i forgot onions make me feel sick :-(

March 6, 2006 11:38 AM

onion sensitive MeFites: i forgot onions make me feel sick and had something with onions. now i'm suffering from an upset stomach. what can I eat or drink that will help me feel better? (my thought: there HAS to be another food out there that is an antidote)
posted by mirileh to Health & Fitness (16 answers total)

Ginger is quite calming to stomache, especially as a tea, but even small pieces of crystallized ginger can help. It's not specific to onions, but it oftens settles my stomache in general.
posted by jacquilynne at 11:42 AM on March 6, 2006

Peppermint tea helps me quite a bit.
posted by hooray at 11:50 AM on March 6, 2006

I agree that crystalized ginger is great for stomach upset.

Other things I try when I have an upset stomach are:

- Peppermint tea
- Something bland (i.e. some dry toast, rice, etc)
- An orange (usually only if my stomach feels gross after a high fat meal)
- Ginger ale

Also, try taking some Tums or Rolaids with a large glass of water. Feel better!
posted by catfood at 11:51 AM on March 6, 2006

I'm surprised to hear that onions, one of the World's Healthiest Foods, are upsetting to you. I'm sorry I can't offer any suggestions, but would you mind describing the effects a little more? Is it heartburn? Is it a mild allergic reaction?
posted by fourstar at 12:01 PM on March 6, 2006

I have this same problem, and I've found that fortified soy milk works really well. I think it's the added calcium carbonate. It's like drinking cold, liquid Tums.
posted by lunalaguna at 12:01 PM on March 6, 2006

How to Calm an Upset Stomach Naturally?
posted by fourstar at 12:04 PM on March 6, 2006

wow, thanks! that was fast.

fourstar, turns out quite a lot of people are sensitive to onions (in comparision to some of these stories my upset stomach sounds like a piece of cake).
posted by mirileh at 12:15 PM on March 6, 2006

A seven-up can help with an upset stomach.
posted by 6550 at 12:31 PM on March 6, 2006

If you're sensitive to onions and have an upset stomach, I would recommend against peppermint tea. Both onions and peppermint decrease lower esophageal sphincter tone, or, the valve that prevents food from travelling backwards up your esophagus, or, heartburn, or, reflux, or, GERD. Other things that decrease LES tone are coffee, chocolate, cigarrettes, and alcohol.
posted by gilgul at 12:37 PM on March 6, 2006

Baking soda and water works for me. Just read the box, it will tell you the measurements.
posted by hermitosis at 12:56 PM on March 6, 2006

thanks again! i feel better already :-) (i had some tea).
posted by mirileh at 1:08 PM on March 6, 2006

I love onions but too many or too strong in raw form will definitely give me a sour stomach. I know this, so if I get too many on a salad or whatever, I just pick them off.

common ginger root (grated, candied, powder, etc.) is a well known antiemetic / stomach calmer used widely in both natural / herbal and Eastern medicine. Midwives commonly use it against morning sickness.

side rant: my pet peeve is people who go on about "ooo I'm allergic to XXX" when they're either mildly sensitive or just don't like whatever it is or are squicked out by it for whatever reason.

an ALLERGIC reaction is breaking out in rash, hives, swelling of the throat, asphyxia, coma, death in that order of magnitude. Period. Case in point: raw tomatoes skeeve me out, and cow's milk gives me severe GI distress. Neither one is an allergy; the first is an AVERSION, the second is a SENSITIVITY.

so if you're opposed to let's say eggs for some moral / socioethical reason and/or they just taste gross, please don't tell your server you are ALLERGIC to them - people misconstrue this term to the extent that those of us who've been in foodservice get concerned about the level of urgency this term dictates. True food allergies are extremely serious and dangerous business and are not anything to cry wolf on and/or joke around about.
posted by lonefrontranger at 1:28 PM on March 6, 2006

I've been having the Greasy-Queasies all day from some bad fried chicken last night, plus a killer migraine, and I had no idea ginger helped. As soon as I saw this thread I mixed me up a cup of salabat and am now feeling tons better. Thanks, Metafilter!
posted by brownpau at 1:51 PM on March 6, 2006

I, too have always been weirdly sensitive to onions - when I was in the womb, rumor has it that I'd kick harder when my mom ate 'em, and later I would refuse to nurse after she had an oniony meal. I can handle them okay most of the time, but certain combinations (especially caramelized onions, or any heavily cooked white onions, or raw red onions) get me BAD - I feel extremely queasy, have bad indigestion, and my pores exude a strong scent of onion-ness (this last, extremely strange symptom has been verified by my wife, who ate the same amount with nary a side effect).

Baking soda + water (or seltzer/club soda) helps, but not all the way.
posted by sluggo at 2:30 PM on March 6, 2006

As noted, ginger ale. Keep a bottle in the back of the fridge -- it works even better for upset stomach if it's flat, I find. The more gingeric or the more natural the ginger ale, the better.

OTOH, orange juice or anything acidic makes my stomach aches worse.
posted by Rumple at 2:33 PM on March 6, 2006

Yup. Ginger. Or real Ginger ale. Even better a little non-carbonated ginger tea. As carbonation can sometimes exacerbate bloating.

I got sensitive to onions, wheat, soy, and garlic while I was a vegetarian. All in one year. Never had any allergies or food problems before that. Nearly killed me.

PS. peppermint? Heads up: Some people are highly sensitive to that as well.
posted by tkchrist at 6:00 PM on March 6, 2006