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Ginger, a Multiple Antioxidant, Rich Food and Alternative Medicine

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe)

Tracy Boyd

          Ginger has 12 compounds that provide as much as 40-times more antioxidant activity than vitamin E and is one of the top-10 anti-cancer foods indentified by The National Cancer Institute (Adhikari, Priyadarsini & Mukherjee, 2007). Ginger has antioxidant and anticarcinogenic properties. Principle antioxidants of ginger include gingerols, shogaols and some related phenolic ketone derivatives. Antioxidant activity of ginger can scavenge superoxide anion and hydroxyl radicals efficiently. Dried ginger extract contains monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes. Some of the uses of ginger includes treating hypertension, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea colds and chills. It has anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor properties as highlighted in this article.

Anticancer activity of ginger root
           This study suggests that ginger exhibits anti-neoplastic effects while pointing out that natural or dietary compounds have low toxicity and few adverse side effects if any. In other words, natural foods provide alternative therapy for medicine. Anticancer effects of ginger were assessed in ovarian cancer cells in vitro. After ginger treatment, growth inhibition was profound in cultured ovarian cancer cells in every cell line tested compared to the control treatment. This study concludes that ginger inhibits growth of ovarian cancer cells and modulates secretion of angiogenic factors giving it potential to treat and prevent ovarian cancer.

          One study found that 6-gingerol, a phenolic alkanone, found in ginger, has anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor properties making it useful in the treatment of tumors and other angiogenesis-dependent diseases (Kim, Min, Kim, Lee, Yang, Han, Kim & Kwon, 2005). The antioxidant 6-shogaol is another constituent of ginger with powerful effects as shown in the following study. While 6-gingerol reduced the viability of gastric cancer cells through cell mechanisms, 6-shogaol reduced viability alone by damaging microtubules. (Ishiguro, Ando, Maeda, Ohmiya, Niwa, Kadomatsu & Goto, 2007). In another study, the anti-tumorigenic and pro-apoptotic activity of 6-gingerol was found through multiple mechanisms as it induced cell growth arrest and apoptosis in human colorectal cancer cells in vitro (Lee, Cekanova & Baek, 2008).

Should you use raw or dried ginger?
           Gingerols found in the dried aqueous extract were between 5 and 16 times lower than that in raw ginger, but levels of 6-shogaol were higher in a study (Lee, Khoo, Halstead, Huynh & Bensoussan, 2007). Authors from another study report the effects of aqueous ginger extract including hypotensive, endothelium-dependent and independent vasodilator activity along with cardio-suppressant and stimulant effects. It lowers blood pressure through dual mechanisms, which suggests that ginger is intervention for hypertension and heart palpitations (Ghayur, Gilani, Afridi & Houghton). Blood pressure is lowered by ginger due to a blockade of voltage-dependent calcium channels (Ghayur & Gilani, 2005). Findings show lowered arterial blood pressure and cardiodepressant activity on the rate and force of spontaneous contractions from ginger extract. Ginger has many medicinal purposes whether raw or dried.

          Ginger is also effective for treating nausea and vomiting induced by pregnancy and post operation (White, 2007). Taking 1 gram of ginger orally during pregnancy decreased the amount of nausea and vomiting in a study and there were no reported adverse effects of ginger from the participants of this 5-month study (Vutyavanich, Kraisarin & Ruangsri, 2001). Ginger has warming affects.

          Ginger has medicinal effects including anticathartic activity and it is used commonly to warm the body and remove chills caused by the common cold (Huang, Matsuda, Sakai, Yamahara & Tamai, 1990). In this study, the authors found that 100 mg/kg p.o. of acetone extract from ginger significantly inhibited serotonin (5-HT) induced hypothermia and at 75 mg/kg p.o. it significantly inhibited 5-HT induced diarrhea. Ginger has many benefits that are beyond the scope of this article.

          The properties of ginger provide anticancer activity and high antioxidant power. The benefits remain regardless of the various forms of consumption. Remember, it is in the top 10-list of foods that help prevent cancer. It is also used to inhibit the growth of tumors and cancer. It has a calming and warming affect. It adds nourishment to the body and it helps preserve it. Ginger is a natural health food product that you might add to your diet when maximizing health and wellness. Ginger consumption is alternative medicine.

References:

Adhikari, S., Priyadarsini, K. I., & Mukherjee, T. (2007). Physico-chemical studies
          on the evaluation of the antioxidant activity of herbal extracts and active
          principles of some Indian medicinal plants. Journal of Chemical
          Biochemistry and Nutrition 40(3), 174-183.

Ghayur, M. N., & Gilani, A. H. (2005) Ginger lowers blood pressure through
          blockade of voltage-dependent calcium channels. Journal of
          Cardiovascular Pharmacology, 45(1), 74-80.

Ghayur, M. N., Gilani, A. H., Afridi, M. B., & Houghton, P. J. (2005).
          Cardiovascular effects of ginger aqueous extract and its phenolic
          constituents are mediated through multiple pathways. Vascular
          Pharmacology, 43(4) 234-241.

Huang, Q., Matsuda, H., Sakai, K., Yamahara, J., & Tamai, Y. (1990). The effect
          of ginger on serotonin induced hypothermia and diarrhea. Yakugaku
           Zasshi: Journal of Pharmaceutical Society of Japan, 110(12), 936-942.

Lee, S. H., Cekanova, M., & Baek, S. J. (2008). Multiple mechanisms are
          involved in 6-gingerol-induced cell growth arrest and apoptosis in human
          colorectal cancer cells. Molecular Carcinogenesis 47(3), 197-208.

Rhode, J., Fogoros, S., Zick, S., Wahl, H., Griffith, K. A., Huang, J., & Liu, J. R.
          (2007). Ginger inhibits cell growth and modulates angiogenic factors in
          ovarian cancer cells. BioMedCentral Complementary and Alternative
          Medicine, 7(44).

Ishiguro, K., Ando, T., Maeda, O., Ohmiya, N., Niwa, Y., Kadomatsu, K., & Goto,
          H. (2007). Ginger ingredients reduce viability of gastric cancer cells via
           distinct mechanisms. Biochemical and Biophysical
          Research Communications, 362(1), 218-223.

Kim, E. C., Min, J. K., Kim, T. Y., Lee, S. J., Yang, H. O., Han, S., Kim, Y. M., &
          Kwon, Y. G. (2005). [6]-Gingerol, a pungent ingredient of ginger, inhibits
          angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo. Biochemical and Biophysical Research
          Communications, 335(2), 300-308.

Lee, S., Khoo, C., Halstead, C. W., Huynh, T., & Bensoussan, A. (2007). Liquid
          chromatographic determination of 6-, 8-, 10-gingerol, and 6-shogaol in
          ginger (Zingiber officinale) as the raw herb and dried aqueous extract.
          Journal of AOAC International 90(5),1219-1226.

Vutyavanich, T., Kraisarin, T., & Ruangsri, R. (2001). Ginger for nausea and
          vomiting in pregnancy: randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled
          trial. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 97(4) 577-582.

White, B. (2007). Ginger: an overview. American Family Physician, 75(11), 1689-
          1691.