find anyone from Roseto under the age of 65 with heart disease.

Wolf was surprised by these words as, It was impossible to be a doctor, common sense said, and not see heart disease.

Wolf enlisted the aid of a sociologist and friend John Bruhn to help him. They found, There was no suicide, no alcoholism, no drug addiction, and very little crime. They didnt have anyone on welfare. Then we looked at peptic ulcers. They didnt have any of those either. These people were dying of old age. Thats it.

They checked into diet, genetics and possibilities of something in the foothills of eastern Pennsylvania but nothing made sense.

What they found was that Rosetans visited one another, stopping to chat in Italian on the street, say, or cooking for one another in their backyards. (Researchers) learned about the extended family clans that underlay the towns social structure. They saw how many homes had three generations living under one roof and how much respect grandparents commanded. They went to Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel and saw the unifying and calming effect of the church. They counted 22 separate civic organizations in a town of just under 2,000 people. They picked up on the particular egalitarian ethos of the community, which discouraged the wealthy from flaunting their success and helped the unsuccessful obscure their failures.

What they found eventually convinced the medical establishment to look beyond the individual and understand the culture people are part of their friends, families and town they came from. They determined that the people we surround ourselves with and the values of the world we inhabit have a profound effect on who we are.

Likely, this study could have been done with other ethnicities. However, my family's experiences with the Italian families in Connecticut ring true to the study. Our hungry and growing sons, especially our youngest son, Jim, who was left home alone with two beady-eyed parents, all had some memorable experiences being fed and loved in the Cos Cob multigenerational families. Proof of the African proverb, It takes a village to raise a child.

We live in an age when the contact we have with people often is on the internet, and many of us live among strangers. Unless we make the effort to reach out, we will become isolated, especially as we age. The Rosetan study is proof that reaching out and communicating may be good for our health.
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