Ginger, The Potential Anti Ulcerative Colitis Functional Spice

By Kyle J. Norton

Ginger may be considered a natural whole food for the treatment of acute ulcerative colitis (UC) with no side effects, some scientists suggested.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) can be an acute or chronic inflammation of the membrane-lined the colon or the large intestine. People with UC are at higher risk for developing colorectal cancer, compared to the general population.

Acute inflammation is a process of inflammation in response to tissue injury, that occurs over a short period of time and can be resolved within a time frame.

Most people with acute inflammation experience the symptoms of pain, redness, swelling, and heat.

According to the American Family Physician, between 250,000 and 500,000 people in the United States were affected by ulcerative colitis.

The exact causes of ulcerative colitis. are debatable. Researchers do not know why people with the same health conditions in the family, some members are susceptible to the onset of the condition, while others do not

However, according to the epidemiological studies genetic mutation, environment, and a weakened immune system may be the prevalent risk factors associated with ulcerative colitis.

Dr. Yuan Huang, the lead scientist, in the concern of the weakened immune system in the risk of inflammatory bowel disease, including ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) said, " after environmental factors act on individuals with genetic susceptibility, an abnormal intestinal immune response is launched under stimulation of intestinal flora".

The team explained, "Inflammatory bowel disease-related immune disorders. The innate immune abnormalities of inflammatory bowel disease lead to adaptive immune disorders,... The inflammatory cytokines, in turn, increase the innate immune damages,.... abate the intestinal barrier function, and aggravate inflammation. Therefore a vicious circle forms.

The immune disorder caused by the inability to kill off all the invader pathogens in the acute phase of inflammation at the colon can lead to immune compromise of the host in facilitating chronic low-grade inflammation disease, such as chronic ulcerative colitis (UC).

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) or ginger root, the second superfood used for thousands of years by mankind, is the genus Zingiber, belonging to the family Zingiberaceae, native to Tamil.

The root has been used in traditional and Chinese medicine for the treatment of dyspepsia, gastroparesis, constipation, edema, difficult urination, colic, etc.

With an aim to reaffirm the traditional use of ginger for the treatment of ulcerative colitis, one of the most common types of inflammatory bowel disease, researchers evaluated the 6-Gingerol, a component of gingerols extracted from ginger (Zingiber officinale) anti ulcerative colitis effect.

In the selected rat model, colitis was induced in rats through consumption of 5% (cw/v) dextran sulfate sodium drinking water for 7 consecutive days before 6-Gingerol, 8-gingerol, and 10-gingerol were given intraperitoneally at doses of 30 mg kg-1 d-1 for another 7 days,

At the end of the experiment, researchers found that all three gingerols attenuated colitic symptoms evoked by dextran sulfate sodium

Application of 6-Gingerol, 8-gingerol, and 10-gingerol significantly elevated superoxide dismutase activity, decreased malondialdehyde levels and myeloperoxidase activity in the colon tissue.

The applications also strongly decrease the expression of proinflammatory cytokines expression.

All three gingerols obviously accelerated mucosal damage healing.

Dr. Zhang F, the lead author said, "6-gingerol, 8-gingerol, and 10-gingerol, the three analogs, have a strong and relatively equal efficacy in the treatment of colitis".

Further investigation of the gingerols, the phenolic compounds in ginger (Zingiber officinale) anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, researchers examined the gingers activity against a mouse model of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced ulcerative colitis.

Adult male selected mice were either exposed to DSS in drinking water alone or co-treated with 6-gingerol orally at 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg for 7 days.

Mice co-treated with 6 gingerols significantly reversed the DSS-mediated reduction in body weight, diarrhea, rectal bleeding, and restored the colon shrinkage back to near normal.

Application of 6-gingerol significantly suppressed the circulating concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines caused by injection DSS and reactivity the systematic immune response through increasing the myeloperoxidase activity.

Moreover, 6-gingerol also restored the function of the colon in response to waste material.

The efficacy of 6-gingerol in the inhibition of ulcerative colitis was attributed to the stimulation of the increasing activities of antioxidant enzymes and glutathione content, decreasing the hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde levels.

In other words, 6-gingerol restored the balanced ratio of free radicals and antioxidants in the tested mice injected by DSS.

Dr. Ajayi BO, the lead scientist said, " 6-Gingerol suppressed the induction of ulcerative colitis in mice via and anti-inflammatory activities, and may thus represent a potential anti-colitis drug candidate".

Taken altogether, ginger processed a high amount of bioactive gingerols may be considered a functional food for the prevention and combined with other primary therapy for the treatment of ulcerative colitis with no side effects

Natural Medicine for Fatty Liver And Obesity Reversal - The Revolutionary Findings To Achieve Optimal Health And Lose Weight

How To Get Rid Of Eye Floaters 
Contrary To Professionals Prediction, Floaters Can Be Cured Naturally 

Ovarian Cysts And PCOS Elimination
Holistic System In Existence That Will Show You How To
Permanently Eliminate All Types of Ovarian Cysts Within 2 Months

Back to Kyle J. Norton Homepage http://kylejnorton.blogspot.ca


Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Therapeutic Effects of 6-Gingerol, 8-Gingerol, and 10-Gingerol on Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Induced Acute Ulcerative Colitis in Rats by Zhang F1, Ma N1, Gao YF1, Sun LL1, Zhang JG. (PubMed)
(2) Pharmacological activity of 6-gingerol in dextran sulphate sodium-induced ulcerative colitis in BALB/c mice by Ajayi BO1, Adedara IA, Farombi EO. (PubMed)
(3) Modulating effect of ginger extract on rats with ulcerative colitis by El-Abhar HS1, Hammad LN, Gawad HS. (PubMed)
(4) Inflammatory bowel disease related innate immunity and adaptive immunity by Yuan Huang1,* and Zhonge Chen2. (PubMed)