Zingiber officinale

Specific Indications. - Anorexia; flatulence; borborygmus; gastric and intestinal spasms; acute colds; painful menstruation; cold extremities; cool surface in children's diseases.

Therapy. - Ginger is an excellent agent in gastric atony, and good results may be had from it in atonic states of the digestive tube, with loss of appetite, rolling of gases in the bowels, and painful spasmodic contractions of the stomach and intestines. In acute dysentery and diarrhoea, and in cholera morbus and sometimes in cholera infantum with atony and nausea, vomiting and cold extremities and surface, small doses of ginger preparations are extremely valuable. Cramps in the stomach and bowels due to undigested food or to cold are speedily relieved by small doses of ginger.

The Eclectic Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics by Harvey Wickes Felter, M.D. (1922)

What the Science Says

Studies suggest that the short-term use of ginger can safely relieve pregnancy-related nausea and vomiting.

Studies are mixed on whether ginger is effective for nausea caused by motion, chemotherapy, or surgery.

It is unclear whether ginger is effective in treating rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, or joint and muscle pain.

NCCAM-funded investigators are studying:

Whether ginger interacts with drugs, such as those used to suppress the immune system.

Ginger's effect on reducing nausea in patients on chemotherapy.

The general safety and effectiveness of ginger's use for health purposes, as well as its active components and effects on inflammation.