Top 10 Most Effective Ways to Prevent Motion Sickness

Talking with friends during the journey can help distract you from the feeling of motion sickness. This is a key factor in preventing motion sickness from taking hold. Stress or anxiety can make nausea much worse. Bringing along some snacks, an MP3 player, singing, or playing a few games can help keep your mind off the discomfort.

If you're traveling with friends, conversations will help take your mind off being on the vehicle. You can also bring snacks, a music player, sing to yourself, or have some intellectual games to keep you entertained and ease the motion sickness. Remember, your mental state is very important—if you stay negative or constantly worry about getting sick, it’s more likely to happen.

Using sweet potatoes is a safe, cost-effective remedy for motion sickness without medication. A 100g serving contains 38mg of calcium, 3.3g of fiber, 90 kcal, 0.69mg of iron, 27mg of magnesium, 0.5mg of manganese, 1.5mg of vitamin B3, 54mg of phosphorus, 475mg of potassium, 36mg of sodium, 961 μg of vitamin A, and other vital nutrients. These compounds help reduce muscle spasms and neutralize stomach acid, making them effective against motion sickness.

Raw sweet potatoes are highly effective in preventing motion sickness by reducing muscle spasms and neutralizing stomach acid, thus preventing nausea. You can clean and chew raw sweet potatoes, swallowing the pulp to alleviate symptoms of motion sickness. You may also consume a small amount of boiled sweet potato before your journey to avoid an empty stomach, which can lead to fatigue and negatively impact your health.

Drinking 1 to 2 cups of warm water before boarding the vehicle helps prevent nausea, soothes your stomach, and relaxes your nerves, making it easier to fall asleep and forget other motion sickness symptoms. It's also beneficial to drink warm water daily for better health and beauty. During your journey, sipping small amounts of warm water can keep your mouth from getting dry and help prevent nausea.

Green tea is well-known for its numerous health benefits, including its effectiveness in preventing motion sickness. Drinking warm green tea helps warm your body, relieves nausea, and improves blood circulation, so you'll feel more comfortable and less fatigued.

Ginger tea is another popular remedy with great benefits. Few know that ginger is also highly effective in combating motion sickness. Drinking it before the trip can prevent motion sickness, or sipping it afterward will help you feel better.

Avoiding certain foods when experiencing motion sickness can help eliminate your discomfort during trips, helping you feel more relaxed and refreshed. As a result, enjoying your journey—whether by car, plane, train, or boat—becomes much easier and more pleasant.

The following foods should be avoided before and during your trip:

• Lychee and Egg Yolks: Lychees have a high sugar content. When eaten, the sugar reacts with certain enzymes in the body and turns into a substance with an alcohol-like odor, causing a feeling of “dizziness” or lightheadedness. This also happens when consuming egg yolks or soy milk before a trip.
• Fried and Greasy Foods: Foods that are high in oil and fat can cause indigestion, making you feel bloated and nauseous. Moreover, avoid eating large meals before traveling, as it diverts blood to the digestive system, leaving your brain and limbs with less blood supply, which can make you feel drowsy and sluggish.
• Strong-smelling Foods: Foods like durian or alcohol with strong odors can worsen nausea during travel. Since vehicles are usually enclosed, these unpleasant smells can intensify, making you feel even more nauseous.
• Sugary or Carbonated Drinks: Consuming carbonated drinks like soda or alcohol during long trips can lead to bloating, indigestion, nausea, and stomach pain. Similarly, dairy-based drinks like milkshakes or beverages with cream can cause discomfort in your throat and lead to nausea when burping.

If the weather is too hot, it's best to turn off the air conditioning, open the windows, and let in fresh air from outside. This can make you feel much more comfortable and relaxed.

If you must use the air conditioning but can't tolerate the smell, try wearing a face mask, setting the airflow mode to fresh air, and adjusting the vents so the air doesn't blow directly on your head. Avoid sitting directly under the sunlight or the air conditioning as well.

Face masks help block dust and odors in the vehicle, as the air inside buses, trains, and cars is often confined and filled with unpleasant smells from the air conditioning. Before boarding, put on a face mask (not too thick, as that may make you uncomfortable and increase the feeling of nausea). You can also chew gum to help mask the vehicle's scent.

This method may sound unusual and hard to believe. It's quite simple: just wrap a towel from the back of your neck to your chest. Though it sounds easy, it has been proven helpful for many people suffering from motion sickness. Similar to using betel leaves, wrapping a dry towel to keep warm from the neck to the chest is effective for preventing motion sickness in some individuals.

How to do it: Wrap the towel from the back of the neck to the chest. Effect: Just like using betel leaves, this method is very effective in reducing motion sickness symptoms for many people.

According to traditional medicine, to prevent motion sickness, it is recommended to consume a piece of fresh ginger, about the size of your thumb, 30 minutes before your trip. Peel it, wash it, then crush or chew it and drink with a cup of warm water. During the journey, you can occasionally suck on a small piece. Fresh ginger, known as 'sinh khương', helps to expel wind and cold and prevent nausea. Therefore, using ginger for motion sickness treatment is easy, effective, and free of side effects.

Dry ginger powder is also great for preventing motion sickness. It helps alleviate dizziness, dry mouth, and nausea. You can either suck on thin slices of fresh ginger or drink ginger tea. To make ginger tea, peel and slice a few thin pieces of fresh ginger, place them in a teapot, and pour hot water over it, letting it steep for 15 minutes. Add honey or brown sugar to sweeten, if desired. Ginger tea is excellent for digestion and can help settle your stomach before your trip.

About 15 minutes before your trip, take 3 to 4 betel leaves, the same type used for chewing, tear them into small pieces and gently crush them. Keep 1 to 2 leaves in your hand and occasionally smell them to mask the scent of gasoline. Betel leaves are also known for warming the stomach area. Holding a couple of leaves to sniff will help counteract the strong smell of fuel and block the wind, reducing the feeling of nausea and preventing motion sickness.

For better results, place the leaves on your stomach, cover them with cloth or a handkerchief, and secure them in place with tape or a scarf. This is a simple yet effective remedy for preventing motion sickness.

Orange and tangerine peels contain essential oils that help calm your nerves and balance the nervous system. They also reduce stomach and intestinal contractions, preventing nausea. You can tear the peel into small pieces and hold them near your nose, or gently press the peel with your nails to release the oils into the air, helping to mask unpleasant vehicle smells like fuel, and avoid the feeling of nausea.

About an hour before you travel, peel an orange or tangerine, fold the peel in half, and place it between your nostrils. Gently squeeze to release the essential oils and inhale deeply 10 times. You can also repeat this while you're on the vehicle for continuous relief.

It's better to sit as far from the back of the vehicle as possible, as this allows your eyes to focus less on the surroundings and more on relaxing, making your mind feel more at ease. Additionally, the front seats generally experience less jolting, so if possible, choose a seat near the front, by the window, and avoid sitting next to someone who feels nauseous.

A common recommendation for people who get motion sickness is to look out of the window toward the horizon in the direction the vehicle is moving. This helps realign your internal sense of balance by providing a more consistent sense of motion. Ideally, try to sleep during the ride to help forget about the motion sickness.