In nearly every grocery store—and even some gas stations—sits a twisted, globular root that holds solutions to better digestion.

Ginger is one of the easiest herbs to get your hands on, and its warming effect makes it great for colder seasons and people who often feel cold. Herbalist and owner of ABĒCA Naturals, Ashley Murphy told The Epoch Times that ginger is a no-brainer for several gut-related issues like nausea, constipation, bloating, pain, and gas.

“I love ginger. It’s a wonderful medicinal herb,” she said. “If you love the idea of food as medicine, get more ginger in your diet.”

Ginger’s complex flavor profile—savory, sweet, and a bit spicy—makes it a kitchen favorite. However, its long list of health-promoting compounds and history of use for digestive relief make it an easy choice when gastrointestinal symptoms arise.

Dissipating Nausea

Regardless of what causes nausea, ginger can be an easy remedy used in a variety of ways with little risk. This can be especially helpful for pregnant women with morning sickness and cancer patients dealing with nausea as a side effect of conventional treatment.

Some ways to use it are: chewing or sucking on a slice of fresh ginger, smelling ginger essential oil, or taking a liquid extract, either a tincture—made with alcohol—or a vegetable glycerin extract. You could also eat candied ginger, Murphy said.

The key seems to be allowing your taste buds to come into contact with the herb. Capsules don’t seem to have the same effect when it comes to nausea.

“Once you taste that flavor and it comes into contact with your saliva, it starts sending messages to your digestive system, and it can help that feeling of nausea almost instantaneously fade away,” Murphy said.

A 2024 review in Advances in Nutrition noted that most evidence points to ginger being at least as good as conventional treatments for nausea in pregnancy, with no significant adverse effects associated with it.

Ginger is a safe bet for a more comfortable chemotherapy experience by positively affecting nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and malnutrition, according to a randomized trial of 103 patients published in Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Gets Things Moving

Ginger is a carminative, meaning it cleanses the digestive tract or, more directly, prevents or relieves gas. It also keeps food moving through the intestines, in part by helping the body make digestive enzymes, which might help with constipation, indigestion, and bloating.

“One of ginger’s most well-known benefits is its ability to support digestive health,” according to a review in the International Journal of Progressive Research in Engineering Management and Science. “Gingerol, the main bioactive compound in ginger, is believed to stimulate digestive enzymes, promote gastric motility, and soothe the digestive tract.”

Ginger is a staple in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Ayurveda—revered for stimulating digestion and relieving many digestive discomforts.

Specifically, research has shown it has an anti-inflammatory effect on irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, gastric ulcers, and indigestion, which can cause heartburn, bloating, excessive gas, and uncomfortable feelings of fullness.

“Ginger has been used for centuries as a natural remedy for various gastrointestinal disorders, and there is scientific evidence to support its use,” according to a review in Pharmacological Research - Modern Chinese Medicine.

Overall, the review noted ginger appears to be effective and promising as a remedy or supplemental therapy for chronic digestive symptoms. However, it added that more studies are needed to determine long-term safety, efficacy for treatment, and precise dosing.

Ginger Turns up the Heat

From a TCM perspective, ginger’s heat is what makes it effective by ramping up circulation. While great for those who are stagnant, that can be problematic for some folks, according to Naomi Kilbreth, owner and clinical herbalist at Laurel Tree Wellness.

“Ginger is warm when fresh and hot when dry. If someone is already running kind of hot, it might be irritating to them,” she said, adding that it might also aggravate people with severe heartburn or who struggle with chronic headaches.

A note of warning about dry ginger in food—you often need more than a recipe calls for to experience any medicinal benefits, Kilbreth said. The dose for dry ginger is ⅛–¼ teaspoon. A recipe that calls for a teaspoon but makes a dozen servings isn’t sufficient. She suggests sprinkling a small amount of additional ginger to mix into your food at meals if you are using food as medicine.

To tone down the warming effect in a tea, Kilbreth suggests adding lemon, which helps neutralize the heat.

Professional Preparations

Because ginger is a root, Kilbreth said it needs to be steeped longer than many herbal teas—typically 10 to 12 minutes.

However, the strongest version of ginger tea, she said, is to make a decoction—a long, slow simmer for 20 minutes that extracts maximum plant properties.

For digestion, Kilbreth advised drinking about half a cup before eating meals.

Murphy added that for digestive issues, ginger doesn’t necessarily need to be tasted. It could be taken in a capsule.

However, if she’s working with someone who knows they are dehydrated or constipated, Murphy will recommend they take ginger in a tea form. That way, they can benefit from drinking more water, too.

If making tea several times a day is a hassle, Kilbreth suggested making a large batch to store in the refrigerator for a few days. It can be enjoyed cold or reheated.

Short-term indigestion because of a heavy meal can usually be resolved with a day or two of ginger, she said. However, if you have chronic digestive symptoms, you may want to use the herb for one to two months—until symptoms are resolved.

Each person is different in terms of the dosing and form of ginger used, Murphy added.

“We do notice that dry ginger can have more of a localizing heating effect on the body than fresh ginger. Fresh ginger tends to be more dispersed and more subtle,” she said.

Liquid extracts can be made at home, though most people buy them from herbalists. Murphy noted that dosing will vary based on the ratios of herb to solvent, which can differ by apothecary.

It’s easy to make your own homemade candied ginger at home. Murphy said to peel and cut up fresh ginger in small cubes. Stir the cubes in a bowl of honey and refrigerate them for a couple of hours. Set the cubes on a parchment sheet in a container kept in the refrigerator.

Precautions

Both herbalists expressed caution about using ginger with pregnant women over the concern of too high of dosing causing premature contractions. It’s worth noting that the Advances in Nutrition review noted no adverse events in the studies it examined with pregnant women.

“Any good herbalist is going to tell you to tell your doctor you’re taking something so that your doctor can advise if there’s any medical reason you shouldn’t take it,” Murphy said.

Ginger is also a blood thinner. If you are taking a blood thinner, you’d want to talk to your doctor. Additionally, Murphy said ginger should be avoided two weeks before any planned surgeries.

The herb is largely safe to use and appealing because it has widespread appeal from a medical and culinary standpoint.

“Ginger is a fun herb because many people are familiar with incorporating that into their dishes anyway. If that’s done on a regular basis, that will naturally improve the function of the digestive system,” Kilbreth said.