Herbs of the World - Ginger

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is widely grown as a spice and medicinal plant in tropical parts of Asia and Oceania, Africa and Central America. It contains the active ingredients gingerol and shogaol.

Traditional medicine

Ginger is not only an indispensable part of the Far East kitchen, but above all a medicinal plant and a traditional component of many therapeutic therapies for thousands of years. E.g. Indian Ayurveda highlights it as "a wonderful and universal cure," and the old Indian proverb says "everything that is good can be found in ginger.
" Traditionally, ginger promotes digestion, relieves pain, and helps treat colds, sore throats, and infections. Chinese medicine also uses ginger when dealing with Yang energy (feeling cold in the body).

What is the effect of ginger?

Contemporary scientific tests have confirmed many previously tested uses of ginger and have shown that most of its good properties include gingerol.

Ginger has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, suppresses pain, helps fight infection , relieves pain and inflammatory joints of osteoarthritis, relieves menstrual pain. This is because gingerol affects the vanilloid receptors found in the nerve endings and reduces the perception of pain. Studies at the University of Georgia in the US have shown that it also reduces muscle pain after physical exertion.

Diseases, joints, pain

Ginger has a calming effect on the digestive tract, relieves inflammation and helps digestion. What is very important is to relieve nausea, including morning sickness. Studies have shown that ginger also promotes ulcer treatment. In 2011, secretary scientists confirmed that a single use of 1.2 g of ginger extract would cause the gastric contents to move to the intestines in people who suffer from dyspepsia (chronic and recurrent digestive disorders).

Thanks to its antioxidant properties, ginger helps maintain normal brain activity even in older age.

Recent studies have shown that ginger can lower cholesterol and can help treat type 2 diabetes.

In 2009, scientists have found that ginger has an effect on serotonin receptors and helps regulate insulin secretion. During testing, ginger therapy led to a 35% decrease in blood glucose levels with a 10% increase in insulin plasma concentration.

In 2012, Sydney University researchers confirmed that ginger-rich ginger can regulate blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. Using gingerol-rich ginger for a longer period of time can increase glucose uptake into muscle cells without insulin help.

Use / indication of ginger

• Difficulties with digestion
  
• Ulcers
  
• Nausea
  
• Poor absorption of nutrients
  
• Arthritis, arthritis
  
• Pain (menstrual, back, head)
  
• Respiratory tract infections
  
• Diabetes type 2
  
• Feeling cold in the body

Dosage of ginger extracts

The amount of ingested extract, eg in capsules, should be regulated according to the manufacturer's recommendations (Ginger Hepatica).

It is recommended to use ginger extracts that have a significantly higher ginger content than found in fresh ginger.

The need for long-term thinking in medicine: Cinnamon as a case study

Here in Vermont, we are approaching the first anniversary of a storm that, over less than a day, poured an incredible amount of rain over the mountains, down the streams, and into narrow river valleys. The hill towns were quickly overwhelmed and literally swept away on huge torrents of water. These types of events are outliers, “hundred-year” floods. We tend not to think about them until they happen. If a river floods one spring, and washes away our garden, we could just build a retaining wall and be fine for years. But in Vermont, it seems that sort of thought process may have contributed to the severity of last summer’s event: narrower valleys, more constrained riverbeds, actually increased the torrent’s force and destructive power. As we rebuild, civil engineers are taking this into account.

In fact, there is a growing realization in many professions and disciplines that we need to approach the world with much more long-term thinking. Perhaps pumping out wetlands and building cities isn’t the best idea. It might be smart to consider sources of energy that aren’t going to run out fairly soon. When educating, connection to long-term curiosity might be better than passing the next test. Social and ecological concerns in market-based economies might trump the need to make a buck.

I dare say that medicine is beginning to embrace this trend, too – or at least people are. People who are interested in real food that may not require contaminating the water supply to cultivate, and who feel like this food might be better for their long-term health (though missing the tasty nacho cheese). People who consider a fever the sign of a healthy reactive response, and watch it for a bit rather than immediately suppresing it. People who are beginning to think that diabetes may be connected as much to ubiquitous, unregulated sugar in the food supply as it is to increased weight, lack of exercise, or “poor self-control”.

Which brings me to cinnamon. A recent meta-review found a small but significant effect from the powdered bark of this fragrant member of the Laurel family in treating the elevated blood sugar levels associated with Type 2 diabetes. I recommend this plant to clients concerned about this disease, either as part of breakfast or – my favorite – mixed with stevia, almond butter and cacao and rolled into “bliss balls”. It is best to take it regularly, as part of a long-term habit that includes real, bitter food and lots of movement. In this context it’s delicious, easy to take (doses are in the teaspoon range), and effective. 

