Wednesday, April 18, 2012

The super herbal power of ginger

While doing my research paper on arthritis, I found out many interesting facts regarding herbal medicine to improve the symptoms of arthritis. One example is the use of ginger in supplements to relieve pain of arthritis patients. Besides this, ginger has many other benefits. Let me list them below.

1)Ginger halts menstrual pain as effectively as drugs.
A study compared the effects of ginger, ibuprofen, and mefenamic acid (another NSAID typically
used to treat menstrual discomfort) on women with primary menstrual pain. The scientists concluded that ginger was as effective as the NSAID drugs in relieving menstrual pain. This study can be found in the February 13 issue of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary
Medicine.

2)Ginger reduces nausea and vomiting associated with pregnancy.
Sixty-seven women receiving prenatal treatment at a clinic were the subjects of a study
reported in the March 15 edition of the Journal of Alternative and
Complementary Medicine. Each had complained of nausea and vomiting as a
result of pregnancy. The women were randomly assigned to either an experimental
group or a control group. The experimental group received 250 mg capsules of
ginger to be taken four times a day for four days, and the control group
received placebos with the same prescriptive form and direction. Effects of
treatment for nausea were evaluated twice daily for four days by a
before-and-after treatment questionnaire. The ginger users demonstrated a higher
rate of improvement compared to the placebo users (85% versus 56%). The decrease
in vomiting times among ginger uses was also significantly greater than among
the women who received the placebo (50% versus 9%).

3)Ginger reduces inflammation.
Gingerol, the main component of ginger, is responsible for its distinctive taste. It is
believed to be the reason why eating ginger confers powerful protection against
cancer and why ginger has been a research star against colon cancer. Scientists
at the Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii recently measured
the bioactivity of 6-gingerol and ginger extract in two key aspects of colon
cancer biology: cancer cell proliferation, and the ability of cancer cells to
establish and maintain their own blood supplies. They found that these selected
bioactive compounds from ginger had a direct effect on cancer cell
proliferation, and an indirect effect on endothelial cell function either at the
level of endothelial cell proliferation or through inhibition of endothelial
cell tube formation. The scientists concluded that 6-gingerol has two types of
antitumor effects. It directs colon cancer cell growth suppression, and inhibits
the blood supply of the tumor via the angiogenesis process. Their study was
published in Phytotherapy Resources, December 31, 2008.Gingerol
can also kill ovarian cancer cells by inducing programmed cell death and
self-digestion. In a study reported in The World's Healthiest Foods
report on ginger, scientists examined the effect of a whole ginger extract
containing 5% gingerol on several different ovarian cancer cell lines. Exposure
to the ginger extract caused cell death in all the cancer lines studied. In the
presence of ginger, a number of key indicators of inflammation were decreased in
the ovarian cancer cells.

4)Ginger improves digestive function
Ginger is classified as a carminative (reducing intestinal gas) and an intestinal
spasmolytic (soothes intestinal tract) while inducing gut motility. It also
aid in the production of bile, making it particularly helpful in digesting fats.

source: naturalnews.com
http://www.naturalnews.com/035574_ginger_herb_healing.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/025979_ginger_cancer_pain.html

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