Monograph on Ginger: Food as Medicine, CAM201A, Semester 2

This monograph provides a comprehensive analysis of ginger, examining its role as both food and medicine. The report begins with an executive summary and introduction, followed by a detailed discussion of ginger's botanical name, edible parts, and historical and traditional medicinal uses. It delves into the key nutrients found in ginger, including proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and various micronutrients, as well as its phytochemical constituents. The monograph explores ginger's mechanisms of action and therapeutic benefits, highlighting its antioxidant properties and its impact on lipid oxidation and tumor development. It also addresses cautions, potential toxicity, and interactions with medications. Furthermore, the report offers recommendations for buying and storing ginger, and concludes by emphasizing the importance of incorporating ginger into meals for promoting good health. The monograph is supported by a list of relevant references.

Running head: FOOD AS MEDICINE 1
FOOD AS MEDICINE
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Contents

FOOD AS MEDICINE 2
Executive summary………………………………………………………………………...3
Introduction...........................................................................................................................3
Body......................................................................................................................................3
Botanical name and edible parts............................................................................................3
History and traditional medicinal uses..................................................................................4
Key nutrients.........................................................................................................................4
Mechanisms of action and therapeutic benefits.....................................................................5
Cautions, Toxicity and Interactions.......................................................................................5
Buying and Storage Recommendations.................................................................................6
Recommendations.................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................6
References………………………………………………………………………………….8

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Executive summary
Ginger has been used worldwide for clinical application as a therapeutic tool. This
discussion, therefore, focuses on the application of ginger in the promotion of human health
by analyzing its nutritional components, medicinal uses, history, edible parts, therapeutic
benefits, mechanisms of action among others.
Introduction
Ginger has been used by millions of people from different countries in the world for
decades. It is a plant with scientific classification belonging to species officinale. It is a plant
that produces flowers. The ginger root or rhizomes are commonly used as a folk medicine or
as a spice (Koch et al 2017). Ginger has a life cycle of more than two years and herbaceous in
nature. Its false stems made of rolled bases of leaves are narrow and about one meter tall.
Despite being a vegetable, it is normally considered to be a spice, herb or for medicinal
purposes. Below is a detailed discussion of various facts about ginger.
Body
Botanical name and edible parts
Ginger is a perennial herbaceous plant, most likely local to southeastern Asia. It is sweet-
smelling, impactful rhizome is utilized as a zest, seasoning and medication. Its nonexclusive
name Zingiber is gotten from the Greek zingiberis (Singh 2015).
The ginger plant develops from a bumpy root known as a rhizome and it's from this
rhizome that solidified ginger originates from (Yurson 2016).

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History and traditional medicinal uses
Ginger initially showed up in southern China. From that point, it spread to Maluku Islands,
India, West Africa and the rest of Asia. Europe came across ginger for the first time in the
first century when Indians exchanged goods with the ancient Romans. With the rediscovery
of the New World In the fifteenth century, ginger was brought to the Caribbean where it
began to develop easily. Today, India is the best maker of ginger on the planet (Ravindran &
Babu 2016).
Ginger has applications as a tonic for liver health and memory according to ancient Iranian
manuscripts.
In customary Chinese, dried fresh ginger has a wide range of various medicinal values.
Raw ginger when eaten allows one to benefit from its immune-boosting and expectorant
effects (Rashmi & Tiwari 2016).
Key nutrients
The basic macronutrients contained in ginger include the following,
 Proteins
 Carbohydrates
 Fats
Micronutrients include the following fat-soluble vitamins and water-soluble vitamins.
The following are the phytochemical constituents of ginger:Terpene constituents are, β-
bisabolene and β-sesquiphellandrene while phenolic compounds include shagaol and paradols
(Tzeng, Liou, Tzeng & Liu 2016).

