Can pregnant women eat ginger?

Young ginger is tender ginger. Generally, people prefer to eat young ginger after processing, such as pickling it into kimchi. Ginger also has good medicinal value. For example, ginger is effective in treating anorexia because it has stomach-strengthening effects. So, are there any taboos in eating ginger? Can pregnant women eat ginger? What are the benefits of eating ginger during pregnancy? Let’s find out below.

Medical researchers have recently discovered that eating ginger during pregnancy can help relieve morning sickness and has no side effects on the fetus. Pregnant women can eat ginger in summer to strengthen the stomach and increase appetite. Because the summer climate is hot, the secretion of saliva and gastric juice will decrease, thus affecting people's appetite, especially pregnant women in the early stages of pregnancy. If you eat a few slices of ginger during meals, it will increase your appetite. However, pregnant women should be careful not to eat too much ginger at one time to avoid absorbing a large amount of gingerol, which will stimulate the kidneys during excretion through the kidneys and cause "heat" symptoms such as dry mouth, sore throat, and constipation.

The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology reported that eating ginger did not affect pregnant women's pregnancy. Franceca Borrelli of the University of Naples Fridericio II in Italy and her colleagues said: "Ginger may be effective in treating nausea and vomiting during pregnancy." But at the same time, they were cautious, saying the conclusions were still preliminary. Before any conclusions can be drawn, more experiments are needed to confirm that ginger can indeed treat pregnancy reactions.

Up to 80% of women experience morning sickness during the first trimester. The authors in Obstetrics and Gynecology note that while there are many medications available to relieve morning sickness, concerns about their potential side effects on the fetus have led them to avoid their use during pregnancy. Many women then turn to alternative treatments, including vitamins, Chinese medicine, homeopathy and acupuncture. Among these natural remedies, ginger has long been used to reduce nausea, and some evidence suggests it can relieve motion sickness as well as other types of nausea.

In the United States, ginger has become one of the top 20 selling herbal tonics, with sales reaching $1.2 million in 2001 alone. Other popular natural remedies for morning sickness include chamomile, peppermint, and raspberry leaf. But none of these drugs have been studied as extensively as ginger.

To review previous studies on ginger, Borelli and her colleagues searched the medical literature and found researchers who had tested the effects of ginger on 675 pregnant women suffering from morning sickness. * In four studies involving 246 pregnant women, researchers found that ginger consistently outperformed a placebo in eliminating nausea and vomiting in pregnant women. This is true even when treating pregnant women with a condition called hyperemesis gravidarum.

In a recent study, subjects were randomized to take either a capsule containing 350 mg of ginger or a capsule containing 25 mg of vitamin B6 three times a day for three weeks. The results showed that ginger was as effective as vitamin B6 in treating nausea, vomiting, and retching. Slightly more than half of the pregnant women in each group experienced relief from nausea and vomiting. Some studies have reported that ginger can cause side effects like headaches, diarrhea, and drowsiness, but these problems have also been reported with other treatments, such as placebos and vitamin B6.