Herbs to Stimulate and Support Digestion: Ginger Profile

Zingiber officinale

Ginger Family (Zingiberaceae)

Don’t underestimate the benefits of ginger for digestion. Solo or in blends, ginger warms things up—and you can find it fresh in the grocery-store produce aisle!

Parts Used: roots (yes, yes, botanists, we hear you, they’re technically rhizomes)

Key Digestive Actions: carminative, digestive, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antiemetic (reduces nausea and vomiting), antispasmodic, antimicrobial (when fresh), prebiotic, cholagogue

Additional Actions: warming diaphoretic (induces sweat), mild antiviral (when fresh), circulatory stimulant, blood-thinning (especially when fresh), cardiovascular tonic, cardiometabolic tonic (supports cardiovascular and blood sugar health), anticancer

Energetics and Tendencies: warming/heating, moving

Taste: hot, spicy, zingy

Ginger increases GI secretions and digestive juices, including stomach acid, saliva, bile, and enzymes, while adding its own warming, circulation-enhancing, and (thanks to the fresh root’s proteolytic enzymes) protein-digesting properties. Energetically, dried ginger is hotter, but the fresh root offers a greater array of properties, particularly antimicrobial and protein enzyme benefits. Ginger is the pungent star of one of my favorite culinary-carminative families, Zingiberaceae, which also includes cardamom, galangal, and turmeric.

Warming Digestive Stimulant

This zingy root is a carminative and a whole lot more! Consider using it to warm up cold, sluggish digestive states and to balance energetically cooler digestive bitters and blends. Employ it like a digestive bitter and carminative twofer. Its spicy nature warms up a sluggish digestive system, promotes beneficial bacteria, discourages gut pathogens, and relieves gas, pain, and bloating. Ginger’s biggest claim to fame is that it relieves and prevents various forms of nausea. As with other aromatic carminatives, it enhances and improves gastric emptying time. Many people enjoy ginger’s flavor—and they are often those who would benefit most from it.

Bad Belly Bugs

Both in and out of the GI tract, ginger offers some antibacterial activity, stimulates the body’s natural antiviral defenses via the mucosal cells, and may offer some benefit in or resistance to parasite infections. Meanwhile, the complex starches in ginger feed beneficial bacteria that encourage a healthier microbiome.

Consider it if you have gas, bloating, SIBO, food poisoning, or dysbiosis, as long as it’s not too heating for delicate or damaged GI tissues. (If it burns or aggravates, back off your dose or take a different approach.) In acute infections, additional herbal antimicrobials or drugs may be needed. With its nausea-easing properties, ginger is an excellent consideration for stomach bugs, particularly in hydrating, electrolyte-rich forms like tea, soup, miso, or broth. The pickled ginger on your sushi plate just might confer some protection from pathogens in the raw fish.

Beyond the Basics

Ginger’s diverse array of healing properties never ceases to amaze. However, the overall vibe is “warming” and “moving” both within and outside of the digestive system. Ginger’s reputation for enhancing circulation and thinning the blood derives more from its ability to reduce platelet aggregation (clumpy stickiness of the platelets) than from any overt anticlotting (anticoagulant) effects. This can be an attribute or caution, depending on the person, and may be greater for higher doses and fresh root preparations. Ginger also decreases inflammation, boosts detoxification, reduces blood sugar, improves insulin sensitivity, and eases the painful symptoms of a range of ailments, from a sore throat to rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

Safety and Considerations

This is a very warming herb and may be too hot for energetically hot constitutions or acute situations including ulcers, gastritis, and some cases of reflux. Ginger may pose a risk of increased bleeding, particularly alongside medications like blood thinners, aspirin, NSAIDs, and possibly other natural blood thinners (such as vitamin E, dong quai, ginseng, garlic, and Japanese knotweed). The evidence is mixed on how clinically relevant this is, but a few case reports of serious bleeding with ginger exist. Theoretically ginger may lower blood sugar, especially if unsweetened, on an empty stomach, and/or alongside diabetes medications, but again, clinical relevance is unclear. Ginger’s risks tend to be dose-dependent—a little is often fine while higher doses may not be. High doses also increase menstrual flow. In pregnancy, stick to lower doses or culinary use.

Working with Ginger

It’s certainly possible to grow ginger outdoors in warm climates or by starting it indoors in winter, but many people simply buy it in the store. Opt for fresh and organic if possible. I prefer fresh root tea and food forms, but the dried root is still nice. I do love ginger honey, oxymel, and fresh root tincture. Doses vary widely by batch, format, preparation, and individual—start low and listen to your body. Sweetening the remedy and/or adding mucilaginous herbs like marshmallow can buffer and cool it down a bit. It’s normal for white starches to settle on the bottom of a tincture or other liquid extract.

Dosages

▶ Tea: up to 1 teaspoon dried root or up to a 1-inch chunk of fresh root grated or thinly sliced per cup; infuse or decoct for 20-plus minutes; drink 1–3 cups daily

▶ Tincture: a few drops to 2 mL, 1–3 times daily, solo or in formula

▶ Powder/Capsules: 500 to 2,000 mg per day in capsules or mixed into food, ghee, honey, spice blends, golden milk, nut butter

Make-Your-Own Tincture: Fresh herb, 1:2 ratio in 95 percent alcohol