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Mechanisms of action and therapeutic benefits
Ginger is a wellspring of an enormous number of cancer prevention agents and
furthermore plays a significant job in the decrease of the lipid oxidation and represses the
pathogenesis of infections.
Constituents of ginger demonstrate an indispensable impact on the control of tumor
advancement through regulating tumor suppressor gene and stimulation of apoptosis (Zhang
et al 2016).
Cautions, Toxicity, and Interactions
Avoid ginger when taking the following medicines: medicine that reduces blood clotting
such as diclofenac and high blood pressure medication (Goering & Goering 2018).
Despite ginger having several health benefits, studies have shown that it has some life-
threatening properties. Antihyperglycaemic effect of its aqueous extract can lead to a
reduction in plasma glucose levels.
Some ginger allergies are skin redness, inflammation or rash.
Consumption of ginger along with blood clotting medications promotes chances of
bleeding. Ginger interaction with warfarin is also likely to promote bleeding (Liu et al 2015).
Buying and Storage
Store the unpeeled ginger root in a re-sealable plastic bag, with the air, pushed out in an
icebox. Bolt and dry peeled ginger with a paper towel before storing.

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When buying ginger it is advisable to look for shiny skin. The skin of the ginger ought to
be thin (Sharma 2017).
Recommendations
It is recommended to incorporate ginger in our meals in order to help promote good
health. However, it should be consumed in the right proportion as overuse can lead to various
health complications.
Conclusion
In conclusion, ginger is indeed food and medicine at the same time. This has clearly been
demonstrated by its nutritive ability to supply key macronutrients such as proteins,
carbohydrates and fats, micronutrients such as fat-soluble vitamins and water-soluble
vitamins. Its therapeutic importance such as being wellspring of an enormous number of
cancer prevention agents and furthermore plays a significant job in the decrease of the lipid
oxidation and represses the pathogenesis of infections, and its food and drug interaction. A lot
of keenness is required when purchasing ginger to ensure it’s of the desired quality and it
ought to be stored properly to ensure a long shelf life. Its use must, therefore, be promoted
worldwide.
References

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Goering, C. Z., & Goering, G. (2018). Accepting the Deadline and Forging Ahead: Literature
through the Lens of Palliative Care in a High School English Classroom. When Loss Gets
Personal: Discussing Death through Literature in the Secondary ELA Classroom, 41.
Liu, R., Heiss, E. H., Sider, N., Schinkovitz, A., Gröblacher, B., Guo, D., ... & Atanasov, A.
G. (2015). Identification and characterization of [6]‐shogaol from ginger as inhibitor of
vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation. Molecular nutrition & food research, 59(5),
843-852.
Ravindran, P. N., & Babu, K. N. (2016). Ginger: the genus Zingiber. CRC press.
Sharma, Y. (2017). Ginger (Zingiber officinale)-an elixir of life a review. The Pharma
Innovation, 6(11, Part A), 22.
Singh, S. (2015). Ethno botanical study of some wild herb species Parsa District Forest of
Nepal. Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, 4(1).
Tzeng, T. F., Liou, S. S., Tzeng, Y. C., & Liu, I. M. (2016). Zerumbone, a phytochemical of
subtropical ginger, protects against hyperglycemia-induced retinal damage in experimental
diabetic rats. Nutrients, 8(8), 449.
Koch, W., Kukula-Koch, W., Marzec, Z., Kasperek, E., Wyszogrodzka-Koma, L., Szwerc,
W., & Asakawa, Y. (2017). Application of chromatographic and spectroscopic methods
towards the quality assessment of ginger (Zingiber officinale) rhizomes from ecological
plantations. International journal of molecular sciences, 18(2), 452.

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Yusron, M. (2016). Response of Red Ginger to Application of Biofertilizer and Rock
Phosphate Under Different Agroecological Conditions. Buletin Penelitian Tanaman
Rempah dan Obat, 20(2), 113-120.
Rashmi, K. J., & Tiwari, R. (2016). Pharmacotherapeutic properties of ginger and its use in
diseases of the oral cavity: A narrative review. Journal of Advanced Oral Research, 7(2),
1-6.
Zhang, M., Viennois, E., Prasad, M., Zhang, Y., Wang, L., Zhang, Z., ... & Merlin, D. (2016).
Edible ginger-derived nanoparticles: A novel therapeutic approach for the prevention and
treatment of inflammatory bowel disease and colitis-associated cancer. Biomaterials, 101,
321-340.