Study: Ginger Works at the Cellular Level to Ease Inflammation

Scientists have determined how ginger works to calm inflammation, a discovery that holds promise for people with autoimmune diseases.

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New research adds evidence to ginger’s efficacy in controlling inflammation—a discovery that holds promise for people with incurable autoimmune diseases including antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Ginger has long been known to help with gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea. Researchers have found that ginger may also be beneficial in treating Type 2 diabetes, cancer, diabetic cardiomyopathy, fatty liver disease, and other conditions that involve inflammation and oxidative stress.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, some traditional Chinese medicine practitioners advised using ginger to treat COVID-19 symptoms and boost immune function.

However, autoimmune disease investigations have largely ignored the potential of natural treatments, Ramadan Ali, lead author of new research published on Sept. 22 in JCI Insight, told The Epoch Times in an interview.

Ginger’s anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties led him to wonder if it could help to ease the symptoms of autoimmune diseases, he said.

Mr. Ali, who has a doctorate in medicinal chemistry, is a research investigator in the division of rheumatology in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor. The study that he and his colleagues performed was replicated simultaneously at the University of Colorado.

How Ginger Calms Cells

The study focused on the effect of ginger on a type of white blood cell called neutrophils. Neutrophils release neutrophil extracellular traps (NET) through a process called NETosis. These NETs are weblike structures that kill pathogens and help in immune defense, Mr. Ali told The Epoch Times.

“While these NETs help fight off infection, it’s a double-edged sword. In the setting of autoimmune disease, neutrophils are overactive and make more NETs, which can be problematic. NETs contribute to the pathogenesis of many autoimmune diseases through inflammation, blood clotting, and vascular damage,” he said.

In an earlier study, Mr. Ali and his team injected mice with gingerols—the most abundant bioactive ingredient in ginger—and found that the compound reduced neutrophils’ hyperactivity and therefore suppressed NETosis. This time around, they set out to determine the impact of an oral ginger supplement on neutrophils, both in mice with autoimmune disease and in healthy humans.

In the mice, ginger consumption reduced autoantibody production in those with lupus and also attenuated thrombosis in those with APS.

In the human volunteers, who didn’t have autoimmune disease, Ginactiv brand oral supplements containing 20 mg of gingerols taken for seven days also restrained neutrophils’ hyperactivity and prevented NETosis.

A Safe Complement

While the results are promising, Mr. Ali and his colleagues don’t claim that ginger supplements will cure people with autoimmune diseases.

Study senior co-author Dr. Jason Knight, an associate professor in the division of rheumatology at the University of Michigan, was optimistic about the implications of the study. Ginger has potential as a complementary treatment to existing regimens, he said in a statement.

“There are not a lot of natural supplements, or prescription medications for that matter, that are known to fight overactive neutrophils. We, therefore, think ginger may have a real ability to complement treatment programs that are already underway,” Dr. Knight said.

“The goal is to be more strategic and personalized in terms of helping to relieve people’s symptoms.”

“We certainly are not suggesting that someone should try ginger instead of a medication that their provider has recommended,” senior co-author Dr. Kristen Demoruelle, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, said in an interview with The Epoch Times.

“But for people who are maybe looking to add something to what they are already taking, or maybe don’t feel like the medications prescribed by their provider are doing enough, this is a safe supplement that can be taken with other medications.”

More research is needed, Mr. Ali said, and the next step is to test ginger supplementation in patients with active autoimmune diseases. The team is hoping to secure funding for this next phase soon.

“We are very interested to extend our findings into clinical trials in people with autoimmune diseases,” Dr. Demoruelle said, noting that future research will include different brands of ginger supplements.