Benefits of ginger

Daily dose of ginger may reduce cancer risk Oct 14, Yahoo! News, AFP

New research finds that ginger’s anti-inflammatory properties may play a role in reducing colon cancer risk.

The study, published Tuesday in Cancer Prevention Research, found a link between daily ginger supplements and a reduction of inflammation in the colon, which researchers suggest is one step toward better understanding the role ginger root might play in preventing colon cancer.

Prior studies in mice and rats have shown that ginger helped prevent the formation of tumors when the animals were exposed to a chemical that causes colon cancer.

For the new study, researchers from the University of Michigan Medical School in the US randomly assigned 30 healthy adults to take capsules containing either 2 grams of powered ginger root (about two tablespoons of ground-up ginger root, noted the researchers) or a placebo powder every day for four weeks.

Before and after the study, the researchers took tissue samples from the lining of the colon. They “tested these samples for chemicals called eicosanoids that increase inflammation in the gut,” stated WebMD, noting that the ginger-eating subjects showed reduced inflammation.

Another recent study published in The Lancet found that low doses of aspirin, taken daily and over the long term, cut cases of colorectal cancer by a quarter and the death toll from this disease by a third.

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Phase II Study of the Effects of Ginger Root Extract on Eicosanoids in Colon Mucosa in People at Normal Risk for Colorectal Cancer

1. Suzanna M. Zick et al. American Association for Cancer Research.October 2011, 4 (10) October 11, 2011; doi: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-11-0224

Inhibitors of COX indicate that upregulation of inflammatory eicosanoids produced by COX, and in particular prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂), are early events in the development of colorectal cancer (CRC). Ginger has shown downregulation of COX in vitro and decreased incidence/multiplicity of adenomas in rats. … On the basis of these results, it seems that ginger has the potential to decrease eicosanoid levels, perhaps by inhibiting their synthesis from arachidonic acid. Ginger also seemed to be tolerable and safe. Further investigation in people at high risk for CRC seems warranted. Cancer Prev Res; 4(11); 1–9. ©2011 AACR.

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