Tummy Tamer

by: AndreaDow
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Word Count: 399

Tuesday, October 16th

As I write this blog I am sipping a cup of ginger tea to calm my upset tummy. As I get further into my pregnancy, I find that ginger tea really helps to alleviate periodic nausea. Ginger has been widely studied with pregnant women and the best evidence of this spice working is with pregnant woman suffering from morning sickness. According to David Schardt of Nutrition Action Healthletter, there have been four well done studies that have documented ginger decreasing nausea and vomiting in pregnant women compared to a placebo. The study participants took 1,000mg to 1,500mg of ground ginger or 500mg of ginger extract per day for four days to two weeks.

Suzanna Zick, epidemiologist at the University of Michigan, says that ginger blocks seretonin receptors in the intestinal tract "so seretonin can't get into them and cause more nausea." Zick has also looked at whether 1,000mg or 2,000mg of ground ginger worked better than a placebo to decrease the nausea experienced after chemotherapy treatment. Unfortunately, the resutls of this study are not yet available.

NASA has tried testing ginger to curb motion sickness by strapping men and women into rotating chairs to simulate motion sickness that astronauts inevitably experience. Dutch researchers has a little bit better luck by giving powdered ginger (1,000mg) to 80 naval cadets. These cadets were not used to sailing in rough sea conditions. While the ginger did not prevent nausea or vomiting completely, it did reduce the amount of vomiting and cold sweats.

Studies are conflicting on whether ginger can help people with osteoarthritis. One test-tube study at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore showed that ginger did inhibit the COX-2 enzyme (the same action of common arthritis drugs like Vioxx and Celebrex). Other studies have not shown a consistent effect of ginger on arthritis.

How safe is the stuff? Both the FDA and Academy of Family Physicians say that ginger is thought to be safe for pregnant women. Be careful not to take any more than 6,000mg a day as it can cause ulceration of the GI tract. Zick reports that some people do not like ginger as they experience gas or a burning sensation in the stomach if they take more than 1,500mg at a time or 1,000mg twice per day.

As for me, I will stick with my tea on the days when my baby decides to make my tummy tumble.

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