Nausea and vomiting

Corkwood

Duboisia myoporoides

Transdermal scopolamine is also used to prevent post-operative nausea and vomiting. Purified drug only.

Hemp (Cannabis)

Cannabis sativa

Dronabinol and nabilone (synthetic THC-type drugs) are FDA-approved for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. A 2015 Cochrane review found cannabis-based medicines may help refractory chemotherapy nausea, but most trials are old (1980s–90s), low certainty, and side effects (dizziness, drowsiness, 'feeling high') limit use.

Crow-dipper

Pinellia ternata

A 2024 meta-analysis of 16 Chinese randomised trials (1,246 patients) found that adding Xiao ban xia tang (processed pinellia with fresh ginger) to standard antiemetics improved relief of chemotherapy-induced vomiting (risk ratio 1.35) and nausea (RR 1.23) compared with antiemetics alone. The authors call for larger rigorous trials; the effect of pinellia alone is not tested.

Giant dodder

Cuscuta reflexa

Traditionally used against vomiting and in antiemetic herbal formulas. Juice and extracts given by injection reduced the number of vomiting episodes in pigeons given copper sulphate, ampicillin or cisplatin. Animal data only.

Ginger

Zingiber officinale

For nausea after surgery or with chemotherapy, NCCIH says it is uncertain whether ginger helps or adds anything to standard anti-sickness drugs.

Loquat

Eriobotrya japonica

Active components of loquat leaves reduced cisplatin-induced vomiting in animals by lowering brain serotonin and dopamine.

Patchouli

Pogostemon cablin

In a phase III double-blind RCT (166 patients on 3-day cisplatin chemotherapy), Huoxiang Zhengqi oral liquid added to a 5-HT3 antagonist and dexamethasone gave more nausea-free days and a higher complete-control rate beyond the risk phase (81% vs 61%). The formula contains patchouli herb and oil with nine other ingredients.

Peppermint

Mentha x piperita

Small studies suggest inhaled peppermint oil may ease chemotherapy-related and some post-surgical nausea; one review found it no better than placebo for post-operative nausea.

Spearmint

Mentha spicata

In a randomised double-blind trial during chemotherapy (50 courses per group), M. spicata essential oil reduced the intensity and number of vomiting episodes in the first 24 hours compared with control, with no reported side effects.

Baikal skullcap

Scutellaria baicalensis

Listed with vomiting among pharmacopoeial uses by WHO; untested in trials.

Bitter leaf

Gymnanthemum amygdalinum

Aqueous extracts are recommended by herbalists for vomiting, nausea and loss of appetite; in eastern Nigeria the water left from washing the leaves is taken for stomach ache.

Black cardamom

Amomum subulatum

Fruit or seeds are used for nausea and vomiting.

Bogbean

Menyanthes trifoliata

Southern Kwakiutl people drank a decoction of roots or leaves when sick to the stomach.

Cascarilla

Croton eluteria

Used 'to arrest vomiting'; King's says adding cascarilla to cinchona prevented the nausea cinchona could cause.

Evodia

Tetradium ruticarpum

In Chinese medicine evodia is said to 'suppress adverse qi to relieve vomiting'; Wuzhuyu Tang, from the Han-dynasty Treatise on Febrile Diseases, is the classic formula for vomiting.

Flowering quince

Chaenomeles speciosa

Vomiting is part of the same traditional summer-damp indication. A network-pharmacology analysis mapped the fruit's traditional uses to emesis, diarrhoea, oedema and rheumatoid arthritis.

Indian bay leaf

Cinnamomum tamala

Recorded among the leaf's traditional uses in Indian medicine; no clinical evidence.

Kola nut

Cola nitida

Used in African folk medicine as an antiemetic, and in Nigeria commonly for vomiting in pregnancy, although EMA does not recommend it in pregnancy.

Korean mint

Agastache rugosa

Used traditionally against vomiting and emesis and, in Chinese medicine, to 'dispel dampness'. No clinical trials of the herb alone were found.

Perilla

Perilla frutescens

Used to 'move qi and harmonise the middle' for vomiting, bloating and abdominal pain.

Red bitterberry

Strychnos henningsii

Powdered bark taken with cold water for nausea, and bark chewed for stomach complaints, are recorded South African uses.

Roman chamomile

Chamaemelum nobile

The British Herbal Compendium lists nausea and vomiting of pregnancy among its internal uses, but EMA does not recommend use in pregnancy because safety is not established.

Sharp-leaf galangal

Alpinia oxyphylla

Classical texts record it for vomiting and retching with abdominal cold pain; no clinical data.

Winter savory

Satureja montana

The same tea is taken against vomiting and nausea; untested.