Healthy Food Ginger Protects the Digestive System Against Indigestion in Human Studies

By Kyle J. Norton


Dyspepsia is another term of indigestion. One of the common symptoms for people with acute and chronic gastrointestinal disorder including gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), stomach ulcers, or gallbladder disease.

Some common symptoms of indigestion include persistently recurrent pain or discomfort in the upper abdomen.

Some patients with indigestion may also experience symptoms of digestive tract discomforts such as bloating, belching, nausea and vomiting, acidic taste and a growling stomach.

The onset of indigestion is depending on the underlying causes. Risk factors associated with indigestion may include excessive alcohol drinking, long-term use of certain stomach irritating medicines, people with a stomach ulcer and psychological problems such as anxiety or depression in which the circulation of blood are diverted away from the digestive tract.

Some researchers suggested that people who follow the Western diet which promote high fat intake, red meats, processed foods are at substantial risk of indigestion.

Dr. Duncanson KR, the lead scientist in the evaluated the risk of food and functional dyspepsia, wrote, "Functional dyspepsia (FD) is a debilitating functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by early satiety, post-prandial fullness or epigastric pain related to meals, which affects up to 20% of western populations". and "Dietary fat was associated with FD in all three studies that specifically measured this association".

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) or ginger root, the second superfood used 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 find a natural compound for the treatment of functional dyspepsia with no side effect,  researchers examined the effects of ginger on gastric motility and emptying, abdominal symptoms, and hormones that influence motility in dyspepsia compared to those of Western medicines.

The clinical trial included 11 patients with functional dyspepsia were studied twice in a randomized double-blind manner. After an 8-h fast, the patients ingested three capsules containing ginger (total 1.2 g) or placebo, followed after 1 h by 500 mL low-nutrient soup.

According to the tested assays, gastric emptying was more rapid after ginger compared to placebo [median (range) half-emptying time 12.3 (8.5-17.0) min after ginger, 16.1 (8.3-22.6) min after placebo, P≤0.05].

Antral contractions (P=0.06)was found more in the ginger group compared to placebo but fundus dimensions and gastrointestinal symptoms, nor did other parameters associated with dyspepsia.

Dr. the lead scientist wrote, "Ginger stimulated gastric emptying and antral contractions in patients with functional dyspepsia, but had no impact on gastrointestinal symptoms or gut peptides".

In order to learn more about the effect of ginger against dyspepsia, scientists compared the efficacy of a ginger and artichoke supplementation versus placebo in the treatment of FD.

A prospective multicentre, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel-group comparison of the supplement and placebo over a period of 4 weeks was performed.with 2 capsules/day were supplied (before lunch and dinner) to 126 FD patients (supplementation/placebo: 65/61) was conducted.

After 14 days of treatment, supplementation group (SG) showed a significant amelioration (SG: α S = +1.195 MCA score units and higher intercept (α) compared to placebo.

In other words, the ginger supplement showed a superior improvement of all parameter in patients with dyspepsia compared to placebo.

Further analysis of each parameter, researchers found that SG processes a significant advantage in nausea epigastric fullness, epigastric pain, and bloating.

Dr. the lead scientist, after taking other factors into account, wrote, "The association between ginger and artichoke leaf extracts appears safe and efficacious in the treatment of FD and could represent a promising treatment for this disease".

Take all together, ginger may be considered a functional alternative for the treatment of dyspepsia, pending to the confirmation of large sample size and multicenter human study.

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) Effect of ginger on gastric motility and symptoms of functional dyspepsia by Hu ML1, Rayner CK, Wu KL, Chuah SK, Tai WC, Chou YP, Chiu YC, Chiu KW, Hu TH. (PubMed)
(2) The Effect of Ginger (Zingiber officinalis) and Artichoke (Cynara cardunculus) Extract Supplementation on Functional Dyspepsia: A Randomised, Double-Blind, and Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial by Giacosa A1, Guido D2, Grassi M2, Riva A3, Morazzoni P3, Bombardelli E3, Perna S4, Faliva MA4, Rondanelli M4. (PubMed)