"Ginger for Nausea, Menstrual Cramps, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome"
Ginger is most famous for its role
in preventing and alleviating nausea and vomiting
with so many studies now, that there are reviews of reviews,
and not just in morning sickness,
where just a half teaspoon of powdered ginger
is associated with a 5-fold likelihood of improvement
in nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy,
but also for motion sickness, and postoperative nausea
and vomiting after surgery,
and preventing antiretroviral- induced nausea
and vomiting during HIV treatment,
and as a miracle against chemotherapy-induced vomiting.
In this randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial
of ginger for breast cancer chemo,
chemo-induced vomiting was relieved in ALL phases,
meaning in the acute phase, within 24 hours of the chemo,
delayed vomiting two to three days later,
and even what’s known as anticipatory vomiting,
which occurs before chemotherapy sessions.
After a few times, the body knows what’s coming
and starts throwing up even at the thought of it approaching.
This anticipatory nausea is something drugs can't seem to control,
even the fancy new anti-nausea drugs
that can cost 10,000 times more than ginger,
which comes in at about 2 pennies per dose,
and in certain ways may work even better.
I’ve also talked about ginger and pain.
An eighth teaspoon of powdered ginger—one penny—
found to work as well as the migraine headache drug Imitrex
without the side-effects.
And speaking of pain, ginger may also be effective
as ibuprofen for alleviating menstrual cramps.
Painful periods are exceedingly common
and can sometimes cause severe suffering,
yet have been virtually ignored
by pain management researchers and practitioners.
But four randomized controlled trials have been published
on ginger for menstrual pain,
and all four showed significant benefit
when taken just the first few days of your period.
Effective doses range from about a 1/3 teaspoon a day
to a full teaspoon a day,
but since they all seem to work about the same
might as well just start with a penny a day dose.
And as a side effect, side benefit,
it can dramatically reduce heavy flow,
which is actually one of the most common
gynecological problems for young women.
We know that there are pro-inflammatory foods
that may contribute to heavy menstrual bleeding,
so how about try an anti- inflammatory food like ginger?
Heavy menstrual bleeding is defined as more
than a third of a cup or 80 milliliters.
All the study subjects started out much higher than that,
but just an 1/8 teaspoon of powdered ginger
three times a day starting the day before their period
cut their flow in half
and it seemed to work better each month they tried it,
providing a highly effective, cheap, easy-to-use,
safer treatment for menstrual blood loss and pain.
So it works for migraines and menstrual cramps,
but just because it’s effective for many types of pain,
doesn’t mean it’s necessarily efficacious for all pain.
For example, how about intestinal cramps?
Is ginger effective for the treatment of
irritable bowel syndrome?
And the answer is, "YES", dropping IBS severity by over 25%,
but so did the placebo.
So the real answer is "NO",
ginger is not effective
for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome,
yet ginger is one of the most commonly used
herbal medicines for irritable bowel syndrome.
Silly people, don’t they know
it doesn’t work any better than a sugar pill?
Or, from another perspective:
Smart people, using something that offers relief
53% of the time, and doesn’t risk the adverse effects
of some of the drugs, period, with which doctors may harm
one person for every three they help.