A recent randomised clinical trial funded by the NIH has confirmed what many grandmothers would have suspected: that ginger can decrease nausea caused by chemotherapy. Better still, it seems that the effect goes beyond that provided by standard anti-vomiting drugs.
The double-blind, placebo-controlled study included 644 cancer patients who to receive at least 3 chemotherapy treatments. They were divided into four groups who received placebos, 0.5g of ginger, one gramme of ginger, or 1.5g of ginger along with current antiemetics drugs.
Patients took the ginger supplements three days prior to chemotherapy and three days following treatment. Patients reported nausea levels at various times of day during following their chemotherapy and those who took the lower doses of ginger had a 40 per cent reduction in their symptoms.
