Ginger – More than just food

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) may already be a regular part of your diet, but have you considered using it as a medicine? It’s so easy to use; it’s a shame to overlook Ginger’s therapeutic benefits. It can be used in cooking, it can be eaten raw, it’s even good cut up and made into a tea – quite tasty with cinnamon and honey.

Traditional Uses:
Traditionally ginger has been used for many health conditions, with great benefit. Some of them include:
Nausea and vomiting (including morning sickness)
Digestive problems (i.e. colic, cramping, peptic ulcers, and infections)
Asthma
Colds and flu
Loss of appetite
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
Diarrhoea
Cold hands and feet (circulation)
Arthritis

For the skeptics out there, here’s the science:
Many studies have been done, and continue to be conducted on this wonderful rhizome. There are too many to put here, but here are some examples:

Cancer prevention
In a study on human colorectal cancer, ginger worked in a variety of ways to stop cancer cells from multiplying, as well as causing cancer cell death. [1] Another study suggested that dietary ginger may have a role in the treatment and prevention of ovarian cancer. [2]

Asthma
Tincture of ginger reduced asthma symptoms such as coughing at night, fewer asthma attacks, and reduced use of spray medication. To top it off, the study used a dosage that was less than the usual therapeutic dose. [3]

Atherosclerosis
In mice it was found that ginger could reduce cholesterol and slow the development of atherosclerosis. [4]

Inflammation
A series of studies demonstrated that ginger significantly decreased knee pain, and that it’s anti-inflammatory action was similar to that of some conventional remedies (COX and LOX enzyme inhibitors). [5]

Nausea (including after surgery, morning sickness, and travel sickness)
Ginger is as effective for motion sickness as many pharmaceuticals such as cyclizine, dimenhydrinate, domperidone, meclizine, and scopolamine. [6] Even pregnant women find that nausea is reduced significantly. In one study it improved in 77% of the women. [7] Although there have been a few studies that say it doesn’t work. The majority of them show that it does.

Digestion
Along with its anti-inflammatory action, and its ability to reduce nausea, ginger is also useful for dealing with infection of the digestive tract. One example is a study using an extract of ginger on mice, where almost all worms of the variety schistosomes were killed within 24 hours. [8] Ginger is a powerful and inexpensive inhibitor of the gastric ulcer causing organism, H. pylori. [9]

Respiratory infection
Ginger demonstrated antibacterial activity against four respiratory tract pathogens – Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, S. pneumoniae, and Haemophilus influenze. [10]

Liver protection
In rats, it showed protective qualities for liver cells exposed to oxidative damage. [11] One extract of ginger was tested in rats and found to be protective against liver toxicity caused by acetaminophen. [12]

Protection during conventional anti-cancer therapy
In a study on mice using the cancer drug cisplatin (a known kidney toxin) ginger protected the kidneys. [13]

As you can see, Ginger makes an amazing herbal remedy. Although we’ve known traditionally that it works, modern scientific methods are only just starting to show us how it works, why it works, and how well it works.

Ginger as medicine… worth considering. Is it in your cupboard?

As the owner and Clinical Herbal Therapist at Amber Leaf Wellness, Elizabeth helps people who want natural health care or are tired of the side effects,the lack of options commonly presented for chronic illnesses, and the ineffectiveness and frustration they experience with thier current healthcare. You can find out more about herbal medicine on her website at www.amberleafwellness.ca

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1 Mol Carcinog. 2008 Mar;47(3):197-208
2 BMC Complement Altern Med. 2007 Dec 20;7:44
3 J Nutr 2006; 5(4):373-376
4 J Nutr. 2000 May;130(5):1124-31
5 American Botanical Council’s Herb Clip # 080751-299
6 Acta Otolaryngol 1998;105:45-49
Healthnotes Rev 1999;6:98-101
Healthnotes Rev 1999;6:102-107
Lancet 1982;1:655-657
J Travel Med 1994;1:203-206
7 Altern Ther Health Med 2003;9:19-21
8 J Helminthol. 2002 Sep;76(3):241-7
9 Mol Nutr Food Res. 2007 Mar;51(3):324-32
10 East Afr Med J. 2002 Nov;79(11):588-92
11 J Nat Prod. 2008 Jan;71(1):12-7
12 Food Chem. Toxicol. 2007 Nov;45(11):2267-72
13 Food Chem Toxicol. 2007 Jun;45(6):921-7