A commen home spice called ginger or "Jamaica ginger"; was proclaimed as a stimulant and carminative, and used
frequently for dyspepsia and colic. Ginger also use to mask taste effects of other medicines.Ginger is on the FDA''s ''generally recognized as safe'' list, though it does interact with some medications, including warfarin.Ginger is contraindicated in people suffering from gallstones as the herb promotes the release of bile from the gallbladder.<3> Ginger may also decrease joint pain from arthritis, several studies on ginger have been concludes that it may have blood thinning and cholesterol lowering properties which, make it useful for treating cardiovascuolar disease. The characteristic odor and flavor of ginger root is resulted due to a mixture of volatile oils that compose about one to three percent of the weight of fresh ginger, which consists of zingerone, shoagoles and gingerols.
In laboratory animals, the gingerols increase the motility of the gastrointestinal tract and have analgesic, sedative, antipyretic and antibacterial properties <5> Nausea Ginger has been found effective by multiple studies for treating nausea caused by seasickness, morning sickness and
chemotherapy,<6> eventhough ginger was not found incresed effect over placebo for post-operative nausea. Modern research on nausea and motion sickness using approximately 1 gram of ginger powder daily.Though there are claims for efficacy in all causes of nausea, the Physicians Desk Reference recommends against taking ginger rhizomes for morning sickness commonly
associated with pregnancy due to possible mutagenic effects,
though Chinese women have traditionally used ginger rhizomes during pregnancy to combat morning sickness and the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database states that it is likely safe for use in pregnancy when consumed in food-amounts. Cancer Research Aside from controlling the nausea associated with cancer caused by chemotherapy, ginger is now proved tobe a direct actor in the treatment of cancer, not just its side effects. In 2006, the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center released details regarding its ongoing investigation of ginger as a treatment and preventative for both ovarian and colon cancers. In laboratory studies, the powdered form of the root was dissolved in a solution and applied to ovarian cancer cells, directly resulting in the death of every single cancer cell line tested. Two types of cancer cell death, both apoptosis (the suicide of cancer cells) and autophagy (cancer cells digesting or attacking themselves) were reported. Ginger, when administered orally (moderate doses to non-pregnant patients) triggers virtually no side effects. If further studies continued to reap positive results, on a pedestal above other, harder to administer treatments that induce harsher side effects with uncertain success rates, for example chemotherapy. The author of the study, J. Rebecca Liu, M.D., reasons that "most ovarian cancer patients develop recurrent disease that eventually becomes resistant to standard chemotherapy - which is associated with resistance to apoptosis. If ginger can cause autophagic cell death in addition to apoptosis, it may circumvent resistance to conventional chemotherapy." <7> Folk medicinal uses There are a variety of uses suggested for ginger. A tea brewed from the is a folk remedy for colds. Ginger ale and ginger beer have been recommended as "stomach settlers" for generations in countries where the beverages are made and ginger water was commonly used to avoid heat cramps in the US. Ginger has also been used treditionally to treat inflammation which several scientific studies supported, since one arthritis trial showed ginger to be no better than a placebo or ibuprofen.<4> Research on rats suggested that ginger may be useful for treating diabetes also.