Fighting Nausea with Ginger & Peppermint.

I’ve probably talked about ginger & mint here before, but I’d like to highlight two products that not only help with nausea but also are quite addictive, err tasty…

Ginger Chews are chewy candies that have a strong ginger kick. They come in individually wrapped rectangular chunks and are lightly coated with powdered sugar. These aren’t at all like those weird jellied fruit squares you might find masquerading in the produce section of your local grocery. They have real ginger flavor & they’re not sickly sweet. There is quite a bit of chew to them(as the name would suggest), so they can get stuck in your teeth if you’re not careful. It’s not a requirement that you chew them, you can treat them like you would a hard candy and they’ll slowly melt.

I often get my Ginger Chews locally from a market called Trader Joe’s. If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s near you or check out the Ginger People’s Store Locator.

Altoids are “Curiously Strong” mints as the slogan on the front of the tin states. Don’t be too shy about their strength, you’ll soon get used to them, although this is coming from someone who is certifiably an Altoid Fiend™. I think they need to make an Altoids Anonymous 12-step program for me & I know there are others out there! Once you get started, it’s hard to stop nibbling on these things. You’ll start with just one, then two, then three or four at a time. You suddenly realize you just ate the entire tin over the span of one evening. Alas, don’t let my tale of addiction keep you away from Altoids. There aren’t actually any addictive substances inside of Altoids, so maybe if you’re not as compulsive as I am you’ll be able to control their power!

I’d strongly suggest sticking with the Peppermint flavor. Altoids does make a Ginger flavor as well as other minty flavors, but Peppermint uses all natural flavors and no colorings. Some of the other flavors have less than natural flavorings & colorings, plus they taste much sweeter.

Altoids can usually be found at your local grocery in the candy section or in the impulse buy area near checkout. They are usually a bit more pricey if you by them individually(up to $2/tin). If you check the candy aisle you might be able to find a twin-pack for a lower cost per unit($3/2-tins, $1.50ea). You could also check out restaurant supply stores & buy them in a 12-packs($17.04/12-tins, $1.42ea). Sometimes local pharmacies run ads for Altoids as low as $1/tin, which is quite the value! I once found a local grocery offering them for $0.75(75 cents) per tin if you bought 10. I bought the last 10 they had :D! If you can’t find them locally, you could can also buy Peppermint Altoids.

There are other products that use ginger and/or peppermint to help combat nausea. GPAdvocate recently did some reviews for QueaseEASE & some Sea-Band Anti-Nausea Ginger Gum. You might want to check those out as well :)!