The effect is, indeed, small when observed in isolation and for short periods of time. But diabetes (at epidemic levels) isn’t a problem that develops overnight, folks. I doubt anyone in the food industry, somewhere between the middle of the 19^thcentury and the middle of the 20^th, was saying “whoa - wait a sec, guys. I think that all this tasty sweet stuff (and elimination of all botanical biodiversity in the diet) might actually lead to epidemic levels of a sugar-metabolism disease in the next century!” No, that would have required seriously long-term thinking in matters of public health. And a little more knowledge of the human body.

Well, today we have a little more of  both. But research still looks at botanicals for three to four months most of the time – and this is partly because research is still beginning. When more time and interest are devoted to certain plants, such as the 2012 analysis that showed soy food consumption leads to lower recurrence of estrogen-positive breast cancer, striking results are revealed. But even this research only followed ten thousand women for seven years. Would that we had multi-generational followup data for cinnamon, endive, and dandelion roots! We might see a reversal of the grand experiment in carbohydrate refinement that gave us the current diabetes epidemic.

Short-term thinking gives us a need for dramatic, immediate results that might fit within the constraints of our current research model. This is great for many acute and chronic diseases, but not as great for matters of public health or for analyzing cultural patterns that lead to the diseases themselves.  Often, we learn about these matters from retrospective studies – discovering a problem after it’s already well-established. Long-term thinking takes a break and asks “if left alone, what might this situation look like?” Long-term thinking wonders how the river might handle a hundred-year flood if we hadn’t intervened to alter its course, how a population’s blood sugar might look if we hadn’t altered its food supply. 

Type 2 diabetes is a long-term effect of short-term thinking (satisfy my hunger now, and in a way that can be easily produced, stored, transported and packaged!) Its solution has to be based in long-term thinking, and part of that might very well include herbs such as cinnamon. The reason they are important is that, unlike a pharmaceutical solution, they provide an inroad to self-care based on whole plants and food – elements of life which, along with movement, end up being the keys to successful prevention of diabetes. If your mother started making cinnamon bliss balls when you were little, you might grow up eating them and eventually making them for your friends and family. Who knows what other bizarre plants you might consume along the way. Lo and behold, two generations later population levels of diabetes, obesity and heart disease are lower. I’d give you a rose to celebrate, but we all know there’s no research showing roses are effective as mood-lifters.

Some argue that, since the effect of a botanical such as cinnamon is small compared to conventional drugs, it should be rejected as part of our approach to diabetes. Ironically, the argument is that using cinnamon perpetuates a pill-driven, not lifestyle-driven, mentality for handling the disease. Call me crazy, but I’d respectfully argue that it’s probably pharmaceuticals that are driving this mentality, and that the search for a cinnamon capsule as an “alternative” is a first baby-step towards a different way. In the hands of an herbalist, baby steps turn into hikes in the forest. That could be a good thing – and a complex, multi-layered approach to diabetes that includes cinnamon most certainly is. 

Say what you will about an over-reliance on short-term clinical trials to drive therapy (or just read the British Medical Journal). Aside from the caveats (some of which I mention above), the approach is often a good one. But the offhand rejection of botanicals such as cinnamon, especially when they show promise, is actually harmful to public health. It is also a product of very short-term thinking. This is a problem that we need to resolve if we want to advance the cause of medicine and improve global quality of life – and herbalists, as those who, across the world, know what local plants do, are well placed to be part of the solution. Herbalists know the plants, but they also know that moving your vegetables over a little and supporting the community of cattail and calamus by the riverbank might be a better choice than a retaining wall, though it requires a (small) sacrifice in the short-term. Herbalists know that a bouquet of flowers makes you happy even though there’s not a single study out there to prove it. And they are usually inspiring teachers, too – the perfect choice for a diabetic patient. 

All this requires a change in thinking about medicine. We need to be looking further over the horizon, at a future where the advancement of our species sometimes includes a return to older technologies – not because they’re old, but because they’re damn smart in a long-term context. A future where we observe and mimic nature in designing our systems not because it’s “natural” but because, in the end, it’s in our own self-interest (global warming? Hundred year flood?). Herbal medicine fits in perfectly here. It is the precise modality that offers cultural connection, self-empowerment, ecological awareness, and effective remedies! It is both a blueprint for the future and a safety net for the present. As a design element for the next century of medicine, it can bring long-term thinking into a branch of science struggling with its own pressing challenges, helping it to harness the tools of complexity and deep ecology that are driving other industries. Long-term, complex herbal therapy won’t look as flashy in the short term – but that does not mean it has no value. Give it time, and skilled hands – a garden takes a season to come to fruit.

