What Ginger Is Actually Good At, And It Is Not What You Think

Hey.

You eat, and an hour later it's still sitting there. Heavy and slow, like your stomach clocked out early.

Or you're in the back of a car on a winding road, doing the maths on how far it is to the next stop.

How ginger helps

Ginger is very good at one specific thing: it speeds up how fast your stomach empties.

That's measurable. Researchers have timed it, and people who take ginger with a meal clear their stomach noticeably faster than people who don't.

That one mechanism explains almost everything ginger is known for, because food moving is the opposite of food sitting, and most of that heavy, queasy, slow feeling is food sitting. It also works on the nerve signalling behind the urge to be sick, which is why it's been the standing answer for travel queasiness for centuries.

Three things people notice:

• Less heaviness after eating. Things move instead of parking.
• Steadier in the car. Take it about half an hour before you set off.
• Less sore after a hard day. In one trial, people taking ginger daily for eleven days had about 25% less muscle pain the day after strenuous exercise.

And it's genuinely warming. Not a figure of speech, it's what the compounds do at the surface of your skin and your gut. If you're someone who's cold when nobody else is, that's a real reason to keep it around.

One free tip: take it with food rather than on an empty stomach. Ginger on its own can burn a little.

Sea moss, ginger, lemon, lime, spring water. Sharp and warm with citrus behind it, made fresh to order in Atlanta. Dried ginger is also the form most of the research actually used, so what's in here is the same material the trials ran on.

Reasons not to take it

• Gallstones or a blocked bile duct. Ginger makes the gallbladder contract, so skip this one.
• Blood thinners such as warfarin, Eliquis, Xarelto, Plavix or daily aspirin. Ginger thins blood slightly, so talk to your doctor.
• Surgery coming up. Stop two weeks before.
• Bad reflux or an ulcer. Only with food, and stop if it burns.
• Diabetes or blood pressure medication. Effects can add up, so mention it to your doctor.
• Pregnancy. Ginger is one of the few things studied for pregnancy nausea, but keep it to food amounts and tell your doctor you're taking it.

Get a jar

Sea moss gel with ginger, made fresh after you order and shipped from Atlanta.

A spoonful with food.

If it isn't what you wanted, tell us and we'll make it right.

References: PMID 18403946, 21218090, 20418184, 24642205. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.