Ginger offers relief for chemo-related nausea

Ginger may be the answer for chemotherapy patients who still experience nausea while taking traditional anti-nausea drugs, such as Zofran or Kytril. That's according to a study presented on Saturday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology that found patients who took ginger supplements for six days, starting three days before the first day of a chemotherapy cycle, experienced significantly reduced nausea compared with patients who received placebo. The most effective daily doses were 0.5 gram and 1 gram (a gram of ground ginger equals half a teaspoon). So what about other ginger-containing products, such as soda, cookies, or teas? Investigator Julie Ryan, PhD, of the University of Rochester Medical Center, told reporters that as long as they contain 0.5 to 1 gram of ginger, they should--at least, theoretically--do the trick.