Herbs for Athletes

Lots of folks are getting back outside and becoming more active as Spring (finally!) moves forward. When we stop to consider how much our physical frame and physiological systems endure for even a moderate walk around town (coordination, tendon stretching, impact buffering, blood sugar changes, and more), it’s remarkable that human beings perform so well when engaged in physical activity! Good pre- and post-workout nutrition is crucial, as quality fuels provide a lot more than just energy to our bodies, but beyond eating well, herbal support can address three key areas that are important for athletic types and for anyone who is even moderately active: preventing problems, enhancing stamina and endurance, and treating any injuries that might sideline us. Usually herbs are used internally for the first two areas of focus, and in treating injuries external and internal therapies can play a role.

Prevention: strong blood, good circulation, supple connective tissue.

The areas that tend to get the most abuse in many athletic disciplines (even walking) are the joints, ligaments that surround them, and the tendons that attach muscle to bone and joints. Muscles themselves can also experience strains and tears, but these usually heal more quickly than those in joints or connective tissue.

Stretching and listening to your body are, obviously, crucial. Beyond this there are some key preventive strategies where herbs can really help.

· First, it is important to build and maintain “strong blood”. This really means that the blood should have excellent oxygen-carrying capacity and plenty of red blood cells and hemoglobin, so that muscle tissue receives all the oxygen it requires for healthy aerobic activity. When starved and forced to work anaerobically (without oxygen) for any length of time, muscles are more susceptible to injury. Additionally, “strong blood” usually includes the idea of “clean blood”, a somewhat mysterious herbal concept, which usually means that there are fewer reactive free radicals present in the bloodstream. The blood itself is therefore less pro-inflammatory. Inflammation is, of course, at the root of much joint pain, chronic fascia, tendon, and ligament pain, and more.

Astragalus builds the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood. It also is a preventive agent for common viral infections, often the bane of athletes. You can simmer a few tablespoons of the root with vegetables and/or bones when making a soup stock, or take about 500-1,000mg twice a day in capsule form.

Ginkgo is not that useful to strengthen blood, unless you’re moving to higher altidude (over 5,000 ft or more) and you aren’t used to the lower levels of oxygen one finds up there. 240mg daily of the standardized extract for 3-5 days prevents altitude sickness and speeds the blood’s adaptation to the new environment.

Curcumin form Turmeric has a host of beneficial functions in the body, but for athletes one of its most important is the ability to reduce inflammation overall by acting as an antioxidant and liver balancer. It is used for chronic joint pain and injury, but is an excellent preventive agent as well. To this end, we usually use about 1,000mg of curcumin daily, taken with a little black pepper in the middle of a meal.

Fish oil and other omega-3 fatty acid sources (lots of greens, flax seed for example) are another class of nutrients essential for keeping overall inflammatory burden in check. We suggest 2g daily for maintenance, and up to 4-6g daily during peak, intensive training.

One final nutrient is related to the side effect of a commonly prescribed class of medication. Statin drugs (lipitor, zocor, et. al.) are used to treat high cholesterol, but have the unfortunate side effect of depleting Co-Q10 from cells. I recommend this supplement for athletes who are taking statin drugs and notice an increase in fatigue.

· Blood with a good capacity to carry oxygen and control the production of inflammatory chemicals is a great start, but beyond this we also need to ensure adequate circulation. This is for the muscles again, but even more crucial for tendons and ligaments where circulation is notoriously poor to begin with.

Gotu Kola is a water-loving ground cover plant that grows quite well as an annual in Vermont. It is a tonic for connective tissue and also improves circulation and oxygenation of all organs of the body. The daily dose is 3-5 fresh leaves, or about that many droppers full of a liquid extract (tincture). 3 capsules a day is ok if nothing else can be found.

Hawthorn berries, Blueberries, and other colorful berry fruits are fantastic sources of bioflavonoids which improve circulation, reduce inflammation, and protect the heart and capillaries so they can continue to perform as efficiently as possible. Aim for ¼ to ½ cup a day of mixed berries, fresh or (even better) frozen. Jam preparations are also acceptable.

Caffeine should be used with caution. While a little seems to boost performance somewhat, it can also restrict circulation to the heart and muscles when overconsumed, leading to premature fatigue. Play it by ear – I typically find that 1-2 cups of coffee is fine. Black tea has less caffeine and way more circulatory-enhancing and anti-inflammatory antioxidants, too.

Performance: herbs that improve speed and endurance and enhance recovery

Most athletes are interested in ways, beyond training, that they can support themselves as they push the body further in distance, speed, intensity, or all of the above. Usually, one reaches a limit where the physiology’s ability to absorb more training and improve hits a plateau, and continued exertion can lead to burnout, injury, or both. Generally speaking, the “adaptogenic” herbs can push that limit back, allowing for more exertion, improvement, and therefore greater performance. Here are three excellent and effective adaptogens to help us bounce back faster from hard training and also improve performance in the short term.

