Ginger
(Zingiber officinale)

What is Ginger?
A nice review by students from the University of North Carolina School of Pharmacy

Ginger Alleviates Morning Sickness
Nutrition Science News (July 2001)
Ginger (Zingiber officinale), a commonly used folk remedy, has been confirmed to effectively treat nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. A placebo-controlled, double-blind study of 67 pregnant women with morning sickness was conducted by Teraporn Vutyavanich, M.D., of Chiang Mai University in Thailand. Thirty-two women were given 250 mg of ginger four times daily while 35 received placebo.

Safety of Ginger Use in Pregnancy:
Results From a Large Population-based Cohort Study
Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 2013 (Feb); 69 (2): 269–277
Although previous studies have shown the effectiveness of Ginger use on the nausea of pregnancy, this study explored the safety of ginger use during pregnancy. This Norwegian study reports on the outcomes of 68,522 pregnancies. More than one thousand women used ginger to halt morning sickness, but were NO increases in premature births, stillbirths, low birth weights, or low Apgar scores at birth. This study clearly signals that ginger use appears to be perfectly safe for use during pregnancy.

Ginger Effective For Relieving Side Affects of Chemotherapy
Pediatr Blood Cancer 2011 (Feb); 56 (2): 234-8
Researchers decided to investigate the effectiveness of ginger as an additional antiemetic therapy in patients receiving chemotherapy. The scientists of this double-blind study randomly assigned patients with bone cancer to either ginger root powder capsules or placebo capsules as an additional antiemetic to ondensetron and dexamethasone. Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting were evaluated with the Edmonton’s Symptom Assessment Scale and National Cancer Institute criteria. The results were significantly more severe nausea and vomiting in the placebo group compared to the ginger group. These findings indicate that ginger root powder as an additional antiemetic was effective in reducing severity of nausea and vomiting in patients receiving chemotherapy. [1]

Effects of Ginger Capsules on Pregnancy, Nausea, and Vomiting
J Altern Complement Med. 2009 (Mar); 15 (3): 243-246
This single blind clinical trial explored the effects of ginger on the nausea and vomiting of pregnancy. 67 pregnant women were randomly assigned to (one of) two groups, an experimental group and a control group. The ginger users demonstrated a higher rate of improvement than the placebo users did. The decrease in vomiting times among the ginger users was also significantly greater than among the women who received the placebo. Ginger appears to be an effective herbal remedy for decreasing nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.

Zingiber officinale (Ginger) Monograph
Alternative Medicine Review 2003 (Aug); 8 (3): 331–335 ~ FULL TEXT
Ginger, the rhizome of Zingiber officinale, is one of the most widely used species of the ginger family and is a common condiment for various foods and beverages. Ginger has a long history of medicinal use dating back 2500 years. This paper discusses it's use for treating motion sickness, nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, post-surgical nausea, chemotherapy-induced nausea, and for arthritic pain.

Alternative Therapies: Ginger
Am J Health Syst Pharm 2000 (May 15); 57 (10): 945–947 ~ FULL TEXT
In western alternative medicine practice, the primary uses of ginger include prevention of motion sickness, prevention of nausea, and treatment of rheumatologic conditions as an anti-inflammatory. In vitro evidence suggests that ginger may have anti-cancer effects.