How we rate
“Strong” = several concordant meta-analyses or systematic reviews. “Moderate” = one synthesis, or several controlled trials. “Limited” = early trials only. The rating is about the quality of the studies, not about how useful the supplement is.
Ginger
A root that relieves pregnancy and postoperative nausea and painful periods; a slight effect on muscle soreness, mixed results on osteoarthritis.
Benefits
- Reduces pregnancy nausea: 1 g per day decreased their severity and the number of vomits in 70 pregnant women (placebo-controlled trial); a meta-analysis of 12 trials on 1,278 women confirms the effect on nausea
- Prevents nausea and vomiting after an operation: at least 1 g performs better than placebo (meta-analysis of 5 trials, 363 patients)
- Relieves painful periods: pain drops in a meta-analysis of 7 trials (750 to 2,000 mg of powder the first 3 to 4 days of the cycle); in 122 female students, as effective as mefenamic acid, an anti-inflammatory
- Reduces muscle soreness: 2 g per day for 11 days decreased muscle pain by 23 to 25 % 24 hours after eccentric exercise; 3 g per day for 6 weeks reduced muscle soreness in 60 female athletes
- In type 2 diabetics, lowers fasting blood sugar, HbA1c, and blood pressure (meta-analysis of 10 trials), without changing blood fats
- Added to the treatment of a migraine attack (ketoprofen), 400 mg of extract improved response and pain at 1 h, 1 h 30 and 2 h in 60 patients
Precautions
In the meta-analysis on osteoarthritis, patients taking ginger stopped treatment more than twice as often as those on placebo; after an operation, the only reported adverse effect is abdominal discomfort. During pregnancy, a cohort of 68,522 women found no more malformations, premature births, low birth weights, or perinatal deaths among those who took it, and the meta-analysis of 12 trials found no notable adverse effect. Regarding coagulation, studies are divided: four trials out of eight see platelet aggregation decrease, four see nothing, and 2 g of dried ginger changed neither bleeding time nor platelets in 8 men; the review considers the question undecided. The limitations: against chemotherapy nausea, the meta-analysis finds fewer acute vomits (−60 %) but not less nausea, and the large multicenter trial finds no overall effect. On osteoarthritis, syntheses contradict each other: a small effect on pain in a meta-analysis of 5 trials (considered modest by its authors), not enough evidence compared to placebo in the 2020 knee trial, and no difference from placebo across the crossover trial with ibuprofen. Effects on blood sugar, weight, blood pressure, and blood fats come from diabetic, overweight, or sick individuals.
Recommended dosage
1 g per day against nausea; 2 to 3 g per day in trials on muscle soreness
How to take it
- Pregnancy nausea: 1 g per day in the trial on 70 women; before an operation, at least 1 g in the meta-analysis of 5 trials.
- Painful periods: 750 to 2,000 mg of ginger powder during the first 3 to 4 days of the cycle (meta-analysis of 7 trials); in the trial against mefenamic acid, 250 mg capsules every 6 hours.
- Muscle soreness: 2 g per day for 11 days, raw or heated with the same effect, or 3 g per day for 6 weeks.
- Chemotherapy: the meta-analysis covers 1 g per day at most for more than 3 days; the large trial adding 160 mg of extract per day to usual treatment found no overall effect.
- Migraine: 400 mg of extract taken with ketoprofen at the time of the attack, in a single trial.
- What does not always work: 4 g per day for 5 days before intense effort reduced neither muscle soreness nor markers of muscle damage.
Did you know?
Against painful periods, 250 mg of ginger every 6 hours relieved as much as mefenamic acid, an anti-inflammatory, in 122 female students.
What the studies say
This systematic review and meta-analysis of 10 randomized clinical trials examined the effect of ginger supplementation on metabolic profiles in patients with type 2 diabetes. The results indicated a significant reduction in fasting blood sugar (FBS), HbA1c, systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) after ginger supplementation. However, no significant influence was observed on the lipid profile (triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL, HDL).
Ebrahimzadeh A, Ebrahimzadeh A, Mirghazanfari SM, Hazrati E, Hadi S, Milajerdi A. — Complementary therapies in medicine (2022) — View the source study
For information only: not a substitute for medical advice. Dietary supplements are not a replacement for a varied, balanced diet. Learn more