Rhodiola rosea is the root of an Arctic plant traditionally used to support stress and counteract fatigue. Exercise is perhaps the “purest” embodiment of physical stress on the system, and Rhodiola can help both in the short term (before a race, e.g.) and long term by pushing back the threshold of fatigue and getting us quickly ready for the next workout. Try a liquid extract, using about ½ teaspoon once or twice a day during training, or ½ to 1 teaspoon before a challenging workout or race.

Eleuthero (a.k.a. Siberian Ginseng) is a classic athlete’s tonic. It was first researched in Russia to enhance the stamina of its soldiers and cosmonauts, but quickly found its way into the athletic programs as well because it is effective. 2-3g of the root are consumed daily.

Cordyceps is actually a mushroom, not an herb, and there is some conflicting research showing that it may increase performance and endurance when taken regularly. Some of the recent clinical evidence did not show much effect; my feeling is that it helps individuals who might be already in a depleted state (i.e. coming back from an injury, or following a taxing race). Typically between 500 and 1000mg are consumed daily.

Treating common injuries: anti-inflammatory herbs and connective tissue repair

In working with active people, it seems that the issues that come up over and over again either involve connective tissue (sprains, tendonitis, fasciitis) or joints and articulations (arthritis, bone spurs). The preventive health strategies discussed above are important, of course, as is a concerted program of rest and physical therapy to rehabilitate the injury. Beyond this, we have a lot of great herbs to use both topically (on the site of pain) and internally that are a great alternative to ibuprofen.

Arnica is used topically as an oil or gel, and internally as a homeopathic remedy (usually the latter is at a 30C potency). It reduces inflammation, prevents bruising, and just greatly speeds the recovery process for almost any injury, but especially sprains (twisted ankle, e.g.) and trauma (bashes, falls, etc). For more nagging, chronic injuries such as tendonitis, runner’s knee, IT band syndrome, fasciitis and more, Arnica is less useful but can still be helpful, especially if combined with Horsechestnut (see below).

Ginger makes an excellent compress for sore muscles or for specific areas of inflammation around a joint or tendon. Brew a strong tea by steeping 1 TBS of powder in a cup of hot water for 5 minutes, then soak a cloth with the tea and apply to the affected area a few times a day.

Wintergreen essential oil is another excellent liniment, more for arthritic and other chronic joint complaints. It’s a bit too strong to use “neat”, or undiluted, so use about 10-15 drops of oil in 1 ounce of a carrier oil such as olive or grapeseed oil. It has a very cooling quality, and works well in alternation with the ginger compress.

Horsechestnut is a remedy often used internally for varicose veins and chronic inflammation throughout the body. In Europe, it is also used topically for any type of connective tissue injury or chronic inflammation – sprains, and tendon/ligament/fascia injuries. The liquid extract is a great way to use this plant both ways: 45 drops twice a day internally, and rubbed directly onto the affected area topically twice a day. It reduces not only inflammation but also the swelling associated with it.

Final note: often many of these herbs are employed at the same time, depending on the situation at hand. For instance, a combination liquid formula made with Hawthorn, Gotu Kola, and Horsechestnut could be used to speed recovery from a twisted knee and prevent recurrence at the same time. Additionally, the concomitant use of internal and external herbs along with physical therapy that strengthens the muscles and connective tissues around the injured area yields the best results.

Database of diabetes herbs

ProGene Bio, an Indian company, has put together lots of recent research on medicinal plants used in diabetes and the management of blood sugar. The database is extensive, covering over 380 botanical species, but is a bit difficult to navigate unless you know the exact Latin binomial of the plant you're looking for. Nevertheless, browsing is always an option, and if you are looking for "scientific evidence" of an herb's use in diabetes control, this option might be a bit easier than a straight PubMed search...
(see Cinnamon, for example).

Salacia oblonga for type 2 diabetes

A tropical shrub used in Ayurveda for controlling obesity and its associated health complications, Salacia oblonga (a.k.a. Saptrangi) has shown promise in some limited trials that looked at its ability to reduce high blood sugar in diabetes. A new trial goes into more detail: the extract of the root and stems of this plant lowered post-meal blood glucose by about 25%, while also reducing the amount of circulating insulin in the blood. Thus, it seems to sensitize the physiology to insulin, which reverses the trend of insulin resistance seen in type 2 diabetes. A 25% reduction is significant: it could bring a diabetic patient with postprandial blood glucose levels over 150 down to the "normal" range of 120.