A top-level review of clinical evidence confirms ginger’s broad health benefits, from anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic effects to easing nausea in pregnancy, with potential as a safe, natural therapy.
Review: Pharmacological properties of ginger (Zingiber officinale): what do meta-analyses say? a systematic review. Image Credit: barmalini / Shutterstock
In a recent systematic review published in Frontiers in Pharmacology, researchers at Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine and Mercer University School of Medicine in the United States collated and synthesized five high-quality clinical publications (meta-analyses) to investigate the effects of ginger (Zingiber officinale) on inflammation, blood sugar, and other physiological metrics, thereby informing its use as a functional food.
Review findings confirm that ginger supplementation significantly reduces key markers of inflammation, lowers blood glucose and glycohemoglobin (HbA1c) in type 2 diabetes (T2D), and improves antioxidant status. It has also been shown to alleviate pregnancy-associated nausea effectively. However, it did not significantly reduce vomiting episodes, and vitamin B6 was significantly more effective at improving overall nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) symptom scores in some trials. These findings support ginger’s potential as a generally safe and multifaceted therapeutic agent for various common health conditions, though limitations in study quality and consistency remain.
Background
Human history is full of examples of ancient cultures leveraging herbs and spices as more than just flavor enhancers, but also to promote health and treat illness. Ginger, with its characteristic pungent flavor derived from bioactive compounds like gingerols and shogaols, remains one of the most celebrated. Zingiber officinale has been used for millennia to treat everything from digestive upset to inflammation.
Modern science has sought to validate these claims, exploring ginger’s potential to manage conditions like type 2 diabetes (T2D), oxidative stress, and pregnancy-associated nausea and vomiting (NVP). While numerous studies have investigated ginger’s health benefits, their results are often inconsistent and confounding, making it difficult for clinicians and consumers to make informed decisions about consumption and dosage.
Meta-analyses, reviews that pool the results of multiple randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and reanalyse this pooled data holistically, address between-study confounds and provide more substantial evidence. The present study takes the next logical step: a systematic review of those meta-analyses, creating a powerful, top-level summary of what we know about the clinical benefits of ginger.
About the review
The present systematic review attempts to address these knowledge gaps by conducting a “review of reviews” designed to consolidate the highest evidence on ginger’s therapeutic effects. Publications for inclusion in the review were identified via a custom keyword search of several credible online scientific repositories (PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, Cochrane, and ISI Web of Science) from January 2010 to the end of March 2025. Subsequently, title, abstract, and full text screening were employed to assess study applicability. Only five meta-analyses were ultimately included from more than 2,000 initially identified records.
The review focused on the associations between ginger consumption or supplementation and four key health outcomes: inflammation, T2D, oxidative stress, and NVP. Data extractions comprised crucial quantitative findings and conclusions from each of these papers. These pooled results, dosages used in the underlying trials, and the overall strength of the evidence were examined, providing a robust and comprehensive overview of ginger’s clinically established pharmacological effects.
Findings
The present review established ginger’s physiological benefits across all four areas of focus. A meta-analysis by Morvaridzadeh et al. (2020), which included 16 RCTs, found that ginger supplementation led to significant reductions in key inflammatory markers, including C-reactive protein (CRP; Mean Difference = -5.11), high-sensitivity CRP (MD = -0.88), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) (MD = -0.85). These markers demonstrate validated associations with a wide range of chronic diseases. However, inter-study heterogeneity was very high (I² > 89%), which limits the strength of these conclusions.
The meta-analysis by Zhu et al. (2018) of 10 RCTs revealed ginger’s powerful effect on glycemic control. Supplementation was observed to significantly lower fasting blood glucose (MD = -21.24 mg/dL, P < 0.001) and, significantly, also reduced glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (MD = -1.00, P < 0.001), a key indicator of long-term blood sugar management. These findings were supported by low heterogeneity, increasing their reliability.
The meta-analysis of 12 RCTs by Sheikhhossein et al. (2021) showed improved antioxidant status following ginger supplementation. The spice significantly reduced levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) (MD = -1.45, P = 0.001), a marker of lipid damage, while simultaneously increasing the activity of the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase (GPx) (MD = 1.93, P = 0.029). However, it did not significantly increase total antioxidant capacity (TAC).
For nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, a meta-analysis by Viljoen et al. (2014) of 12 RCTs found that ginger was significantly more effective than placebo at reducing nausea symptoms (P = 0.0002). However, it did not have a statistically significant effect on the frequency of vomiting. This limitation was not consistently highlighted across all studies. A separate meta-analysis by Gaur et al. (2022) found that while ginger and vitamin B6 had comparable effects on vomiting, vitamin B6 was significantly better at improving total NVP symptom scores. Ginger also increased the risk of belching, a statistically significant side effect.
Notably, the typical ginger supplementation doses used in these trials ranged from 500 to 1,500 mg daily for NVP and 1 to 3 g daily for anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antidiabetic effects, highlighting a lack of standardization even in clinical research, let alone consumer supply. The authors emphasized substantial heterogeneity in some of the meta-analyses, particularly in inflammation studies, which further strengthens the need for robust public health guidelines and higher-quality trials.
Conclusions
The present systematic review synthesized the results of five meta-analyses and found that ginger is a generally safe and potentially effective therapeutic agent with a moderate to strong evidence base. Review findings robustly support its use as an effective anti-inflammatory, an adjunct therapy for managing T2D, a potent antioxidant, and a safe remedy for pregnancy-related nausea. However, its effects on vomiting are not consistently significant, and vitamin B6 appears more effective overall for NVP symptoms.
While the evidence is substantial, high heterogeneity in several of the underlying meta-analyses, variability in ginger formulation and dosing, and a risk of bias in studies (especially in NVP trials) suggest that further large-scale, high-quality trials are necessary. Future research and public health recommendations are needed to define optimal dosing, delivery formats, and patient populations.