16 top health benefits of Ginger: Ginger Beyond Spice

The health benefits of ginger are enormous and there have been a number of chemicals isolated from ginger that have been found to be medicinal agents. Ginger in your diet is therefore not just a spice. Let’s take a critical look at ginger beyond it being a spice and look more at the health benefits of ginger.

What is ginger?

Ginger (Zingiber Officinale) is one of the cash crops that have been cultivated in the history of man. It is seen as a panacea to man because its benefits are many. It is the component of lots of products on the market. It is widely used as a spice. Its medicinal use too cannot be underestimated. 

In what forms is ginger available and what are they used for?

The edible part is the rhizome which is matured after 6 to 12 months of cultivation. It is grown globally. After harvesting, ginger can be preserved or marketed in the fresh form, dried whole,  processed into powder, sliced and dried, or peeled and dried. 

In the food industry ginger is converted to juices, used in candies, the oil extracts are used in ginger beer, soft drinks, and food preparations. The freshly grounded ginger or the powder is used as a spice and flavoring agent in preparing light soup or cooking meat. 

Ginger is also sold as chips which are commonly chewed especially as a treatment for cold and sore throat. The oil of ginger also serves as a food preservative. It prevents food spoilage by being an antioxidant, free radical scavenger, prevents lipid peroxidation, and prevents antimicrobial growth. It, therefore, increases the shelf-life of food in addition to the flavor it adds to food.

What are the health benefits of Ginger?

It is recognized as a nutraceutical that is food with lots of health benefits.  Its medicinal properties are known in the traditional Chinese, Ayurveda, American and European medicines. To tap the medicinal benefits of it, it is ingested orally, applied topically, or injected into the muscle. 

Ginger extracts have been shown to have more than a hundred chemicals (bioactive molecules) that are responsible for their many medicinal uses. The bioactive constituents in ginger that are responsible for its therapeutic abilities are gingerol, shogaols,  paradols, zingerone,  zingiberene, quercetin, gingerenone-A, 6-dehydrogingerdione, and many others. It also contains vitamins, minerals, lipids, and carbohydrates which all offer benefits to the human body. The following are some of the medicinal uses of ginger;

Here is the list of health benefits of Ginger 

Treatment of musculoskeletal pain 

Ginger is very helpful for musculoskeletal conditions such as osteoarthritis, rheumatism, and acute pain. It has been shown to relieve pain when swallowed or applied topically. It reduces the pain by suppressing the release of inflammatory mediators which cause pain. Sometimes its pain-relieving effects are not seen immediately.

Menstrual cramps

Ginger powder at a dose of 1g daily for 3 days effectively treats menstrual cramps as ibuprofen and mefenamic acid would do. It reduces prostaglandins levels which are the maintain mediators of menstrual pains. 

Hypertension

Ginger through its inhibitory action on calcium channels and stimulation of muscarinic receptors has been shown to reduce blood pressure when ingested.

Dyslipidemia

Daily intake of ginger improves lipids levels in the blood. It decreases LDL (bad cholesterol) and triglycerides and increases the good cholesterol (HDL) levels in the blood.

Motion sickness

Ginger treats nausea and vomiting associated with traveling in a vehicle or by air. It works by inhibiting serotonin receptors in the intestine and by increasing intestinal motility. It has been shown to have antimuscarinic as well as antihistamine effects which all account for its ability to treat motion sickness.

Nausea and vomiting

Dried ginger powder ingestion alleviates nausea and vomiting associated with cesarean section, chemotherapy, medicines used to treat tuberculosis, medicines used to treat HIV-AIDS, and pregnancy. 

Headache 

Taking dried ginger powder too relieves headaches and other painful conditions. This effect is still attributed to its ability to inhibit prostaglandins and other pain mediators such as leukotrienes.

Prevention of neurodegenerative disorders

Ginger has been shown to prevent diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. It also improves memory. The neuroprotective effect is revealed to emanate from the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of ginger.

Cardiovascular benefits

Ginger offers lots of benefits to the heart and the blood vessels. The cardiovascular benefits are realized through its ability to lower blood pressure, prevent blood clot formation, lowering serum lipids which predispose one to develop narrowed blood vessels which usually result in a heart attack or high blood pressure. It also plays a role in the prevention of obesity and blood glucose regulation. 

Candidiasis

Known for its broad antimicrobial effects, it is also a good choice for the treatment of vaginal candidiasis. The extracts also effectively suppress the growth of several fungal organisms including Aspergillus flavus which causes aspergillosis, a fungal infection.

Antibacterial effect 

The oil of ginger has been shown to be active against numerous bacteria, both gram-positive and gram-negative microbes. It has been shown to decrease bacterial resistance to antibiotics by preventing the bacteria from forming biofilms. 

The biofilms are communities or microcolonies of microorganisms of the same or different kinds enveloped in slime as protective coats. The slime layer prevents the antibiotic from getting to the bacteria. Also ginger extracts when given together with antibiotics used to eradicate the ulcer-causing bacteria called Helicobacter pylori to offer greater efficacy in killing the bacterium. This makes ginger a potential agent to effectively treat ulcers.

Facilitation in sugar regulation in diabetics 

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder characterized by insulin resistance or insulin deficiency and abnormally high blood glucose levels. It is of a public health concern as people are becoming increasingly inactive. 

The quest for agents that would aid in blood glucose regulation resulted in research into various herbs and nutraceuticals that would offer beneficial effects on blood glucose control. 

Ginger, a widely cultivated herb/spice has demonstrated a positive effect on blood glucose reduction through various mechanisms. It improves insulin sensitivity resulting in glucose uptake into the muscle for metabolism. 

It also decreases insulin levels in the body which is common in insulin resistance in type II diabetes mellitus.  6-gingerol, an active constituent of ginger, has been shown to enhance glucose-stimulated insulin release and reduce glucose intolerance in mice. 

To add on, ginger intake could reduce fasting plasma glucose, glycated hemoglobin A (HbA1_C), and lipids level in type II diabetes mellitus.

Ginger as an antioxidant

Most chronic diseases occurring in humans are partly caused by substances formed in the body called free radicals or reactive oxygen species (ROS) which damage body cells. ROS or free radicals are produced by the body or inhaled from the environment. 

Ginger has been shown to be capable of mobbing these substances and therefore protected against their deleterious effects.

Antineoplastic activity 

The extracts of ginger are able to suppress abnormal cell proliferation and induce the death of cancerous cells. The cancers that ginger can prevent and probably treat are colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, and pancreatic cancer. 

Evidence is largely experimental and needs further investigation.  The anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, free radical mobbing, and cytotoxic ability of ginger are responsible for its role as preventive and therapeutic role in cancer.

Ginger has antiviral activity 

Clinical trials have demonstrated that ginger extract reduced the viral load of hepatitis C virus and liver markers such as aminotransferases (ALT and AST) and alpha-fetoprotein which are all markers of liver damage. 

Ginger works as an aphrodisiac

Ginger facilitates blood flow to the genitals by causing relaxation of the corpora cavernosa through its ability to block calcium channels and stimulation of cholinergic receptors. It has also been shown to increase libido in rats due to its ability to increase the sex hormone dihydrotestosterone.

Conclusion

To conclude ginger (Zingiber officinale) which is widely used as a spice is loaded with a plethora of bioactive molecules which makes it stand out as a medicinal herb capable of preventing and treating lots of human ailments when consumed or when extracted components are administered. 

Thus ginger has a lot of health benefits and therefore is recommended to be added to your diet.

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