Knock Out Nausea with Ginger

As most of you know, I’m no fan of chemotherapy.  The costs incurred often prove to be far more than the benefits received (both financially and physically).  At the same time, though, I’m not oblivious to the fact that people still use chemotherapy, that people believe it to be the standard form of treatment for cancer,  and that it has worked for millions of people in ridding their bodies of malignant tumors.

But ask anyone who’s gone through a bout of chemotherapy, and they’ll tell you it wasn’t easy.  The side effects are legion.  So legion, in fact, that there’s an “A to Z” listing of side effects at chemocare.com you might want to take a look at.

One of the most common side effects to chemotherapy is nausea and while it’s not the most serious of side effects, the fact that it’s not “serious” does little to soothe the mind or the stomach of the person who’s retching three times a day or more!

It doesn’t have to be this way, though, as research shows that supplementing with ginger can reduce the severity and incidence of nausea significantly.

The study, the largest of its kind, involved approximately 650 women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer.  The participants were randomly selected to receive varying doses of ginger (half a gram of ginger, all the way up to one-and-a-half grams of ginger), or a placebo.  They were given these supplements before their chemotherapy treatments began and several days into the administration of their treatments.

The results?  Unlike other studies where only a percentage of people report positive results, this study elicited positive results among every person that took the ginger.  Each and every person that supplemented with ginger reported feeling less nauseated compared to previous chemotherapy treatments they’d gone through.  The best results were seen with those who took between half and one gram of ginger, as 40 percent reported significantly reduced symptoms associated with nausea.

The study is set to be published, but will first be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Florida later this month.  It was spearheaded by Julie Ryan, an assistant professor of radiation oncology at the University of Rochester in New York.

Ginger is a natural supplement that I’ve recommended over the years for strengthening the immune system and halting hangover hang-ups, as ginger (and peppermint) naturally soothes an upset stomach that “one too many” tends to create.

So, while I stand behind my belief that the effectiveness of chemotherapy is a roll of the dice as far as effectiveness goes, supplementing with ginger is a guarantee in overcoming its nausea-related side effects.

(Note:  This study used the powdered form of ginger found in supplements; not the kind of ginger that garnishes sushi rolls).

Sources
health.msn.com