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Ginger

Ginger or Zingiber Officianale is used quite extensively as a spice in nearly every area of the world. Originally native to Southern China, ginger is now cultivated on a large scale in Southeastern Asia, West Africa, and the Caribbean. Ginger has a well known array of culinary uses including teas, ales, cookies, breads, condiments, candies and even some wines. Ginger has also claimed a place in traditional medicine. It has long been known to be an effective means to combat nausea and settle the stomach. In ancient times it was used for a much wider range of ailments including upset stomach, diarrhea, arthritis, colic, and heart conditions. Today, several studies suggest that some of the ancient uses for ginger can be scientifically justified due to ginger's chemical components.

Ginger is loaded with a number of beneficial constituents. The rhizome contains up to 3% of an essential oil that causes the fragrance of the spice. Other main constituents include sesquiterpenoids, gingerols, and zingerone. Gingerols, the active constituents in HerbaKraft's Ginger extract are responsible for a number of ginger's effects. Gingerol is a chemical relative of capsaicin, the compound responsible the the spice of chile peppers. Cooking ginger transforms gingerol into zingerone, which creates the characteristic spicy-sweet aroma. It has been observed that gingerol derived from raw ginger has certain inhibitory effects in cancer cell proliferation. In a study published in Oncogene in 2005, gingerol was found to inhibit cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression. This creates a chemoprotective effect because COX-2 expression is abnormally upregulated in most pre-malignant and malignant cells (Kim, 2004). Its inhibition indicates gingerol's interference in cancer development.

In another study ginger and its gingerol related compounds showed antioxidant effects. The compounds showed both radical scavenging and inhibitory effects on autooxidation (Masuda, 2004). Other researched uses for ginger include arthritis relief, blood thinning effects, lowering high cholesterol, decreasing inflammation, and possible cardiovascular protection. Ginger is truly remarkable, and with more study and research has the potential to become an effective medication for a number of ailments.

References

Kim S, Kundu J, Shin Y, Park J, Cho M, Kim T, Surh Y. [6]-Gingerol inhibitd COX-2 expression by blocking the activation of p38 MAP kinase and NF-B in phorbol ester-stimulated mouse skin. Oncone. 2005; 24:2558-2567.

Altman RD, Marcussen KC. Effects of a ginger extract on knee pain in patients with osteoarthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 2001;44(11):2531-2538.

Bhandari U, Sharma JN, Zafar R. The protective action of ethanolic ginger (Zingiber officinale) extract in cholesterol fed rabbits. J Ethnopharm. 1998;61(2):167-171.

Bordia A, Verma SK, Srivastava KC. Effect of ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) and fenugreek (Trigonella foenumgraecum L.) on blood lipids, blood sugar, and platelet aggregation ion patients with coronary heart disease. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 1997;56(5):379-384.

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