Columbus was trying to find another way to bring ginger and other spices home when he stumbled upon North America, but he didn’t find ginger in the New World. It wasn’t until the English introduced it to the colonies that it became a popular spice in the Americas. Once introduced, ginger didn’t go away. Today, this lowly root enhances a wide variety of food and drink, from the flavoring in ginger ale to the thin-sliced pickled ginger that’s served alongside sushi. It’s also been appreciated for its medicinal properties for thousands of years and employed by many cultures, including India’s Ayurvedic medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Western herbalism. People have used ginger to treat indigestion, nausea, gout, flu, fever, headache, and flatulence.

The medicinal part of ginger is the rhizome, an underground stem that most people mistakenly refer to as a root. In Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine, the rhizome has a long-standing reputation as a digestive aid. It is ground up and used in numerous Chinese herbal prescriptions. Ayurvedic practitioners refer to ginger as the universal medicine because it aids the body’s digestive function by relieving gas, bloating, and cramps, says Joseph Selvester, an Ayurvedic herbalist in Gainesville, Florida. Western herbalists classify ginger as a carminative, an anti-inflammatory, and a diaphoretic, among other things. A carminative is an herbal remedy that settles the intestine and eases pain by removing gas from the digestive tract. Most herbs high in volatile oils have the ability to dispel gas and reduce bloating in the intestine, and ginger is rich in such oils.

As an anti-inflammatory, ginger is known to reduce the production of inflammatory compounds, which makes it useful for some types of headaches, for body aches caused by flu, and for arthritis. A diaphoretic is capable of slightly raising body temperature and promoting sweating. "I use ginger for my patients who are unable to develop a fever to recover from a cold or flu," says Jill Stansbury, N.D., assistant professor of botanical medicine, chair of the botanical medicine department at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon, and a naturopathic doctor in Battle Ground, Washington. She recommends boiling sliced gingerroot in water, then adding honey and lemon to taste. "A cup or two of hot ginger tea, drunk while in a hot bath, can help induce a brief fever and speed recovery from an infection," she adds.

If it’s just an upset stomach or a woozy feeling that’s unsettling your gut, you may want to turn to ginger. Two of the herb’s active ingredients, gingerol and shogaol, help combat nausea, whether it’s caused by flu, motion sickness, or the surging hormones of early pregnancy, says William Page-Echols, D.O., an assistant clinical professor of family medicine who teaches alternative medicine at the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine in East Lansing.

 

Ginger appears to have no side effects, while many motion sickness drugs, such as dimenhydrinate (Dramamine), cause drowsiness. This makes it a safe alternative for pregnant women battling morning sickness. In a Danish study of pregnant women, 1,000 milligrams of ginger powder daily, divided into four doses, was effective. But you may need to experiment to find a dosage that works for you, says Dr. Page-Echols.

"It is safe to take during pregnancy, but as with any drug, I’d still recommend that you use it only when necessary or for short periods of time," he adds. Be sure to talk to your doctor first. Motion sickness drugs act on the central nervous system, so some researchers believe that gingerol and shogaol work in the same way. Others believe that the medicinal action takes place in the stomach itself.

No one knows exactly how ginger helps to quell nausea, says Alison Lee, M.D., a pain-management specialist and medical director of Barefoot Doctors, an alternative medicine practice in Ann Arbor, Michigan. You can’t rule out some effect on the brain, she says, because a ginger tincture seems to work as well as a powdered supplement. "Sometimes it just takes a drop or two on the tongue to stop nausea," she says. "It apparently gets into your bloodstream and inhibits the vomiting center in your brain."

If the mechanism isn’t certain, the results are. A study involving 80 Danish naval cadets found that ginger is an effective treatment for seasickness. While the cadets were learning the ropes of seamanship aboard a training vessel in heavy seas, half the group was given 1,000 milligrams of ginger powder, while the other cadets received an inactive substance that looked the same (a placebo).

The cadets, ages 16 to 19, were good test cases because none had experience on the open seas, nor were any of them overly susceptible to becoming seasick. They were, so to speak, fresh fish. Over the following few hours, the ginger group had "remarkably" fewer symptoms of vertigo and nausea, according to the researchers. Ginger reduced vomiting and cold sweats better than the placebo. The placebo group presumably spent more time retching over the side or running to the head (that’s ship talk for bathroom).

Ginger is good for your heart as well as your stomach. Among its other benefits, it seems to have a blood-thinning effect. In a study conducted in India, powdered ginger significantly reduced the clumping of blood platelets in people with coronary artery disease. If platelets clump up, they can cause rough spots on artery walls, which then attract fat molecules that build up to form a dense, clogging substance called plaque. When enough plaque builds up, the arteries narrow, causing blockages that can lead to heart attack and stroke. "The Chinese use dry ginger in many heart and kidney treatments, and in Ayurvedic medicine, ginger is considered a heart tonic," says Selvester.

In limited test-tube studies, ginger has also shown anti-inflammatory action. Research has shown that it can reduce pain and swelling in people with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and muscle pain. Common over-the-counter anti-inflammatories like aspirin and ibu pro fen work in a similar manner, but long-term use of anti-inflammatory drugs can have serious consequences. These drugs sometimes reduce the beneficial enzymes that maintain the protective mucous lining of the stomach. If that happens, the corrosive gastric juices that help digestion may irritate the stomach and cause an ulcer, says Dr. Page-Echols.

Ginger appears to regulate two types of chemicals that are responsible for inflammation and to do it in a safer way than anti-inflammatory medications, without the stomach-irritating side effects. Dr. Page-Echols recommends ginger—often in combination with the herb turmeric—to many elderly patients who have a history of using anti-inflammatories for chronic pain and arthritis. "They are at risk for developing bleeding ulcers from the typical drugs taken for inflammation," he says. "Ginger is easier on the system."

As with most herbal anti-inflammatories, if you take ginger for pain, it takes time to have the desired effect. You can’t just pop a ginger supplement as you might an aspirin and get immediate relief, says Dr. Lee. "Herbs do take time to work, but if you’re in a situation where you have a chronic, recurring problem like arthritis, you need something that you can take often and safely," she says. "Eventually, the ginger will have an effect."

Dr. Page-Echols recommends that his patients cook with ginger at least twice a week to help with arthritis, heart health, and general health. Many people in India use 8,000 to 10,000 milligrams of fresh ginger a day in cooking, he says. "A lot of people aren’t accustomed to thinking of food as a medicine, but in this case, it really is. Ginger is something that most people have used in their food. I try to encourage them to use more and use it more often."