Daily ginger prevents chronic disease

Posted on Wed, 18 Jan 17

Despite its widespread use and popularity, the health effects of daily ginger consumption have not been well studied. A new study, however, has found that dietary ginger may reduce risk of chronic disease. 

Ginger has been used in traditional and modern herbal medicine as a treatment for inflammatory diseases such as arthritis and migraine, as well as gastrointestinal problems such as nausea and vomiting, but studies tend to focus on the use of ginger as a medicine not a food. 

To see if there are potential benefits of eating ginger regularly a research team looked at associations between reported daily ginger consumption and the prevalence of chronic diseases (diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, hyperlipidemia, cerebrovascular disease, fatty liver, anaemia and tumor) in a large group of some 4628 people.

Daily ginger consumption was found to be most strongly associated with a lower risk of hypertension and coronary heart disease, and risk was found to decrease with increasing ginger intake, suggesting a dose response relationship. 

“The risk of hypertension and coronary heart disease was respectively decreased approximately 8% and 13% by increasing 1 gram per day ginger intake on the basis of prior diet,” reported the study investigators. 

“In conclusion, the data indicated that ginger had a potential preventive property against some chronic diseases, especially hypertension and coronary heart disease as well as its ability to reduce the probability of illness by increasing 1g/d ginger intake on the basis of prior diet,” they wrote. “It was a heart-healthy alternative to appropriately increase ginger consumption every day being recommended as a good dietary choice.”

Reference: 

Wang Y, et al. Evaluation of daily ginger consumption for the prevention of chronic diseases in adults: a cross-section study. Nutrition, Available online 3 June 2016 [in press]