When a hippopotamus and a lion are playing tug-of-war with your intestines during an English lecture, how are you supposed to be able to focus? Sometimes you have to twist yourself into the strangest positions to untangle your organs and relieve the discomfort. But when you’re stuck in class and don’t have a bed or couch to lay on, try snacking on some of these foods to help ameliorate your pain or discomfort.
1. Licorice
Some people love it; others hate it. But if you ever have a tummy ache, licorice can help soothe and heal a stressed-out stomach. If black licorice isn’t your thing, try a subtler red licorice, made with sweeter fruits and less pure licorice extract.
2. Peppermint
A fresh herb with a cool flavor, peppermint appears in many edibles, like tea and candies, and can calm a tough tummy and help digestion. By relaxing the muscles in your stomach, it can help with nausea as well as symptoms of PMS, with the added plus of freshening your breath.
3. Ginger
Whether it’s cold ginger ale or warm ginger tea, having some type of ginger in your diet is always helpful for nausea. By reducing inflammation and promoting circulation and healthy digestion, ginger can make you feel better and taste good. If you don’t like the taste of pure ginger, try powered ginger capsules instead. These, like real ginger, can help reduce nausea and vomiting.
4. Clear Soup
With a chicken- or vegetable-based broth, clear soup is light and goes down easily to help eliminate a tumbling tummy. A cup of simply broth will warm your insides, calm you down, and allow to reminisce in the memories of your childhood where your mom’s chicken soup was the fix for anything.
5. Bananas
As an easily digestible fruit, bananas help with ridding you of dehydration from vomiting or diarrhea, as well as with eliminating nausea with a good amount of potassium. The subtle taste of bananas won’t overpower your queasy stomach, but the fruit’s natural sugars gives you calories at a time when you probably aren’t eating much.
6. Crackers
Crispy, crunchy crackers serve as a wonderful source of carbohydrates when your unstable stomach is resisting food. Due do their high level of starch, saltine crackers and toast help absorb stomach acids and settle your upset stomach. At those painful and rare moments where you feel like food will do nothing but hurt you, (though a strange sensation for many Hewitt girls, it is common), crackers or a plain piece of toast can get something soothing in your system.