# Got Belly Issues?  Try Ginger!



## Margot Howe (Sep 22, 2017)

Some people take a 'shot' of ginger every day in the morning, claiming it kills all the bad things inside of them.  While not exactly true, there are many health benefits to ginger.  Ginger has been shown to slow the growth of pathogens like E. coli and Staph.  Although still in the testing stages, it is hoped that the ingestion of ginger will be used to fight gastrointestinal infections.  And although there is no evidence that ginger will ward off flu or a cold, it's warming properties can help relieve some of the symptoms of the common cold.

It has long been known that those that suffer from problems with the stomach can benefit from ginger.  Used frequently to calm the nausea and upset stomach from pregnancy for years, it has also shown to have a positive effect to those with motion sickness and those that suffer from the side effects of chemotherapy.

But there are other uses for ginger.  The anti-inflammatory effects once absorbed into the bloodstream are used to treat the symptoms of arthritis.  Essential ginger oil can be applied to the skin once diluted with another oil to treat muscle pain and soreness.  Taken internally, gingers' ability to enhance circulation will help with warming cold hands and feet.

How much and what kind of ginger?  There are ginger candies that are more palatable than taking a bite of raw ginger.  Those suffering from nausea find them useful.  But although raw ginger gives the best effect, the flavor has more bite to it than most people can tolerate.  Grated into a cup of tea is a common way to ingest it.  Dry ginger works well, too, but only use a quarter dose of it.  You can find capsules and extracts in your local health food store.  Experiment with the various types of ginger to find what works best for you.


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## GotGarlic (Sep 22, 2017)

Margot Howe said:


> Some people take a 'shot' of ginger every day in the morning, claiming it kills all the bad things inside of them.  While not exactly true, there are many health benefits to ginger.  Ginger has been shown to slow the growth of pathogens like E. coli and Staph.  Although still in the testing stages, it is hoped that the ingestion of ginger will be used to fight gastrointestinal infections.  And although there is no evidence that ginger will ward off flu or a cold, it's warming properties can help relieve some of the symptoms of the common cold.
> 
> It has long been known that those that suffer from problems with the stomach can benefit from ginger.  Used frequently to calm the nausea and upset stomach from pregnancy for years, it has also shown to have a positive effect to those with motion sickness and those that suffer from the side effects of chemotherapy.
> 
> ...


Better yet, let's not give medical advice to random people on the internet.


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## Margot Howe (Sep 22, 2017)

I'm sorry you feel that this is medical advice.  But there are many people out there taking random vitamins and supplements for various reasons.  This is just one more bit of information for their armory.


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## Katie H (Sep 22, 2017)

I am one of many who take ginger regularly, twice a day for my arthritis.  I have osteoarthritis and the ginger seems to ease my constant discomfort.

One of my cousins takes it because she's plagued with a temperamental stomach.  She swears by it.

I didn't have any reaction to chemotherapy when I was treated for breast cancer in 2016.  I don't know if the connection could be made but, perhaps, taking ginger may have helped with that.  It wasn't a controlled situation so it's only a guess on my part.


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## GotGarlic (Sep 22, 2017)

Margot Howe said:


> I'm sorry you feel that this is medical advice.  But there are many people out there taking random vitamins and supplements for various reasons.  This is just one more bit of information for their armory.


When you tell people how they can treat medical problems, that's giving them medical advice. 

I know there are lots of people who take supplements, herbs, whatever; it's come up over and over again here. The fact is, though, that supplements are not miracle workers and their so-called benefits are usually overblown. Just look at all the weasel words used to describe them: may help, might support, could be beneficial. 

Then there's the fact that some can actually interact in a dangerous way with prescribed medications, causing serious problems for people. And the fact that there's no standardized dose of essential oils or whatever because there are no rigorous studies about their use. And many supplements have been found not to contain what the bottle says they contain, because their manufacture is not regulated. 

There are good reasons why the scientific method and randomized double-blind clinical studies are used to validate safety and effectiveness of prescription drugs. Supplements are not required to go through this process. Look up the Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act if you want to know more.

Here's one good source: https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/tag/dietary-supplement-health-and-education-act-of-1994/


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## GotGarlic (Sep 22, 2017)

One more thing: when individual chemicals are isolated from an herb or spice or spider venom or whatever and tested in a laboratory, certain effects may be observed, like killing e. Coli. That does not mean that ingestion of that chemical will have the same effect in the human body. Often it does not.


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## blissful (Sep 22, 2017)

While it is possible to poison yourself with food, herb, spice, legumes, grapefruit juice or at least have a negative reaction, it is not probable. I'm not talking about allergies. I'm not talking about food sensitivities. And I'm not talking about diseases that you must stop eating certain types of food due to gastrointestinal diseases, celiac, ibs, crones.....etc.

For hundreds/thousands of years foods, herbs, spices, have been known to help and alleviate physical issues and mental issues. Vitamins, herbs, spices, combinations of those have been used in ancient traditions in most cultures for much longer than we've had a gov't agencies making decisions for us. Chinese medicine, herbal medicine, indian medicine (both native American and Indians from India) as well as most cultures have provided relief from this or that ailment.

