The Healing Herb Ginger

Welcome to the first post about healing herbs. There is much more to learn before we dive into using herbs for healing. Most of the terms I discuss here will be explained in further posts.
This post is to give you a general understanding of the knowledge needed make a definitive diagnosis and to give you a quick look of how the healing herb blog post will be structured. Please comment with any suggestions on layout and any points which could help me provide better quality to my posts.

Ginger In Traditional Chinese Medicine

Ginger is also known as Sheng Jiang 生姜 Rhizoma Zingiberis Recens.

Ginger has been known for many years and is quite common in our kitchens. It is harvested in autumn and winter and can be found in our local convenient store. For best quality ginger, make sure that they are big, fully grown and tender.

Properties of Ginger

Ginger has a pungent and warm property (The properties of healing will be explained in an upcoming blog). It is connected to the lung, spleen and stomach and influence them using the meridian system (The Meridian system will be explained in an upcoming blog). The action of ginger is the it disperse the wind and cold that enters the body, It can warm the middle energizer which can help stop vomiting and can also warm the lungs to stop a cough.

Ginger is usually used as supplementary herb that can be combined with other pungent warm exterior releasing herbs which then promotes sweating which has an exterior releasing effect, this effect is used to disperse wind and cold.

Ginger can be used to stimulate appetite by warming the middle energizer and expelling cold, this also stops vomiting and stomachaches which is due to the cold and the deficiency of the spleen and stomach. It can be combined with interior warming herbs to treat sever cold. Because of its warm property, it is the best choice for vomiting caused by stomach cold.

Dosage and Administration

Decoct 3~10g. In the case of sudden syncope, 10～20g Sheng Jiang juice is to be used.

Roasted Sheng Jiang is specially used in warming middle energizer to relieve vomiting. In case of syndromes not suitable for pungent and dispersing herbs, it should be carefully used.

Caution

It should be used with cautions for yin deficiency with internal heat and heat exuberance because it helps promote fire and injure yin.

Scientific facts about Ginger

I believe in science and I plan to prove all of my studies rationally with facts and not just by word of mouth. I believe that proof should be issued with tests and results. Most of these facts are from articles published in medical journals from pubmed.

Ginger can help with depression

[Clinical study on depression differentiated as yang deficiency treated with the combined therapy of ginger-isolated moxibustion and western medicine]

''
OBJECTIVE:
To compare the differences in the clinical efficacy on depression differentiated as yang deficiency between the combined therapy of ginger-isolated moxibustion and escitalopram and the simple application escitalopram.

CONCLUSIONS:
The combined therapy of ginger-isolated moxibustion and escitalopram achieves the better curative and remarkably effective rate as compared with the simple western medicine and it significantly reduces the recurrence of depression.''

Authors from Department of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, Xiamen Municipal Xianyue Hospital, Xiamen 361012, Fujian Province, China.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29231361

Ginger In Pain Relief in Osteoarthritis

[Effects of Self-Knee Massage With Ginger Oil in Patients With Osteoarthritis: An Experimental Study.]

''
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:
The purpose of our study was to assess the effects of self-knee massage with ginger oil on pain and daily living activities in patients with knee osteoarthritis.

RESULTS:
The mean VAS Pain scores of the intervention group were significantly lower at the end of the first and fifth weeks (p< .05). The mean total scores and mean Function subscale scores of the WOMAC were significantly lower in massage group in the first- and fifth-week assessments (p < .05).''
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29137696

The anti-inflammatory effects of Ginger

"This extended literature review serves to demonstrate the protective effects and mechanisms of ginger and its phytochemicals against natural, chemical and radiation-induced toxicities. Collected data obtained from the in-vivo and in-vitro experimental studies in this overview detail the designation of the protective effects to ginger's antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic properties. Ginger's armoury of phytochemicals exerted its protective function via different mechanisms and cell signalling pathways, including Nrf2/ARE, MAPK, NF-ƙB, Wnt/β-catenin, TGF-β1/Smad3, and ERK/CREB. The outcomes of this review could encourage further clinical trials of ginger applications in radiotherapy and chemotherapy regime for cancer treatments or its implementation to counteract the chemical toxicity induced by industrial pollutants, alcohol, smoking or administered drugs."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30352300

The use of Ginger In CIN

[The Effect of a Standardized Ginger Extract on Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea-Related Quality of Life in Patients Undergoing Moderately or Highly Emetogenic Chemotherapy: A Double Blind, Randomized, Placebo Controlled Trial.]

''Ginger supplementation could be an effective adjuvant treatment for chemotherapy-induced nausea (CIN). The aim of this clinical trial was to address significant methodological limitations in previous trials. Patients (N = 51) were randomly allocated to receive either 1.2 g of standardised ginger extract or placebo per day, in addition to standard anti-emetic therapy, during the first three cycles of chemotherapy. The primary outcome was CIN-related quality of life (QoL) measured with the Functional Living Index- Emesis (FLIE) questionnaire. Secondary outcomes included acute and delayed nausea, vomiting, and retching as well as cancer-related fatigue, nutritional status, and CIN and vomiting-specific prognostic factors. Over three consecutive chemotherapy cycles, nausea was more prevalent than vomiting (47% vs. 12%). In chemotherapy Cycle 1, intervention participants reported significantly better QoL related to CIN (p = 0.029), chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV)-related QoL (p = 0.043), global QoL (p = 0.015) and less fatigue (p = 0.006) than placebo participants. There were no significant results in Cycle 2. In Cycle 3, global QoL (p = 0.040) and fatigue (p = 0.013) were significantly better in the intervention group compared to placebo. This trial suggests adjuvant ginger supplementation is associated with better chemotherapy-induced nausea-related quality of life and less cancer-related fatigue, with no difference in adverse effects compared to placebo.''
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28805667
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28666335

Conclusion

It looks like ginger has vast properties and many benefits, It also makes chicken curry taste amazing. Some studies on ginger are not so promising like the study of the use of ginger versus stretching exercises for the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea: a randomized controlled trial.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28659234
spoiler alert! "Stretching exercises, as a safe and low-cost treatment, are more effective than ginger for pain relief in primary dysmenorrhea". When ever you use herbal medication to treat you or any one for that fact, please make sure that your definitive diagnosis is correct and you take the right precautions before using herbal medication.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I hope this was helpful. I will be providing more articles on healing and many more herbs and their benefits .