This is the bold claim from a new ginger study and which we at once realized is of immense importance for all farmers exposed to pesticides, environmental pollutants, heavy metals, bacterial and fungal toxins and even some cosmetic products and medications. In fact, most of us have been exposed to all the above in our environment.
A clinical review published in Food and Chemical Toxicology, acknowledges the protective effects of ginger (Zingiber officinale) and its phytochemicals against natural, chemical and radiation-induced toxicities as well as industrial pollutants, alcohol, smoking and/or prescription drugs. It has numerous health benefits, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti- apoptotic (programmed cell death-inducing) properties. In fact the properties in ginger which alleviate damage from radiation and chemotherapy in cancer treatments, as well as improving nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). It is one condition that has shown vast improvement with the use of ginger.
There’s also evidence that supplementing with ginger or increasing it in your diet could increase the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions, such as diet modification and increased physical activity, compared to lifestyle interventions alone. In fact, there’s evidence that with obesity and fatty liver disease, both attributed to the liver, ginger in any form may prove to be an essential strategy for both liver detoxification and as a support strategy.
Trial and Error in Ginger Studies
Ginger has been used for millennia in areas of India and China for much more than adding a sweet/spicy flavor to foods and drinks. It’s proved over time to be a popular remedy to soothe away headaches, nausea, particularly motion sickness, and to treat several problems related to digestive health as well as pain and inflammation from arthritic conditions, to mention but a few.
But even up to the present century, studies with titles touting the benefits of ginger on conditions like obesity used rats as study subjects rather than humans there is a lack of commercial support. It is suggested that this is due to ginger being readily available and cheap that it wouldn’t pay to do the studies!
Considerations for Testing the Effects of Ginger on Humans
As such, a randomized, controlled trial was conducted to evaluate the results of taking 1 teaspoon of ginger in a teacup of hot water. The participants who drank the “hot ginger beverage” reported feeling much less hungry afterward. Researchers then used hot water alone in another trial, without the ginger as their “control,” but if the subjects knew when they were and were not ingesting ginger, the placebo effect would come into play. While the researchers found that participants who had the ginger tea in the study reported more satiety and fullness than those who had the hot water control beverage, there was no follow-up on the participants to see if they actually ate less for lunch that day.
To be continued…
Ref: Dr Mercola (Source: Mercola.com; November 5, 2018; https://tinyurl.com/ybjmawl8)