Food as medicine. While many people won't even look at food as the basis for nutritional eating, it can do so much more. Research is being done now, check out doctors on ted talks, look at how combinations of teas are amazingly effective, or eating cooked tomatoes 3 x a week, are as effective as some cancer medications. While I'm not saying, don't check with your doctor, stop taking your medications, don't do that, do check, but you might be amazed at the information available in the research. Not all doctors are against using food, herbs, spices, to supplement medical prescriptions.

We use a number of herbal medicines, one for colds coming on, and another for aches and pains, as well as ginger (candied ginger) for stomach ailments. Chamomile, Valerian, melatonin, for sleep. While you might want to go to your doctor every time you change your menu or try a new herbal remedy, you might also have access to doctors that others do not.

Look at turmeric and black pepper as an example. And for as many herbal medicines are helpful and good for you, there are others that can make conditions worse, like licorice negatively affects high blood pressure. So I'm all for herbal medicines, food as medicine, spices as medicine as long as you are willing to educate yourself about each of them.


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## GotGarlic (Sep 22, 2017)

Be that as it may, average life expectancy before 1900 was 45 years old. The fact that people have been doing something for a long time does not prove that it works well with no side effects, as many believe. It just proves that they had no other choices. People used to chew willow bark for pain relief; little did they know it caused stomach ulcers, for which they had few treatments. Lots of things can cause belly pain and ginger sure won't help an ulcer.

And again - over the counter supplements, whether from a pharmacy or a health food store, have been shown over and over again either to not contain the amount of ingredients listed on the label or to contain illegal ingredients that can be dangerous. Their manufacture is not regulated by the government or anyone else, so you can never be sure of the dosage you're getting.

Did you know grapefruit can interact with blood pressure medications, leading to uncontrolled blood pressure, which can cause strokes? Or that taking echinacea can interfere with the action of warfarin (Coumadin), increasing the chance of uncontrolled bleeding? St. Johns wort, even ginger and garlic, can interfere with some cancer treatments.

People who are not medical professionals should not be giving medical advice to people blindly on the Internet, and people who are medical professionals won't do it because it's unethical, if not illegal. I don't care what people do in their own homes. This is not about that.


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## blissful (Sep 22, 2017)

GG, I'm sure we can agree to disagree. I knew about grapefruit because of my blood pressure but I didn't know about echenacea because I don't take coumadin. You can only be a good partner in your own medical care if you are willing to do your own research and work with your own professionals if you have them. It's not likely I'd probably care about the million or so diseases we have in our society, so I mostly pay attention to the one's that affect me and my family.

The herbal medicines we take for colds (for which there is no cure) and for pain relief, we make, so we know what is in them 100%.


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## GotGarlic (Sep 22, 2017)

Bliss, of course. Again, my issue is not with what people on their own decide to do. I simply don't think it's a good idea for someone to just breeze into a public forum and promote something like this as if it's no big deal.

I'm also wondering what a "quarter dose" means when you can't be sure what the dose is in the first place


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## caseydog (Sep 22, 2017)

Margot Howe said:


> I'm sorry you feel that this is medical advice.  But there are many people out there taking random vitamins and supplements for various reasons.  This is just one more bit of information for their armory.



Don't take it personally, GG has taken all of us to task for all kinds of reasons. Welcome to the club. 

CD


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## caseydog (Sep 22, 2017)

GotGarlic said:


> One more thing: when individual chemicals are isolated from an herb or spice or spider venom or whatever and tested in a laboratory, certain effects may be observed, like killing e. Coli. That does not mean that ingestion of that chemical will have the same effect in the human body. Often it does not.



Give it a rest, GG. It's Ginger. We use it to make food that we eat. 

CD


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## GotGarlic (Sep 22, 2017)

caseydog said:


> Give it a rest, GG. It's Ginger. We use it to make food that we eat.
> 
> CD


Most of us do. Some people who don't have as much life experience take things to extremes, like taking concentrated OTC pills instead of just grating a little ginger in their stir-fry. If a little is good, more must be better, right? Not always.


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## Margot Howe (Sep 22, 2017)

A quarter dose of dry ginger powder is one fourth of what you would take of grated fresh ginger.  You don't read well, do you?  And, the grated dose is dependent on the amount that you prefer in your cup of tea.  Thank you Blissful for such a nice explanation of non medical/herbal suppliments.


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## Andy M. (Sep 22, 2017)

Margot Howe said:


> A quarter dose of dry ginger powder is one fourth of what you would take of grated fresh ginger.  You don't read well, do you?  And, the grated dose is dependent on the amount that you prefer in your cup of tea.  Thank you Blissful for such a nice explanation of non medical/herbal suppliments.



Got it, dry ginger is 4 times the strength of fresh according to what you said.

_"...And, the grated dose is dependent on the amount that you prefer in your cup of tea."_

So I can decide the dose I want to take.  A teaspoonful or four tablespoons or whatever.  That's not very helpful.


