urcesoccer_trekkie: A lot of times nausea is caused by your stomach being very full, not necessarily just with food but also with air. If you have a bit of soda it can make it easier to burp and release some of the gas in there which puts pressure on the top of your stomach and nerves that make you feel uncomfortably full and nauseous. Release some of that air and there is less pressure and less nausea.
AlmondScentedCandle: I’m pretty sure the relief people feel from drinking say sprite or ginger ale comes from being able to burp and release excess gas buildup alleviating a little bit of pressure in the persons stomach.
ukmusicfiend: Carbonation stimulates the pyloric valve (the sphincter between the far end of the stomach and the small intestine), allowing it to open longer than it usually does. Carbonation allows you to empty the stomach more quickly in the proper direction. Other ingredients (ginger, for example) may be helpful, but plain carbonated water does the trick, too.
jannasalgado: It doesn’t. People say flat ginger ale helps with alleviating nausea symptoms. Ginger has been studied to have anti-nausea properties.
Elgalileo: To everyone saying it doesn’t help- that is a narrow view. One sip of diet soda can help with nausea I sometimes get in the mornings. Sometimes I also get very nauseous along with the urge to sneeze. When I sneeze, the nausea is instantly gone. I’ve never met anyone else with the same symptoms.
krakajacks: It works for me too, but I can’t find any scientific reason. Maybe I just find soda comforting. One possibility is that your nausea can come from low blood sugar, which is fixed with soda. That said, even diet soda helps me eat when I normally can’t
duckdownup: You may be thinking about soda water. Years ago people that had eaten too much or for whatever reason had an acidic stomach would go to the drug store soda jerk and get a soda water. Back in those days every drug store had a food bar where you could sit on a stool order a sandwich and a soda and eat it there. The high school aged kid that worked behind the counter was called a [“Soda Jerk.”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soda_jerk) I’m old enough to remember when this was common.
The soda water was carbonated but the carbonation is slightly acidic. The soda (think: baking soda) on the other hand is an alkali (opposite of acidic). A soda water had a duel function, it would make you burp and the soda would counteract the excess acid in your stomach.
Today we can make soda water with a big tablet. The brand name is Alka-Seltzer.
potatocakes020: It doesn’t. Carbonated drinks are acidic, and can sometime make your stomach worse. However, many people (myself included), will drink a dark carbonated soda to relieve heartburn.
absolutcheshire: Wait, so why does the “plop plop fizz fizz” shit work?
alpual: I figured it was more that, when you are ill and don’t have much of an appetite (or ability to keep food down), a dose of water and simple carbohydrates upped your blood sugar and helped get some fluid in your system.
Janyftw: From what i have heard, salt chips and cola works, cola is so sour that for some reason it works against upsett stomach, and salt chips works so that your stomach works and the salt helps binding water
Ones_Fate: I don’t have a scientific reason behind it but I have chronic nausea and soda definitely helps me settle my stomach, I guess it might just be psychosomatic though…
Graham1985: Honestly, while burping helps, part of the reason I drink ginger ale when I have a stomach bug is that it makes vomit slightly more palatable. Gross but true
ismokeforfun2: Honestly, the only thing that I feel weed is actually good for other than the high is curing an upset stomach. I call bullshit on anyone who says it’s for pain relief, it does nothing for that.
formervoater2: It could be a few things:
-Soda is still mostly water so counteracting dehydration will sooth the stomach.
-Low blood sugar can cause nausea so if you’re already feeling crappy and not eating drinking soda can counteract low blood sugar if you have it, ultimately making you feel less nauseous.
-Likewise if you aren’t eating you stand a chance of having a deficit in phosphorus and some sodas have phosphoric acid giving your body a chance to restore phosphorus levels. Having low phosphorus levels probably makes you nauseous but I don’t know for sure.
-Caffeine makes drugs like tylenol or ibuprofen more potent at relieving pain and pain can induce nausea so it stands to reason that reducing pain will also reduce nausea.
-Carbonation simply feels good and the placebo effect can be rather potent