Ginger, an ancient spice mentioned in both the Bible and the Koran, is most known for its role as a flavoring agent for food in Asian and Indian recipes as well as for medicinal conditions such as headaches, nausea, rheumatism and colds for more than two millennia (Bone, 1992 and 1997). A spice worth its weight in gold, ginger prior to the 14th century was a rare commodity and very expensive to acquire (Foster, 2009). The Arabs are believed to have transported ginger from China to Rome and Greece for trade. Since the 16th century, the dried aromatic rhizome (underground stem) of ginger (Zingiber Officinale Roscoe), has been used by practitioners of both Indian (Ayurvedic) and traditional Chinese medicine to treat gastrointestinal upsets such as nausea and excessive flatulence (Tyler, 1986; Wilkinson, 1999; Kapoor, 1990).
Ginger is also documented in Chinese medical texts from the 4th century for gastrointestinal conditions, respiratory distress including coughing and alleviating onset symptoms of the common cold (iHerb, 2010; Foster, 2009). Greeks reputedly ate pieces of ginger wrapped into bread to facilitate digestion (Healing Herbs, 1996) and North American folklore recognized the ability of ginger to relieve gastrointestinal upsets including nausea. In 1898, Harvey Wickes Felter, M.D. wrote the King’s American Dispensatory where ginger is indicated for loss of appetite, flatulence, rumbling or gurgling sound of gas in the intestines, spasmodic gastric and intestinal contractions and cool extremities (Felter, 1898).
Ginger is also believed to be the only botanical that can prevent symptoms of motion sickness as demonstrated in studies dating back to 1982 (Mowrey, 1982; Grontved,1988; Holtman, 1989; Wood, 1988). In more recent history, results from several studies of pregnant women suffering from nausea and vomiting indicate that patients were more likely to use ginger over other complementary alternative treatments and ginger is well tolerated with minimal side effects (Fischer-Rasmussen,1991; Hollyer,2002; Enysieh et al. 2009; Ozgoli et al., 2009;). The use of ginger has been approved for use by Germany’s Commission E for pregnancy-related nausea and vomiting and motion sickness (Blumenthal, 1998; Fischer-Rasmussen, 1991).
Recently, ginger has been studied scientifically for its effect on nausea and vomiting associated with motion sickness, surgery, pregnancy and chemotherapy induced nausea and emesis (Lien & Sun et al. 2003; Pongrojpaw and Chiamchanya, 2003; Ensiyeh and Sakineh, 2009; Pace, 1986; Sontakke, 2003; Levine et al, 2008; Ryan et al, 2009).
