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| Getting to the root |
| Archana Jahagirdar / New Delhi May 17, 2009, 00:18 IST |
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Ginger, a favoured herb in Indian kitchens, can help with nausea and vomitting caused by chemotherapy.
There is a saying — with shades of black humour in it — that if the cancer doesn’t kill you, chemotherapy will. Many cancer survivors have spoken of the struggle that undergoing chemotherapy puts them through. There is the hair loss, weakened immunity and trips to the hospital that need to be taken for the chemo to be administered. But the most unpalatable part is the nausea and gut wrenching vomitting, an unfortunate side-effect of chemotherapy. Now, new research is showing that ginger, a herb that is used in numerous everyday dishes in India, can help in getting rid of both the nausea and vomitting. A study published in Lancet Oncology this week shows that those given ginger after chemotherapy did benefit.
Ginger, which is native to Asia, has been in used in cooking for over 4,000 years. It has been used commonly in India and China to treat diarrhea as well to help the digestive tract to process food better. Ginger has also been used for several thousands of years in Indian, Chinese and Arabic traditional healing methods. However, allopathy has for a long time remained aloof of the curative possibilities of several herbs including ginger. The root (actually an underground stem) is said to be composed of phenol compounds and volatile oils.
Of the several studies being done on its health benefits, there is now some early evidence to show that ginger may prevent blood clotting too. It is also now believed that ginger may help lower cholestrol levels. Moreover, ginger may help prevent cancer, though there aren’t enough studies published to corroborate this hypothesis.
But what is proven without a shadow of doubt is its ability to help the stomach. If the summer sun or eating bad street food is giving you an upset stomach, here is one of the several remedies that you can try: take about two tablespoons of ginger juice. Add a pinch of ground black pepper to it. Drink it up and chase it down with some slices of red apple. For the less adventurous, just some plain old ginger tea is likely to help in the long run.
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