Organic Ginger

Description and origin

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe, Zingiberaceae family) is an herbaceous plant native to tropical areas of Asia, India and China and has been used as a spice in traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years. The part used is the gnarled, tuberous, yellowish rhizome, around 5 to 10 cm long and 1.5 cm wide.

The genus name comes from the Greek ziggiberis derived from the Sanskritword shringavera and refers to the shape of the rhizome, reminiscent of “antlers” (1).

History

Ginger has been used as a spice for thousands of years, and as a remedy to treat gastrointestinal problems (vomiting, nausea, dyspepsia etc.) and other ailments such as arthritis and muscle pain (2).

Many of these properties have been known since ancient times. Dioscorides wrote about this plant in the first century, and Pliny cited it in his “Natural History” (3). In India, it is known as vishwabhesaj (“universal medicine”) and has been used in Ayurvedic medicine to treat digestive problems, rheumatic pains, colds and flu (4).

Composition

Ginger rhizome contains 4-7.5% oleoresins, which include spicy substances and essential oils (5). The spicy substances are gingerols and shogaols, phenolic compounds that are the active principles of ginger (1).

Our extract

Extract name: Dry extract of ginger rhizome (from organic farming), standardised to contain 1.5% gingerols and shogaols.

Scientific name: Zingiber officinale Roscoe

Part used: Rhizome

Benefits

Ginger rhizome is used to treat symptoms of functional dyspepsia, a digestive disorder that usually manifests as epigastric pain after eating, feelings of epigastric fullness, nausea and swelling. It is also used to relieve the symptoms of kinetosis (motion sickness), such as nausea and sickness, as a postoperative antiemetic in minor surgical procedures, as it prevents vomiting (5), and to relieve nausea and vomiting during pregnancy (always under medical supervision).

Usage, dosage

For digestive problems, take 2 capsules per day in two separate doses. For motion sickness, take ginger one hour before travelling.

Studies

The EMA approves the traditional use of ginger rhizome for the symptomatic relief of motion sickness (vomiting and nausea) and the symptomatic treatment of mild spasmodic disorders of the gastrointestinal tract (6). 

Kinetosis, or motion sickness, is a very common problem in people who travel by plane, boat, train or car. It can come on suddenly, with a feeling of seasickness and cold sweats that can lead to nausea, vomiting and giddiness (7).

Various studies support the use of ginger extract to alleviate the symptoms of motion sickness, due to the antiemetic and anti-nausea properties of gingerols and shogaols (1). Ginger enhances gastric tone and motility through an anticholinergic and antiserotonergic effect (serotonin and acetylcholine neurotransmitters are involved in the mechanism of vomiting and in nausea), which reduces the onset of nausea and vomiting. It also increases gastric emptying, which in combination with the effects described above helps to alleviate the symptoms of gastrointestinal disorders (2).

In addition to relieving nausea and preventing vomiting, the effectiveness of ginger extract was recently cited for the treatment of functional dyspepsia. This study demonstrated that, in combination with artichoke extract, ginger improved the symptoms of dyspepsia in comparison with the placebo (8).

Finally, several of the phytochemical compounds of ginger were found to help relieve the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, such as pain and inflammation (9).

Bibliography

1. Rombi and Robert (2006) 120 plantes médicinales: Composition, mode d’action et intérêt thérapeutique… de l’Ail à la Vigne rouge. [120 medicinal plants: composition, mode of action and therapeutic importance...from garlic to the red vine.] Editions Alpen.

2. Lete and Allué (2016) The effectiveness of ginger in the prevention of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy and chemotherapy. Integr Med Insights 11: 11–17.

3. del Río Moreno and López (1992) El jengibre: historia de un monocultivo caribeño del siglo XVI [Ginger: history of a Caribbean monoculture from the 16th Century]. Revista Complutense de Historia de América 18: 63-87.

4. Bone and Mills (2013). Principles and practice of Phytotherapy. Second Edition, Elsevier.

5. Vanaclocha and Cañigueral (2003) Fitoterapia. Vademécum de prescripción. [Phytotherapy. Prescription handbook] Elsevier.

6. EMA-HMPC (2011) Community herbal monograph on Zingiber officinale Roscoe, rhizoma. Ref. Doc. EMA/HMPC/749154/2010. Adopted: 27-9-2012.

7. https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/motionsickness.html

8. Giacosa et al. (2015) The effect of ginger (Zingiber officinalis) and artichoke (Cynara cardunculus) extract supplementation on functional dyspepsia: a randomised, double-blind, and placebo-controlled clinical trial. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2015: 915087.

9. Al-Nahain et al. (2014) Zingiber officinale: A potential plant against rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis 2014: 159089.