Ginger

Meet another one of my favorite herbs (spoiler alert, I have MANY favorites) . . . 

Ginger!

Zingiber officinale, aka "ginger", is useful in cases of nausea, rheumatic diseases, painful menstrual cycles, heavy menstrual bleeding, and acute migraines. 

Historically, it has also been used to treat bacterial infections, viral infections, coughs, colds, high blood pressure, impotence, malaria, depression, bloating, and hepatitis. 

Painful Menses: 

A 2009 clinical trial found ginger to be MORE effective than ibuprofen and mefenamic acid in treating menstrual cramps. 

This study used ginger capsules of 250 mg four times per day, days 1-3 of menstrual cycle. 

The severity of pain decreased in all groups and no differences were found between the groups in pain severity, pain relief or satisfaction.

But more women in the ginger group became completely pain free vs. the mefenamic acid and ibuprofen groups.

Ozgoli G, Goli M, Moattar F. Comparison of effects of ginger, mefenamic acid, and ibuprofen on pain in women with primary dysmenorrhea. J Altern Complement Med. 2009;15(2):129-132. doi:10.1089/acm.2008.0311



Heavy Menstrual Bleeding:  

A study from 2015 showed ginger to decrease bleeding volume by 46.6% when compared to placebo.

This study used dried ginger capsules of 250 mg, three times per day starting from the day before menstrual bleeding until the third day of the menstrual period for a total of four consecutive days for the three months of menstrual cycles.

Kashefi F, Khajehei M, Alavinia M, Golmakani E, Asili J. Effect of ginger (Zingiber officinale) on heavy menstrual bleeding: a placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial. Phytother Res. 2015;29(1):114-119. doi:10.1002/ptr.523


Common Migraine: 

Another study from 2014 showed ginger to be as effective as sumatriptan in the treatment of common migraine.

1 capsule of ginger, 250 mg upon onset of migraine was compared to 50 mg of sumatriptan. Both sumatriptan and ginger powder decreased the mean severity of common migraine attacks within 2 hours of use.

Both the sumatriptan and ginger significantly provided pain relief and no significant differences were seen between the therapies. 
 

Maghbooli M, Golipour F, Esfandabadi A, Yousefi M. Comparison between the efficacy of ginger and sumatriptain in the ablative treatment of the common migraine.  Phytotherapy Res 2014;28:412-415

*Be sure to speak with a qualified health care practitioner before beginning this botanical. 

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more herb 101!

💕
Dr. Laura Neville

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