Best Herbal Remedy for nausea and upset stomach - Ginger

Ginger as a Remedy throughout World History

• Ancient Romans ate ginger wrapped in bread to soothe their stomachs following their fabled feasts (Gingerbread)
• Ancient Chinese and Viking mariners used ginger to combat seasickness
• Revolutionary War soldiers received Ginger as part of their rations
• In India, the Ayurvedic tradition considers Ginger to be a "universal medicine."
• Currently, the properties of Ginger are being examined for cancer treatments
  

The curative effects of Ginger Ale for the treatment of nausea or upset stomachs probably does not come as a surprise to most Westerners. The concept of drinking a can of ginger ale to treat a stomach ache is a pretty well accepted fallacy.

Fallacy? Ginger the herb is certainly one of the best herbal remedies known to man for soothing and calming the stomach. But, your ginger ale doesn't have any ginger in it, zero, nada, zilch...no ginger at all. "How can that be," you may ask, "Ginger Ale always soothes my stomach?" Well, you most likely had indigestion or gas and the carbonation in the soda allowed you to quickly burp and relieve yourself.

Do you remember when Michael J Fox's character in "Doc Hollywood" wanted to send the little boy to the hospital for heart attack symptoms? He was quickly put to shame by Doc Hoags quick remedy of "Give the boy a coke?"

The best sellers for American Ginger Ales, include Schweppes, Seagrams and Canada Dry. According to labeling none of these carbonated beverages can possibly contain any more than 2% of ginger and most likely do not contain any.

INGREDIENTS: Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup and 2% or Less of each of the Following, Concentrated Juices (Pineapple, Orange, Passionfruit, Apple), Purees (Apricot, Papaya, Guava), Citric Acid, Natural Flavor and Artificial Flavor, Pectin, Acacia Gum, Gum Ghatti, Glycerol Ester of Wood Rosin, Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Red 40, Blue 1, Sodium Benzoate and Potassium Sorbate (Preservatives) and Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C).

INGREDIENTS: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup and/or Sugar, Citric Acid, Natural Flavors, Sodium Benzoate  (Preservative), Caramel Color.

ORIGINAL GINGER BREW, GINGER ALE, ALL NATURAL JAMAICAN STYLE

INGREDIENTS: Freshly Brewed from Sparkling Filtered Water, (Sweetened by a Blend of Fructose, Pineapple Juice from Concentrate and Honey, Fresh Ginger Root, Lemon and Lime Juices from Concentrate and Spices).

Ginger is one of my favorite herbs, my favorite recipes have hefty doses of spicy Ginger, many of my daily teas and medicinal teas include ginger as a primary ingredient and I consider a nice cold bottle of Spicy Jamaican style Ginger brew to be one of the great pleasures of life.

Im a Ginger fan and can personally attest to many of its benefits. I have frequently gone to Jamaican and Chinese restaurants gorged myself past the point any civilized person ever should in public and walked out feeling refreshed after imbibing some real ginger brew or ginger tea. But, does science support this herbal remedy?

In relation to nausea and upset stomach, ginger is said to cure:

• Motion sickness,
  
• Menstrual discomfort,
  
• Headaches,
  
• Sour stomach,
  
• Indigestion
  
• General nausea
  
• Discomfort caused by overeating
  

In the ancient Aruyvedic traditions, digestion is given a great importance and rightfully so. The act of eating and digestion is treated in a reverent manner. It is often prescribed by these eastern medicine that one consumes a small piece of ginger before each meal to hasten the "digestive fires" (Agni)

This tradition transcends culture, Perhaps you have noticed how refreshing the act of eating a sushi meal can seem? I imagine like most of us, you cleanse your palette with ginger before beginning your meal?

Perhaps, aruyvedic medicine isn't modern enough for you.

Ginger and Motion Sickness

Recent research involving double blind crossover tests compared to placebos found that subjects administered ginger who had a history of motion sickness showed significantly less symptoms and discomfort including nausea.

Grøntved A, Hentzer E.
Vertigo-reducing effect of ginger root: A controlled clinical study.
ORL 1986; 48:282-286.

Ginger and Sea-Sickness

A similar research study involving 80 healthy naval cadets showed significantly less individuals complained of sea-sickness.

Another study involving subjects who had a history of seasickness showed a significant decrease in symptoms when administered Ginger compared to a placebo.

Grontved A, et al:
Ginger root against seasickness: A controlled trial on the open sea.
Acta Otalaryngol 1988; 105:45-49.

Ginger and Pre/Post Operative Nausea

You guessed it ginger shown effective yet again

Phillips S et al.
Zingiber officinale (ginger) – An antiemetic for day case surgery.
Anaethesia 1993; 48:715-71.

More Medical studies and specific dosage:

University Of Maryland Medical Center

Dosage for ginger doesn't seem to be all that important, overdose is not a studied possibility. Some people find that the spicy nature of raw ginger can cause the same issues that they are trying to alleviate. Such issues are easily alleviated through taking ginger in capsule form as a supplement.

Many ancient and home remedies simply suggest mixing lemon juice with fresh ginger juice and/or ginger tea to soothe the stomach.

My Personal Ginger Stomachache remedy.

I make a very simple raw ginger tea similar to the one shown below in the video or substitute a Yogi brand Ginger tea as a supplement.

Ingredients

• Fresh Ginger or Ginger  Tea Bag
• A few fresh or dried peppermint or spearmint leaves (this stuff grows like a weed)
• A teaspoon of honey or simply to taste
• Fresh lemon wedge

Not to complicated, I steep the ginger with mint, flavor it with honey and lemon and let it cool to room temperature, works every time for me.

If you get hooked on ginger like me, you might find the following to be of interest:

Although Ginger tea has traditionally been considered a great remedy for nausea associated with pregnancy, there is not sufficient data for or against any complications that could be caused by use of ginger in this manner.

Ginger has blood thinning properties, if one is taking blood thinners or has scheduled surgery be sure to inform your Doctor of any and all supplement and herbal medicine use to avoid any complications or drug interactions. This is of course something that you should always be doing anyway!