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## caseydog (Sep 22, 2017)

Andy M. said:


> Got it, dry ginger is 4 times the strength of fresh according to what you said.
> 
> _"...And, the grated dose is dependent on the amount that you prefer in your cup of tea."_
> 
> So I can decide the dose I want to take.  A teaspoonful or four tablespoons or whatever.  That's not very helpful.



The way I read it, the amount of ginger you put in your tea is a matter of taste. Tea is just one way to add ginger to your diet. 

CD


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## Andy M. (Sep 22, 2017)

caseydog said:


> The way I read it, the amount of ginger you put in your tea is a matter of taste. Tea is just one way to add ginger to your diet.
> 
> CD



I got that.  However, if we're discussing it's medicinal properties, it's kinda important to know how much to take for it to be effective and how much may be harmful.


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## Cooking Goddess (Sep 23, 2017)

caseydog said:


> Don't take it personally, GG has taken all of us to task for all kinds of reasons. Welcome to the club.


Most of the time, it's justified. 

This has happened before with other members who tried to share medical suggestions. They've been bounced after being too persistent. For those former members, it might have been in their best interest to find a natural medicine forum - something like *Natural Medicine Talk*. I'm sure a post like Margot's original would have more favorable responses there.


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## buckytom (Sep 23, 2017)

Justifying rudeness because you think you know better?
Umm, no.

Actually, discussions about food and health are very much appreciated here.

Thanks for the info, Margot.  But yes, like Andy said, more dosage info is needed.


If this were a horribly dangerous idea (as know it alls might rudely suggest), or against the rules, I'm sure an admin would put a stop to it.


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## caseydog (Sep 23, 2017)

buckytom said:


> Justifying rudeness because you think you know better?
> Umm, no.
> 
> *Actually, discussions about food and health are very much appreciated here.*
> ...



Margot's OP looked like suggestions related to food and health, to me, not "medical advice." Most of what she wrote is stuff I've heard and read before. I just can't see the need to get in her face about it. Let's not make a mountain out of a molehill.

If Margot had pulled a Dr. Oz, and included a link to her website to buy ginger products from her, I'd have a problem with that. But I didn't see anything like that.  

A diplomatic response would be something like, "Thanks for the tips, Margot, but people should always check with their doctor before making any big changes in their diet." Sound advice, not a smackdown. 

I certainly hope Margot isn't "bounced" from DC by this criticism. As far as I'm concerned, I don't think Margot's comments are any more or less likely to be used as a life changing experience than anyone else's by the vast majority of us. 

CD


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## Cooking Goddess (Sep 23, 2017)

OK, guys, enough calling out other members, OK? I'm sure we ALL have our faults that others would like to smack us down for, right? Oh, wait, most of you are perfect.  I forgot. Well I'm not, for sure. Mea Culpa...


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## GotGarlic (Sep 23, 2017)

Margot Howe said:


> A quarter dose of dry ginger powder is one fourth of what you would take of grated fresh ginger.  You don't read well, do you?  And, the grated dose is dependent on the amount that you prefer in your cup of tea.  Thank you Blissful for such a nice explanation of non medical/herbal suppliments.



I read very well, which is why I'm an expert copy editor [emoji2]

This is what you said:


Margot Howe said:


> But although raw ginger gives the best effect, the flavor has more bite to it than most people can tolerate.  Grated into a cup of tea is a common way to ingest it. Dry ginger works well, too, but only use a quarter dose of it.  You can find capsules and extracts in your local health food store.  Experiment with the various types of ginger to find what works best for you.



Use a quarter dose of dry ginger. A quarter of what? You don't specify, and it certainly doesn't say to use one quarter of the amount of dry ginger as you would fresh. Then you go on to encourage people to get capsules and extracts and just play around, take however much you want! Concentrated amounts of any substance can cause unwanted side effects for some people, some of them quite serious. And as I said before, there's no way to really know how much of any ingredient is in supplements (more below). 

You said you posted this to provide people with information. Allow me the same privilege, even if it some of it conflicts with yours.

From http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/ginger-uses-and-risks



> Optimal doses of ginger have not been set for any condition. Quality and active ingredients in supplements may vary widely from maker to maker. This makes it very hard to set a standard dose. Ask your doctor for advice.
> 
> Side effects. In small doses, ginger has few side effects.
> 
> ...


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## PrincessFiona60 (Sep 23, 2017)

Cooking Goddess said:


> OK, guys, enough calling out other members, OK? I'm sure we ALL have our faults that others would like to smack us down for, right? Oh, wait, most of you are perfect.  I forgot. Well I'm not, for sure. Mea Culpa...



Thank you, CG.

Any more rude or unkind responses will be Moderated...this was a conversation until folks started pointing fingers.


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## Vinylhanger (Sep 24, 2017)

I always preferred Mary Ann.  But that's just me.


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## blissful (Sep 24, 2017)

Vinylhanger said:


> I always preferred Mary Ann.  But that's just me.


+1
Me too. The professor though runs a good second, he was goofy in a good kind of way.


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## Rocklobster (Sep 24, 2017)

I've got belly issues..but, the way it protrudes out over my belt buckle can't be cured by ginger..trust me...


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