Health Benefits Of Ginger And Dietary Recommendations For Cancer Patients

Ginger may help with chemotherapy-induced nausea, but it may play an even bigger role for people living with lung cancer.

Ginger contains a compound 6-shogaol that may help prevent the development of lung cancer, but through its actions on the pathways that help cancer to spread, may lower the risk of metastases from a cancer already present.

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Evidence of the benefits of ginger was noted in treating lung cancer cells in the lab, and It was also found that dietary ginger intake reduced the risk of lung cancer metastases in mice with lung cancer.

Since metastases are the leading cause of death for people with cancer, this is an important finding.

Ginger is thought to have other health benefits as well, particularly in helping people with chronic pain.

Will Ginger Help Me?

Ginger has many benefits to offer you. Ginger may be helpful in reducing “stomach problems”, such as nausea, motion sickness, morning sickness, gas, and diarrhea. 

Ginger may be effective for decreasing nausea and vomiting after surgery.  Ginger may calm your stomach and reduce nausea during treatment, however, everyone is different. 

Research studies have looked at the medicinal effects of ginger on over 100 health conditions. Although limited, research suggests ginger may help oncology patients.

In many studies, ginger reduced nausea, vomiting, muscle pain, and dizziness that patients experienced post-surgery.

Women who experienced morning sickness during pregnancy also found that ginger calmed their stomachs. 

Ginger is generally considered safe to eat during treatment. You should not take more than 4 grams per day. 

Talk with your healthcare provider if you are thinking about using ginger in any form to help with symptom management as it may interfere with medications for diabetes, blood thinning (anticoagulant), high blood pressure, and more. 

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Is Ginger Safe During Treatment?

Yes, ginger is safe to take as long as the product is made with real ginger. The safest form to consume is natural ginger root. See the chart below for dietitian recommendations for taking ginger.  

Although ginger supplements are the most convenient form, they are not always the best during treatment.

The amount of ginger in some supplements may be more than is recommended. These may make you feel even worse. The preferred forms of ginger, recommended by dietitians, are:

 

Ginger Form	How to Use	Dietitian Recommendations
Natural Ginger Root (Raw)	Remove skin and cut ginger root to preferred size and add to a stir-fry or soup Wash thoroughly and consume ginger raw. Try our homemade ginger tea recipe below!  This is the preferred form of ginger.  Do not consume more than 4 grams per day (approximately one tablespoon per day).	This is the preferred form of ginger.  Do not consume more than 4 grams per day (approximately one tablespoon per day).
Ginger Hard Candies, Chews, or Snap Cookies.	Ginger candies, chews, and cookies can be found in stores or online.  Be sure to purchase products that state that they are “made with real ginger”. Read the nutrition label or contact your dietitian to ensure you do not exceed 4 grams per day.	Read the nutrition label or contact your dietitian to ensure you do not exceed 4 grams per day.
Powdered Ginger	Powdered (ground) ginger can be used while cooking or used to make tea.  Since powdered ginger is more concentrated, try not to consume more than 2 teaspoons per day.	Since powdered ginger is more concentrated, try not to consume more than 2 teaspoons per day.

 

Ginger Tea Recipe

Steep a ginger tea bag in hot or boiling water for 5-10 minutes, remove the teabag, and enjoy!

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For iced ginger tea: 

Steep ginger tea bag in hot water for 5-10 minutes, allow cooling, and place in the refrigerator overnight. Add honey for sweetness or lemon for tartness.  

You may also simmer a 1” piece of fresh ginger in 4 cups of water. Steep and drink.

**Most store-bought ginger teas may contain more than just ginger, like chamomile or lemongrass. Buying teas that only contain natural ginger root may reduce the risk of unwanted side effects from other ingredients in the tea. 

Since most store-bought teas also have more than or approximately 1 gram of ginger per tea bag, you should not consume more than 3-4 tea bags per day. 

Biodistribution studies of zerumbone are necessary. Further, relatively few chemoprevention animal dose-response studies have been reported.

Thus, more investigations into the timing of application of the active compounds in initiation/promotion protocols should be carried out.

Animal studies with true ginger compounds combined with zerumbone would be interesting. However, it might be predicted that these studies would not show additive/synergistic effects, as they utilize comparable mechanisms.

On the other hand, the compounds may have different pharmacokinetics, and they may augment each other when used in combination.

A few human studies have been reported using true ginger extract, but none have been undertaken with zerumbone.

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As numerous anti-cancer markers of activity are known, after more animal studies are completed, more human trials should be undertaken, especially using the purified active compounds.

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