After getting “substantial attention” from researchers around the world, a clinical review confirms that ginger (Zingiber officinale) serves as a viable antidote and protective agent against fatal poisoning from such agents as pesticides, environmental pollutants, heavy metals, bacterial and fungal toxins and even some cosmetic products and medications, as previously mentioned. Here GreenMedInfo Research Group, GreenMedInfo.com, reflects on discovering the proven health benefits of ginger to prevent and treat five common diseases:

“Ginger root (Zingiber officinale) is a powerful medicinal herb that has been used for centuries to keep mankind in balance. Rich in bioactive terpenes, ginger belongs to the same powerhouse plant family, Zingiberaceae, as turmeric and cardamom.

Ginger became prized by herbalists around the world during the days of the early spice trade, when it was first exported from India and Southern Asia into Europe. [1] Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Ayurveda consider ginger to be warming to the system, thus stimulating to the “digestive fire.”

Traditional uses reflect this understanding of ginger’s powerful healing properties: it’s known for relieving nausea, aiding digestion, soothing cramps, and improving circulation. Ginger also possesses potent detoxifying properties, stimulating elimination via bowel release and perspiration.

If the benefits of ginger stopped there, it would be a miracle plant food worthy of daily consumption. But modern science has not only validated ginger’s traditional uses, it has put ginger into an elite “superfood” category where the lines between food and medicine become blurred.

Sure, ginger can keep your tummy happily humming along. But did you know it may also help prevent you from falling prey to some of the worst health conditions plaguing people today?

A Remedy for What Ails You

With nearly 3,000 years of documented use and almost as many scientific abstracts on ginger’s effectiveness, it can be difficult to narrow down ginger’s five most powerful health benefits.

One approach is to cross-reference ginger’s healing properties with the worst disease threats in our world today. The World Health Organization, whose stated mission is to combat diseases around the world, publishes annual statistics on the top ten causes of death, worldwide. [2] In 2017, there are five diseases on the list for which ginger has been shown to provide significant benefit:

• Heart disease
• Stroke
• Lung cancer
• Diabetes
• Diarrheal diseases

Let’s examine the most impactful scientific research that has been conducted on ginger in recent years, to see how ginger can be applied therapeutically and proactively to ward-off and treat disease.

Ginger: A Natural Treatment for Heart Disease

Ginger helps the heart in a myriad of ways. Studies have verified ginger’s potent ability to lower blood pressure, also referred to as cardiodepressant activity.

Researchers have identified ginger’s “significant intrinsic activity on smooth muscle” of the heart, which was observed by researchers exploring ginger’s traditional uses for cardiopathy, high blood pressure, palpitations. and as a vasodilator to improve circulation. [3]

An eye-opening 2016 animal study demonstrated the powerful cardioprotective properties of ginger as it relates to damage already done to the heart, in this case by diabetes. Researchers unequivocally concluded that “ginger extract significantly reduces heart structural abnormalities in diabetic rats.” [4]

A 2017 cross-sectional study titled, Evaluation of daily ginger consumption for the prevention of chronic diseases in adults, examined whether daily ginger consumption – as well as how much ginger – impacted the symptoms of chronic diseases like hypertension and coronary heart disease, or CHD. Results showed that daily ginger consumption was associated with decreased risk for hypertension and CHD, with the probability for both illnesses decreasing when the amount of daily ginger intake increased. [5]

A September 2017 scientific review examined ginger and several other therapeutic herbs and spices for evidence of antioxidant activity, and impact on human health. Ginger and garlic were determined to have “extensively therapeutic effects…especially for cardiovascular diseases.” Ginger’s anti-carcinogenic properties were also noted in this study. [6]

Ginger: A Natural Treatment for Stroke

Described as a “brain attack,” cerebral apoplexy, otherwise known as stroke, occurs when one or more areas of the brain are damaged due to oxygen deprivation. [7] The fifth-leading cause of death in the United States, ginger’s usefulness for stroke lies in its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

In 2006, a human study was conducted on eighty-two adults suffering stroke-induced brain damage which brought on urination disorders due to flaccid or spastic bladder. Moxibustion treatment, a type of heat therapy where materials are warmed and placed on or near the skin, using ginger and salt was applied to the treatment group five times each week.

After three weeks, numerous factors improved for the treatment group which were not observed in the control group, including less frequent urination, less urgency to urinate, and decreased incontinence. Researchers concluded that “ginger-salt-partitioned moxibustion is a safe and effective therapy for urination disorders post-stroke.”

A study released in October 2016 examined one of the active constituents of ginger known as 6-Shogaol, an isolate known to have potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Oxidative stress and inflammation are closely associated with restricted blood supply, a primary factor of stroke, and can eventually result in brain cell death.

Conversely, substances that are antioxidant and reduce inflammation are potentially therapeutic for disorders of the brain and central nervous system. This study’s aim was to evaluate if daily, oral doses of 6-shogaol exerts neuroprotective activity in mice.

After seven days, researchers observed that mice fed 6-shogaol demonstrated “significantly reduced neurological deficit scores” as well as a reduced “mean infarct area,” indicating a return of healthy blood flow to the brain. Improved behavioral deficits were also observed, and inflammatory markers in the brain were reduced. Researchers concluded that 6-shogaol can improve outcomes of stroke-induced brain damage, and has demonstrated benefit as a potential preventative of stroke. [8]

Ginger: A Natural Treatment for Cancer

With over 420 PubMed abstracts on ginger’s usefulness for cancer, science has clearly corroborated the chemoprotective properties of this amazing herbal medicine.

Some of the most promising studies include an October 2015 study exploring the potential to synthesize effective anticancer drugs from ginger’s active constituents. Once again, the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant actions of 6-shogaol were highlighted as presenting “a promising opportunity to identify novel anticancer compounds originating from ginger.” [9]

Another landmark study on ginger’s potential benefits for cancer sufferers found that ginger is 10,000 times stronger than the chemotherapy drug Taxol. This study determined that 6-shogaol was more effective than chemo at targeting the root cause of breast cancer malignancy, namely, the stem cells or “mother cells” that are responsible for spawning “daughter cells” that make-up the tumor colony.”

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