Ginger (Zingiber officinale) Ginger is a perennial plant that grows in India, China, Mexico, and several other countries. The underground stem is used. Ginger has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for the treatment of inflammation and rheumatism. Ginger is sometimes found in herbal weight loss products, especially in combination with Green-Tea-Extract or another herb called hoodia extract.

Ginger and Osteoarthritis
A highly purified and standardized ginger extract had a statistically significant effect on reducing symptoms of osteoarthritis of the knee. This effect was moderate. There was a good safety profile, with mostly mild GI adverse events in the ginger extract group.

Ginger as a Blood Thinner
Gingerols, the active components of ginger (the rhizome of Zingiber officinale, Roscoe), represent a potential new class of platelet activation inhibitors. Administration of 50 gm of fat to 30 healthy adult volunteers decreased fibrinolytic activity from a mean of 64 to 52 units. Supplementation of 5 gm of ginger powder with fatty meal not only prevented the fall in fibrinolytic activity but actually increased it significantly. This fibrinolytic enhancing property is a further addition to the therapeutic potential of ginger.

Ginger and Pregnancy
Ginger is effective for relieving the severity of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy. Using ginger to quell morning sickness does not appear to raise the risk of birth defects

Antioxidant
Ginger (Z. officinale; 1% w/w) significantly lowered lipid peroxidation by maintaining the activities of the antioxidant enzymes--superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase in rats. The blood glutathione content was significantly increased in ginger fed rats. Similar effects were also observed after natural antioxidant ascorbic acid (100 mg/kg, body wt) treatment. The results indicate that ginger is comparatively as effective as ascorbic acid as an antioxidant. Basil is found in a product called Zyflamend.

Ginger study
Effect of a ginger extract on pregnancy-induced nausea: a randomised controlled trial.
Willetts KE. University of New South Wales, Royal Hospital for Women, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia.
To investigate the effect of a ginger extract (EV.EXT35) on the symptoms of morning sickness. Double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial. A tertiary metropolitan teaching hospital, March 1999-November 1999. The participants included 120 women less than 20 weeks pregnant, who had experienced morning sickness daily for at least a week and had had no relief of symptoms through dietary changes. Random allocation of 125 mg ginger extract (EV.EXT35; equivalent to 1.5 g of dried ginger) or placebo given four times per day for 4 days. Nausea, vomiting and retching as measured by the Rhodes Index of Nausea, Vomiting and Retching. The nausea experience score was significantly less for the ginger extract group relative to the placebo group after the first day of treatment and this difference was present for each treatment day. Retching was also reduced by the ginger extract although to a lesser extent. No significant effect was observed on vomiting. Follow-up of the pregnancies revealed normal ranges of birthweight, gestational age, Apgar scores and frequencies of congenital abnormalities when the study group infants were compared to the general population of infants born at the Royal Hospital for Women for the year 1999-2000. Ginger can be considered as a useful treatment option for women suffering from morning sickness.

Ginger herb emails
Q. i read an article touting the benefits of ginger, and it said, "While it's best known for quelling queasy motion sickness, fresh ginger has also been shown to soothe a sour stomach, calm achy joints, lower cholesterol (one of the great ways to reduce your RealAge), thwart artery-clogging clots, kill ovarian cancer cells, quash inflammation, and -- maybe most impressive of all -- fend off the lethal common cold!" Do you think the writer of the article is correct?
   A. There is little long term human research regarding the use of ginger herb or ginger supplements in the conditions that the author mentions, however some preliminary laboratory and animal studies, and some preliminary human studies do indicate that ginger herb has the potential to be helpful in a number of human medical conditions. Ginger herb is a healthy addition to one's diet.

How much ginger root should one eat to get the same benefits as a ginger supplement?
    This is a good question and difficult to answer since different ginger supplement products have different potencies.

Any obvious interaction with consuming ginger or taking ginger tablets along with AHCC pills?
    Not that we are aware of.

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