Ginger Alleviates Morning Sickness

This section is compiled by Frank M. Painter, D.C.
Send all comments or additions to:    Frankp@chiro.org

From The July 2001 Issue of Nutrition Science News

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Ginger (Zingiber officinale), a commonly used folk remedy, has been confirmed to effectively treat nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. A placebo-controlled, double-blind study of 67 pregnant women with morning sickness was conducted by Teraporn Vutyavanich, M.D., of Chiang Mai University in Thailand. Thirty-two women were given 250 mg of ginger four times daily while 35 received placebo. To ensure quality, the researchers dried and ground fresh ginger.

Women reported nausea and vomiting during the first four days of the study; most had vomited the day before treatment. But after four days, only 30 percent of the ginger group had vomited compared to 66 percent in the placebo group. Eighty-eight percent of the women given ginger reported that their symptoms improved, while only 29 percent of those given placebo reported improvement. Sixty-three percent of the ginger consumers, but only one person on placebo, claimed they were "much better."

No significant side effects were reported. No adverse effects were noted among babies born to women given ginger compared to babies of the women given placebo. The dose used in the study (1 g/day) is considerably less than that commonly used during cooking—typically 3 grams are consumed daily in food in Thailand. While the safety of ginger in pregnancy has not been irrefutably proven, it is believed to be much safer than drugs potentially used for the same purpose.

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Vutyavanich T
Ginger for Nausea and Vomiting in Pregnancy: Randomized, Double-masked, Placebo-controlled Trial
Obstetrics and Gynecology 2001 (Apr);   97 (4):   577–582

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