Expert: Ronda Snow, Ph.D. - 6/17/2008

Question
My brother has CVS and is miserable.  He is ready to try just about anything to get better.  Any suggestions?

Answer
Hi Brian

I do have a few suggestions, but let me start by saying this is just for general information and can never take the place of in-person medical care (conventional or alternative). There just isn't enough information here to give a safe answer specific to one person. I don't feel comfortable giving information through third parties anyway. Alternative medicine and holistic health asks a TON of detailed questions to get to know the person as a mind-body-spirit WHOLE PERSON...which is outside the scope of what we are doing here. Out of respect for your brother and his privacy, he should see a holistic person face to face.

I strongly recommend a face to face private evaluation  for EVERYONE interested inholistic health and alternative medicine, rather than just generic online information.

Conventional wisdom says ginger can be very helpful for nausea, vomiting, indigestion, motion sickness, morning sickness etc. The beverage teas you find in the grocery store is a good place to start, or follow package directions if you get capsules...

BUT in this case there are some cautions...

Ginger doesn't mix well with blood thinners, and some other medications, so if your brother is on medication he should check with his doctor or pharmacist before using ANY supplements regularly. In fact, a review of medications and supplements might be in order, to make sure there isn't some interaction causing the vomiting.

Ginger is also a poor choice in ulcers or 'heat' conditions. In those cases, weak peppermint tea is cooling and soothing. Weak peppermint tea has even been used in the distant past for infant colic.  Working purely by UN-scientific instinct...if the vomiting cycles have been going on for a long time or if he feels weakened by it, then he might want to avoid the ever-popular ginger and stick to WEAK mint tea. I would also suggest avoiding coffee, black tea or any strongly acid or stomach irritating foods like citrus fruit or citrus juices.

One bit of advice I got from a physician one time...it only takes a little bit of fluid per hour to keep from becoming dehydrated. So after vomiting, don't rush to get a lot of fluid back in. Just sips at most. I  don't know about your brother, but mine could be a little gung-ho sometimes. Overdoing it too soon after vomiting can re-irritate the stomach and get people into a vicious cycle. So don't eat for a couple of hours after throwing up, and on take very few sips of weak tea during that time. He won't get dehydrated that way, but not re-irritate his stomach either. Some really old-school, hard-core naturopaths would say no food at all, just sips of weak tea from the time of vomiting until the appetite returns. In other words, just sips  and no food until he feels hungry again, however long that takes.

Looking at things from a metaphysical or spiritual perspective, he may want to look at psycho-social stressors...what is it in his life that he just 'can't stomach' anymore? What is it he just 'can't swallow'? What is it he is trying to throw out of his life by throwing up?

A holistic practitioner would also look at his diet, and perhaps encourage very bland, super easy-to-digest foods in order to rest the gut and help eliminate any 'toxins'...foods like low acid fruits, non-citrus fruit juices , broths, soups, rice porridge, etc...at least temporarily.

AND MOST IMPORTANT before relying on ginger, peppermint, or any other alternative measure, he would have to be sure there isn't anything else seriously wrong...like vomiting from high central nervous system pressure, stomach ulcers, or any of a bazillion other things. Even a Holistic practitioner would want to look for a root cause of the vomiting rather than just treat this symptom in and of itself...even if it is a social, emotional, mental or spiritual cause. If everything medical has been ruled out, then looking at diet, emotions, stress management etc can be very helpful. That's where subtle energy things like Reiki and aromatherapy might come into play.

I wish both you and your brother all the best. Thanks for looking out for your brother like this...kudos to you for that!

Take care, and please feel free to check out my website for more natural health information and a holistic health blog coming this summer!

Ronda Snow, B.S. D.D.

www.rondasnow.com